Jehle Posted June 18, 2004 Report Share Posted June 18, 2004 I have a maple slab, 1" thick. I've been drawing lines all over the thing, and on paper to figure out where to cut it out and such. I've noticed that with the right profile I could make the neck back (minus the fretboard cap) from the slab with an added feature that I have not seen anywhere else. It looks like I can carve everything from the single slab and make the headstock with a slight angle of just over 3 degrees. Knowing that the fretboard is going to add 1/4" and that the nut is a little higer than that, am I going to gain anything with such a dinky 3 degree angle on the headstock? I know that I could make a scarf joint or make a laminate with the same chunk of wood, but this 3rd option seemed interesting and worth asking about. Any comments or suggestions? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
litchfield Posted June 18, 2004 Report Share Posted June 18, 2004 i like he slight angle you spoke of Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krazyderek Posted June 18, 2004 Report Share Posted June 18, 2004 It looks like I can carve everything from the single slab and make the headstock with a slight angle of just over 3 degrees. Knowing that the fretboard is going to add 1/4" and that the nut is a little higer than that, am I going to gain anything with such a dinky 3 degree angle on the headstock? why not just make a fender style flat head stock? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Jabsco Posted June 18, 2004 Report Share Posted June 18, 2004 The 3 degree angle would do only a little bit i think, and with a string repressor it would be just as good as a higher degree. I say go for it, its different Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black Mariah Posted June 19, 2004 Report Share Posted June 19, 2004 I figure it would have the same effect as staggered height tuners. Not a massive improvement, but string trees would probably be unnecessary. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jehle Posted June 19, 2004 Author Report Share Posted June 19, 2004 Thanks for all the responses everyone. I really do not want to use string trees or make a fender style headstock. But that's not the only deciding factor for what I'm going to do... If I cut the board and laminate sections together I can make 2 necks. If I did the 3 degree headstock I would only get the one neck from the same board. Given that, the choice is simple. I've gotta go with the 2 neck option. For one it will give me something to practice with, and it'll give me a spare if I totally mess something up along the way. Time to start cutting some wood! Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guitarfrenzy Posted June 19, 2004 Report Share Posted June 19, 2004 Why not make a scarf joint?.. You cut it at 13° angle turn the headstock piece around and glue it back on. I've done it with a 3/4" piece of maple which is standard if your gonna glue a fretboard on. I would personally use a bandsaw on that and it needs to be a good on to cut up to a 4" piece of maple. You could use a handsaw if your brave enough though. or you could build a jig for your table saw Either way after you cut it out you can turn the two pieces of wood and align them to 13° and use a scarf joint jig to clean it up perfectly so they glue together seemlessly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frankie Posted June 19, 2004 Report Share Posted June 19, 2004 hey do you guys think i can make a neck outta this???? http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...8112797351&rd=1 if it's the right kinda wood (i know it's not hard rock) i was gonna glue two together to get the thicknes....... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john Posted June 19, 2004 Report Share Posted June 19, 2004 for what its worth, 15/16" is easily thick enough to make a neck(minus fretboard) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devon Headen Posted June 19, 2004 Report Share Posted June 19, 2004 1 piece of that is thick enough for a neck. I think we've discussed red maple before. I don't think it's a very solid wood. Not a good choice for a neck. If you use carbon fiber in the neck, it might work. I think I've heard of a few guys here who used soft maple with carbon fiber. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frankie Posted June 19, 2004 Report Share Posted June 19, 2004 yeah, i guess i'll just find some hard rock maple...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frankie Posted June 19, 2004 Report Share Posted June 19, 2004 hey how bout http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...8112360227&rd=1 but i only need 1........... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devon Headen Posted June 19, 2004 Report Share Posted June 19, 2004 That's fine. You will be able to get at least 4 necks out of that. I think 8. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frankie Posted June 19, 2004 Report Share Posted June 19, 2004 cool, cause with it 1" thick and a 1/4" fingerboard that should be plenty. I don't know what i would do with 8 necks, lol. i'd probably just sell blanks to you guys........heheh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frankie Posted June 19, 2004 Report Share Posted June 19, 2004 hey, how much do you think that would cost to ship?? 19lbs is quite a bit, probably like 15 or 20?? i'm buildin a neck thru, so i won't be able to get 8.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jehle Posted June 19, 2004 Author Report Share Posted June 19, 2004 Why not make a scarf joint?.. You cut it at 13° angle turn the headstock piece around and glue it back on. I've done it with a 3/4" piece of maple which is standard if your gonna glue a fretboard on. I would personally use a bandsaw on that and it needs to be a good on to cut up to a 4" piece of maple. You could use a handsaw if your brave enough though. or you could build a jig for your table saw Either way after you cut it out you can turn the two pieces of wood and align them to 13° and use a scarf joint jig to clean it up perfectly so they glue together seemlessly. Well, for this guitar I didn't want to make a scarf joint. It's rather strange to say, but I don't like the look of them. I also have a slighty warped board, come to find out. So I would of had to either fix that or use another board. Soooooo, the cut-out-the-profile-and-glue-the-bits-together technique was the only real option. I've only just started making my own necks so I'll have to try the scarf joint one of these days. I'm probably missing out on some finer points of guitar building by avoiding them at the moment. Keep in mind though that I'm a Strat player so the whole idea of tilted headstocks seems weird anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guitarfrenzy Posted June 20, 2004 Report Share Posted June 20, 2004 If your a Strat fanatic, then why not just use the 1" piece of maple, cut out the whole neck with a template, then bandsaw out the headstock piece to 1/2" like the picture. That's if your gonna use a standard truss rod installed from the back of the neck. If your gonna glue on a fretboard, don't want a skunkstripe, or just wanting the luxury of a dual action rod, then if your making a standard Strat neck, either resaw the 1" piece so it will make a 3/4" piece and a 1/4" piece if your wanting a classic maple neck look. If your wanting rosewood, ebony or other fingerboards you'll just want to get that maple piece down to a 3/4" board since that's the standard width used with a 1/4" fingerboard. Either way, you end up with the standard Strat neck without having to get into the dreaded scarf joint.. lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
litchfield Posted June 20, 2004 Report Share Posted June 20, 2004 nothing wrong with not liking scarf joint acthetics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jehle Posted June 20, 2004 Author Report Share Posted June 20, 2004 I should have mentioned that this is for the Flying V. I feel somewhat obligated to have the 13* headstock. I thought about making a strat type "flat" neck but it kept bugging me that I was cheating or something. I even went through the trouble of making the template. The flat neck with the V style headstock looked gay. The tilt had to be there. Anywho... I also don't have a bandsaw... yet. I will never make a neck again without one. I wound up using a hand saw because the power tools were not cutting it (nice pun there). Very strange to think that a hand saw cut faster than a power tool. Even a fresh blade didn't help. I'll have more necks to work on in the near future. There 2 more guitars to do after this one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Jabsco Posted June 20, 2004 Report Share Posted June 20, 2004 You can make a scarf cutting jig for a table saw, thats real easy. Ill send up a link if your intrested in plans for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jehle Posted June 20, 2004 Author Report Share Posted June 20, 2004 You can make a scarf cutting jig for a table saw, thats real easy. Ill send up a link if your intrested in plans for it. That would be super! Any jig plans are welcome. I noticed somewhere up in the thread that there was a special jig for a router. I presume that this was for getting the thickness correct on the headstock after the glue up is done. I love working with jigs. They sure do make things easier! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Jabsco Posted June 20, 2004 Report Share Posted June 20, 2004 http://pweb.jps.net/~kmatsu/ look at the jigs part, Its pritty accurate, and im in the process of making one. Its simple too. very helpful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guitarfrenzy Posted June 20, 2004 Report Share Posted June 20, 2004 Anywho... I also don't have a bandsaw... yet. I will never make a neck again without one. I wound up using a hand saw because the power tools were not cutting it (nice pun there). Very strange to think that a hand saw cut faster than a power tool. Even a fresh blade didn't help. Yeah I hear ya, It would be hard to build a guitar without a bandsaw. I can cut most of it out with a flush trim bit with a plunge router but it will put alot more wear and tear than if you'd have cut it outside the line close with a bandsaw first. Maybe you can find someone that lives near you will let your use theirs till you can buy your own. Also the jig to do the 13° angle on a tablesaw was shown in my first post.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Jabsco Posted June 20, 2004 Report Share Posted June 20, 2004 oh, is that the same on in my link? and also, a neighbour of mine is giving me a bandsaw for free. Its really a sweet deal. so you should check around with a lot of peopl you know, cause they just have old stuff lying around they dont use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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