Truss Rod Elimination?

[Catbonz]

Hello guys, as the topic title suggests I'd like some tips on eliminating the truss rod. I've played on a dead flat neck for years so totally locking a neck in (as much as possible)would be a godsend for me. I found this thing online called Gemini carbon fiber D tube, anyone have experience with these? Or does anyone know where I can get a honking chunk of carbon fiber like Vigier uses fairly reasonable? I also want a micarta fingerboard but can't find a source for anything guitar sized. I would really appreciate it! BTW this will be for a solid body.

[dpm99]

Personally, I'd use dynamite!

Ok, seriously, there are a number of ways to go about this. Something I've always wanted to try is a fiberglass neck with carbon fiber cloth on the outside layer. On the inside, you can do anything you like. Shoot, you can put a galvanized pipe in there if you want. The trick is to do it and keep it light at the same time. If I were doing it I'd use multiple carbon fiber or steel reinforcements. Try here:

http://dragonplate.com/ecart/categories.asp?cID=44

I'd put them in an appropriate hardwood, and I'd then reinforce the outside of the neck in carbon fiber sheeting, with the good West Systems epoxy resin. Then again, that would be an expensive neck.

You could always go with something like this, and save yourself a lot of work:

http://mosesgraphite.com/products/electric-guitar-bass-necks/

[WezV]

i think laminates of thin CF is the way to go. not easy to carve the neck, but apparently very stable.

this could be helped with normal cf rods as well

[Catbonz]

Thanks, I may try a thin CF and hardwood kind of "plywood" if I can dig up appropriate sized CF. I'm not worried about appearance to much, I'm all about the stability.

[dpm99]

Be careful with plywood. You get what you pay for. Some plywoods actually use hardwood throughout, and others use hardwood veneers over softwoods. You see the latter in the big box stores.

[WezV]

i dont think he was considering using actual plywood for a neck

[dpm99]

Hey, we've seen stranger things.

[WezV]

very true!

[RestorationAD]

Please remember to use a mask while carving your Carbon Fiber as it is not something you want to inhale...

And get your diamond cutting wheels, vacuum system, and oven ready if you want to make really good CF products.

This is my favorite. I love this thread.

http://www.tdpri.com/forum/tele-home-depot/214836-carbon-build.html

[dpm99]

This is my favorite. I love this thread.

http://www.tdpri.com/forum/tele-home-depot/214836-carbon-build.html

That's what I'm talking about! I thought the resonator cone was sort of an odd choice, but that's a guitar I wouldn't kick out of bed for eating crackers!

[RestorationAD]

This is my favorite. I love this thread.

http://www.tdpri.com/forum/tele-home-depot/214836-carbon-build.html

That's what I'm talking about! I thought the resonator cone was sort of an odd choice, but that's a guitar I wouldn't kick out of bed for eating crackers!

He builds them without resonator cones... however that is the most complete thread.

[Tim37]

Seems like a lot of work just to get around having a truss rod.

[Prostheta]

How about just having a truss rod and forgetting about it? Like solipsism.

[Catbonz]

The reason I'd to go to the trouble is I'd like to have a guitar just ONCE in my life be EXACTLY what I'm looking for. The only way to get something like that is to usually build it yourself, and I equate good intelligent design with "as bulletproof and as maintenance free as possible". I plan on building two guitars, my LAST two, and I just want them as bulletproof as possible. As far as plywood goes I actually thought about a CF reinforced Stratabond neckthrough.

[YetzerHarah]

The major difference between a thing that might go wrong and a thing that cannot possibly go wrong is that when a thing that cannot possibly go wrong goes wrong it usually turns out to be impossible to get at or repair

-Douglas Adams

If your main fear about having a truss rod is that you'll have to adjust it, it's better to have it there & not touch it, then to not have it there & need it. (especially when not having it there & needing it would probably mean that you'd have to pull the frets, relevel the fretboard, resaw the fret slots if you went through them, maybe replace the board if it's not thick enough...)

[Prostheta]

Agreed. Dead flat might suit some, however it is not the ideal geometry and the nature of the forces exerted within a guitar's parts require adjustment to select specific geometry, flat or not. I wish you to best, however I believe that you are pulling out a crucial component which will make your ultimate goal that much harder - if not impossible - to reach.

[Catbonz]

I may wind up with a standard truss neck, but that doesn't mean I'm not going to explore other options NOW in planning instead of hearing of a brilliant idea after I'm half finished. I've already built a couple of guitars, I just build for myself, and I have NO desire to do it for a living. "Traditional" isn't important to me at all and I can take all the time (and trouble) I need. I may actually look into Stratabond, the more I read the more tough and stable it sounds.

[dpm99]

Do it. Martin used Stratabond successfully. If this is your guitar, build it exactly the way you want it. Lots of guitars have been built without truss rods.