Defiled Posted June 21, 2004 Report Share Posted June 21, 2004 What are the pros/cons of scarf jointing verses having the neck and headstock carved out of one piece of wood? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
litchfield Posted June 21, 2004 Report Share Posted June 21, 2004 One piece is more asthetally appealing to me Scarfjoints are reportedly stronger, and cheaper. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dcamp67 Posted June 21, 2004 Report Share Posted June 21, 2004 Scarfjoints are reportedly stronger, and cheaper. Lich, is that because a well glued joint is supposed to be stronger that the wood around it? A does that assumption hold when glueing different species together? Love the new avatar, BTW Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulNeeds Posted June 21, 2004 Report Share Posted June 21, 2004 Been thinking aboutthis a lot of the past few days. If your headstock is angled, is one-piece going to take the strain ok? Maybe dumb, but I'd appreciate some views! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted June 21, 2004 Report Share Posted June 21, 2004 Lich, is that because a well glued joint is supposed to be stronger that the wood around it? no...it is because it runs the grain straight down the length of the headstock Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GuitarMaestro Posted June 21, 2004 Report Share Posted June 21, 2004 Look here and you will find a big discussion of exactly this topic.... Just to tell you my opinion after I actually built a neck with an angled peghead: I decided AGAINST the scarf joint because I think it's ugly, especially if you use figured wood. I built my neck out of a laminate of 3 stripes oft quatersawn soft curly maple and 2 stripes of Bubinga and it is a very tough neck. The Bubinga is so damn stable that I am sure this neck is way more robust then a scarfed neck made from usual maple. It is the siffest neck of all my guitars.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Defiled Posted June 22, 2004 Author Report Share Posted June 22, 2004 My neck is a flat sawn 1.75" thick piece of hard maple. I'm doing a Carvin headstock (6 on a side). What happens when a guitar is dropped seems to be creating the big contraversy over which one is better. Not saying that I won't care IF I drop my guitar, but I'm not going to scarf joint/not scarf joint for that reason. Will the afore mention neck blank take the strain of a 6 on a side headstock? I do plan on putting a volute on it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
litchfield Posted June 22, 2004 Report Share Posted June 22, 2004 Look at a gibson explorer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southpa Posted June 22, 2004 Report Share Posted June 22, 2004 A couple of design features have to be looked at here. If not scarf then what else is there? would have to be a strat style, ie. plane of the headstock is still with the neck but stepped down from the fingerboard. Whereas a scarf joint is angled down from the fretboard. So with strat style you might need string trees to hold down strings while headstock angle does the same function with the scarf jointed neck. Another option is to run a straight headstock with a bar right across behind the nut to hold the strings down. Thats the basic Hagstrom design. Cutting an angled headstock w/out a scarf joint is basically considered a waste of wood and won't be as strong because wood fibres will be too short in that area. Also, I don't think I've ever seen an angled headstock ( as much angle as Gibson style) with all six tuners on one side. Its all a question of balancing string tension. There is also the location of the tuners in relation to the nut slots to consider. Guitars with tuners all on one side, like strats etc. have the strings running straight thru the nut. Angled headstocks with 3/3 tuners have the strings angled off the nut, like Gibson LP and SG. The straight thru design is easier on the nut, and strings slide thru the slots easier, so you would get a little better tremolo response. My last guitar is a Gibson/Fender hybrid design (arrowhead shape). I opted to go with 3/3 tuner setup but went with a strat side profile. As a result it was necessary to use 3 string trees. Everything is balanced and strings go straight thru the nut. Seems to be working great! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
litchfield Posted June 22, 2004 Report Share Posted June 22, 2004 Cutting an angled headstock w/out a scarf joint is basically considered a waste of wood and won't be as strong because wood fibres will be too short in that area. Also, I don't think I've ever seen an angled headstock ( as much angle as Gibson style) with all six tuners on one side. Its all a question of balancing string tension. There is also the location of the tuners in relation to the nut slots to consider. Guitars with tuners all on one side, like strats etc. have the strings running straight thru the nut. Angled headstocks with 3/3 tuners have the strings angled off the nut, like Gibson LP and SG. The straight thru design is easier on the nut, and strings slide thru the slots easier, so you would get a little better tremolo response. Gibson explorer Kramer USA Jackson USA None of those were scarf joined. All were angled, 6 in line, and the srings agle away from the nut. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black Mariah Posted June 22, 2004 Report Share Posted June 22, 2004 Robins also have angled headstocks. I'm sure there's others, but I can't think of them offhand. I think this is one of those areas where it's all up to opinion. Guitars have been made using all of these methods for decades and none of them have really proven to be distinctly better than another. It's one of those things that, when it comes down to it, isn't all that important as far as playability. If you have good wood, the structural stability of one over the other is negligible. All that leaves is aesthetics and that's all in the eye of the beholder. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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