frankie Posted May 16, 2004 Report Share Posted May 16, 2004 I was gonna do my guitar set neck, but i was thinking a thru would be the same or easier. what do you guys think?? i'm gonna do a 3 piece neck maple/ b. limba/maple, and the body is going to be b. limba with a flamed maple top. thanks.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frankie Posted May 16, 2004 Author Report Share Posted May 16, 2004 screw it i'm goin on the thru.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GuitarMaestro Posted May 16, 2004 Report Share Posted May 16, 2004 The thru neck is definately more difficult. It forces you to always work with the whole guitar from the point you glue the body to the neck on. It's the same with a set neck but the set neck can completely be finished BEFORE glueing it to the body. Additionally you cannot allow yourself to screw up the neck or the body or you'll have to throw away both....with the set neck you can finish both parts seperately and then glue them together in the end.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frankie Posted May 16, 2004 Author Report Share Posted May 16, 2004 wait, you can't have the neck finished before gluing it to the wings??? why not......i don't see why you couldn't if you had all your measurements perfect..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GuitarMaestro Posted May 16, 2004 Report Share Posted May 16, 2004 why not......i don't see why you couldn't if you had all your measurements perfect..... It depends on how you want to shape the area where the neck meets the body. I think this is nearly impossible to get right without the pieces being together. Maybe you *could* build both parts completely seprate, but all books on guitar building I read so far glue the body wings to a unshaped neck blank.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted May 16, 2004 Report Share Posted May 16, 2004 The thru neck is definately more difficult. It forces you to always work with the whole guitar from the point you glue the body to the neck on. It's the same with a set neck but the set neck can completely be finished BEFORE glueing it to the body. Additionally you cannot allow yourself to screw up the neck or the body or you'll have to throw away both....with the set neck you can finish both parts seperately and then glue them together in the end.... not really IMO...you can still completely finish the neck thru part first,then glue the wings on,and if you screw up the routing you can just cut it back apart and start over with new wings i have done both and really it is the same difficulty wise i actually prefer building a neck through because then you don't have to worry about the neck pocket alignment,which always kills me getting it right but most importantly,why does everyone plan for failure?all i ever hear about neck thru is"if it twists you are screwed"or "if you mess up you are screwed" what kind of a philosophy is that?besides...if the neck DOES twist by chance...then it would be pretty damn easy to rout a neck pocket and turn it into a bolt on or a set neck...or just make a new neck thru for it i have a different take on it...do what YOU WANT to do,regardless of percieved difficulty,and learn how to do that method,then it will seem like the easiest to you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted May 16, 2004 Report Share Posted May 16, 2004 why not......i don't see why you couldn't if you had all your measurements perfect..... It depends on how you want to shape the area where the neck meets the body. I think this is nearly impossible to get right without the pieces being together. Maybe you *could* build both parts completely seprate, but all books on guitar building I read so far glue the body wings to a unshaped neck blank.... shape the outer contour of the wings before you glue it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GuitarMaestro Posted May 16, 2004 Report Share Posted May 16, 2004 you can still completely finish the neck thru part first,then glue the wings on,and if you screw up the routing you can just cut it back apart and start over with new wings If you screw up the routes the neck AND the body is ruined as the pickup and tremolo routes are partly in the neck as well.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted May 16, 2004 Report Share Posted May 16, 2004 you can still completely finish the neck thru part first,then glue the wings on,and if you screw up the routing you can just cut it back apart and start over with new wings How is this supposed to work? If you screw up the routes then the neck AND the body is ruined as the pickup and tremolo routes are partly in the neck as well.... you can refill it...but really you ARE NOT supposed to screw up how many neck thrus and set necks have you built ,maestro? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted May 16, 2004 Report Share Posted May 16, 2004 http://projectguitar.ibforums.com/index.php?showtopic=4599 check it out,frankie.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GuitarMaestro Posted May 16, 2004 Report Share Posted May 16, 2004 how many neck thrus and set necks have you built ,maestro? None....mainly because of the reasons I mentioned here....I only build bolt-ons.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted May 16, 2004 Report Share Posted May 16, 2004 how many neck thrus and set necks have you built ,maestro? None....mainly because of the reasons I mentioned here....I only build bolt-ons.... i reccomend trying it...it's not as tough as you think...my first was a neck thru but i bought a carvin neck for that one Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GuitarMaestro Posted May 16, 2004 Report Share Posted May 16, 2004 i reccomend trying it...it's not as tough as you think...my first was a neck thru Thanks for the recommendation. In fact I already drew a design for a nice neck-through axe I will start building soon.... I hope it turns out nice.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted May 16, 2004 Report Share Posted May 16, 2004 make a good set of plans...i don't ever do that and i make my share of mistakes because of it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GuitarMaestro Posted May 16, 2004 Report Share Posted May 16, 2004 make a good set of plans...i don't ever do that and i make my share of mistakes because of it Hehe....I know what you mean....it was exactly the same thing with the 7-string I just built( I will post pictures soon btw.). I already started drawing a set of plans for the neck-through guitar in Autocad....hope this helps avoiding these problems.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loosetoe Posted May 17, 2004 Report Share Posted May 17, 2004 Frankie, I saw that you asked this question in one of my Bass threads. I am not sure that one or the other is easier/harder. Each presents its own set of challenges. As pointed out earlier neck alignment has been my main concern with constructing set necks. However, the through neck can be cumbersome as you will have to plan your progress a bit more. I am going to disagree somewhat with Wes here. I believe you do have to have the wings glued to finish the neck. There is some amount of shaping that can happen prior to gluing the wings, but your heel should be done after gluing everything...and any shaping prior to gluing should be CAREFULLY planned and marked so as to not impede on any glue joints. This makes things a LITTLE more cumbersome, but not daunting in any sense. In short, I find the difference in difficulty marginal here. To answer the upcoming question. I have built two of each at this point. I tend to like the through neck better. I also have an 89 RIckenbacker I bought new and a 93 Peavey TL6. Both are through necks. Heck now that I think about it all of my basses are through necks where as my 2 guitars are set necks. I would decide what kind of neck YOU WANT and go from there. Either way this will be a fun and rewarding process. -Wayne Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigdguitars Posted May 17, 2004 Report Share Posted May 17, 2004 For me personally its much harder to do a set neck. You have to have a jig setup to get the correct angle. With a neck through you can make the whole neck frets and all, glue the sides on, shape them a bit and spray... boom you are done. there are so many ways to do a set neck. Its fun to learn and build them both ways... i going to start building the set neck type of guitars. You have more options with them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted May 17, 2004 Report Share Posted May 17, 2004 I believe you do have to have the wings glued to finish the neck. There is some amount of shaping that can happen prior to gluing the wings, but your heel should be done after gluing everything. http://projectguitar.ibforums.com/index.php?showtopic=4599 i guess nobody read the link i gave earlier so i will give it again you are not disagreeing with me as i show in that topic that i finish it completely except for the heel shaping,then do that after the wings are glued... but EVERYTHING else on the neck can be finished including fretting and dressing...just like the carvin neck comes when you buy it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loosetoe Posted May 17, 2004 Report Share Posted May 17, 2004 OK, just to be clear. I think you SHOULD do some of the neck beore gluing. The complete fretboard and above for exmple. My point is primarily that the through neck just takes a little more careful planning to ensure that you will be able to get everything together properly. Just as you show in your thread Wes, I also did my fretbaord completely before gluing the wings. A also did a majority of the taper prior to gluing. But since my shape was a single cut (think Les Paul) I had to be more accurate with the taper so as to not impede on the upper bout's glue surface. I did not shape the back of the neck prior to gluing at all. I guess I could have, I just chose not to. This made it a little bit bulky to work with (but in my case the heel was significantly more mass than normal, so shaping glued up was a necessity. No offense meant Wes. BTW, where's Frankie in all of this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted May 17, 2004 Report Share Posted May 17, 2004 No offense meant Wes. BTW, where's Frankie in all of this? no offense taken...i just wanted to be sure i wasn't misunderstood see,my first build was a v built around a carvin neck through,and it was so easy that it just seemed logical to finish the neck to that point every time,and i really believe in it,even though i get impatient sometimes and glue on the wings before i fret btw that guitar has a really good fret job on it,so i look forward to finishing it at some point when my wife goes back to work and i can spend some more money i think frankie is probably just reading and learning...or maybe he is working on his guitar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maiden69 Posted May 17, 2004 Report Share Posted May 17, 2004 Wes, I took a look at your link before deciding to become a member. Have you done anything else to it. Also, you mentioned that your first one was a carvin neck, how was it. I plan on doing an Explorer type with a neck thru and Iwas considering Carvins, because they are the higher quality cheapest one out there. for the price of a neck from Warmoth I can get a neck thru and a replacement body for my Squier strat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted May 17, 2004 Report Share Posted May 17, 2004 i haven't done anything else to it yet...i need hardware for it.. the carvin product is excellent...i highly reccomend it...best mass produced neck i have played on Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted May 17, 2004 Report Share Posted May 17, 2004 on that neck through in my pinned topic though i am considering doing a speedloader Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maiden69 Posted May 17, 2004 Report Share Posted May 17, 2004 Cool, ain't it amaizing when some manufacturer changes somenthing in their product, and everybody wants it. I had a FR back in the 80's, and it was the last innovation on the guitar market. Now the speed loader comes and revolutionaizes the industry again. It looks much better than the Stainberg one. Also it is a breeze to change the strings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted May 17, 2004 Report Share Posted May 17, 2004 Cool, ain't it amaizing when some manufacturer changes somenthing in their product, and everybody wants it. I had a FR back in the 80's, and it was the last innovation on the guitar market. Now the speed loader comes and revolutionaizes the industry again. It looks much better than the Stainberg one. Also it is a breeze to change the strings. funny that you mention that...i have been considering a steinberger-esque neck thru with a speed loader instead of the trans trem(transtrem is like $700) but i really would want it to be a 7 string Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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