fehgalloway Posted July 31, 2004 Report Share Posted July 31, 2004 Ok, I have been doing reasearch for about 6 months now and I have just bought some timber for a neck (only cause I found it cheap in a recycling place - I got enough timber for 3-4 necks for $10!!! YEAY! ). I have a truss rod and all the tools necessary to start the neck, but I am kind of stumped on a few things, which I KNOW are really simple, but I just can't get my head around it. BTW, I have Martin Koch's book - which covers everything but I just want some clarification. And he seems to have a shorter scale than most, so I just wanted to clarify some size details too. The necks will be bolt on or glued in - not neck through. I bought the traditional truss rod from Stew-Mac. I don't understand how I'm supposed to put it in, as all pictures I see show the truss rod as square, and I just have a rod with what I think in an anchor for one end and the nut and washer at the other. I think I have to cut it to length and thread that end. So... I'm presuming I cut the truss rod so that it will end where the neck will enter the body.?? The three different necks I have are the following sizes - I don't know what scale I want, so if someone could recommend something fairly generic, that would be great also. 85cm long x 6.7cm wide x 3.1cm thick 72cm x7.5 cm x4.7 cm 74cm x 8cm x 4.5 cm These are all straight grained, old hardwood, which are quatersawn and seem (to me) to be fairly straight I know how to make the head stock (its going to be angled) but I guess, am more wanting to know what scale would be best, and if this timber is big enough. If any isn't wide enough, I can always laminate it I guess, so that's not really a problem. ANYWAY...if anyone could just tell me what to do, in a bit of detail, it would be much appreciated, because I can see three nice bits of timber being destroyed soon. THANK YOU ALL VERY MUCH!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SguitarM527 Posted July 31, 2004 Report Share Posted July 31, 2004 if you ordered a truss rod from stew mac it shouldnt have to be cut. it is installed with the adjuster nut at the headstock, alothough you can put it at the heel... see section in histcocks book about trussrod installation to see how. you just route a cavity down the center of the neck. also: you say you have "timber". what kind of wood did you purchase? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fehgalloway Posted July 31, 2004 Author Report Share Posted July 31, 2004 Um, well that's the problem, I don't really know.. I THINK one of them is Jarrah, one may be Durian and the other is bright red... I think they're probably all native (Australia) but I have no idea, I'm going to find out though, my uncle is a carpenter. This is the truss rod at Stew-Mac's...Traditional Truss Rod It says to cut it to the right length to fit your instrument...I dunno What do you recommend for a scale length? i think a strat is about 25" or something like that isn't it??? I think my timber will be JUST long enough..not sure.. if not, could I make a head stock out of something different if it's not long enough??Just wondering, never really heard of anyone doing that! This is what came with the truss rod, that's not shown in the link above I'm presuming this sits at the other end (where the neck enters the body) at right angles, and sitting flush... It didn't come with any instructions and I think that maybe I'm a bit slow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xafier Posted July 31, 2004 Report Share Posted July 31, 2004 strats are 25 1/2 inch... les pauls and such are 24 3/4 inch would you not be better not cheaping out on just any old wood you could get cheap and buying some decent hardwood to build a neck? or are you just planning on this being a practise piece? personally I'm not planning on making a neck for my first guitar, I think I'm going to just buy one as I dont want to make a real balls up of it... lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fehgalloway Posted July 31, 2004 Author Report Share Posted July 31, 2004 Yeah, I thought of that too, but I don't know if any of you know bout Australian timber, but Jarrah is used to build guitars down here, and Durian will be ok too (so my uncle tells me) so I figured why not get it cheap, instead of paying for new stuff, when the stuff I bought is straight and the right size....If i stuff it up, it doesn't matter then... Besides, postage to Australia plus our EXTRA CRAPPY dollar would mean a neck would cost around $100 - $250 to get imported.. Then there's customs...they are pretty careful with timber, so if there's any sign of rot or anything, it will be burnt.. I can't really risk it..I'm a student too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SguitarM527 Posted July 31, 2004 Report Share Posted July 31, 2004 yeh strats are 25.5, and prs's (my favorite guitars) are 25". anyways, yeh u wanna make sure that the wood will hold up. maple and such are good for necks, so if your planning on using the wood on a guitar definately get it checked out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fehgalloway Posted July 31, 2004 Author Report Share Posted July 31, 2004 Does anyone have a link for a fret calculator.. I have it on my Martin Koch CD, but I'm not at home . BTW, I just realised that the USA (I'm presuming that's what time the clock is on here) is 15 hours behind...I'm just having breakfast Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skibum5545 Posted July 31, 2004 Report Share Posted July 31, 2004 Is Durian that really smelly fruit? Jarrah will work just fine. It's plenty hard, and VERY pretty! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
litchfield Posted August 1, 2004 Report Share Posted August 1, 2004 Contact Perry Ormsby. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fehgalloway Posted August 1, 2004 Author Report Share Posted August 1, 2004 Ok, so presuming the timber is big enough and is ok to use... I have a couple of other questions.. Should I buy the timber for the fretboard before I do anything for the neck? If I do a binding around the fretboard, is that extra on the width of the fretboard, or does the fretboard get reduced to accomodate the width of the binding?? Anyone know about that truss rod I mentioned earlier?? Stewmac truss rod Thank you very much!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guitarfrenzy Posted August 1, 2004 Report Share Posted August 1, 2004 The Stew Mac Hot Rod isn't hard to install. All you have to do is route out a slot with the right sized straight router bit on a router table using a guide fence. You need a 7/16" deep slot, so you might have to make multiple passes to achieve it safely. A straight neck (ala Fender) is trickier to do. Since you said your gonna do an angled headstock, you can actually route the slot all the way past the headstock, since you have a headstock angle the slot will taper off up the headstock, and you can place a truss rod cover over the routed out part later. With both, I draw out where I want the truss rod to be on the neck and make sure at the heel end to route a little ways past the mark, just to give it some play for adjusting. I hope this makes some kinda sense. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gregory Posted August 1, 2004 Report Share Posted August 1, 2004 Does anyone have a link for a fret calculator.. I have it on my Martin Koch CD, but I'm not at home . FretFind Thats the best fretfinder I can find... It even converts to fractions But I don't know if Australia usually uses the metric system? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lucky1 Posted August 1, 2004 Report Share Posted August 1, 2004 (edited) Edited September 19, 2004 by lucky1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fehgalloway Posted August 2, 2004 Author Report Share Posted August 2, 2004 Thanks everyone for your help! The Stew Mac Hot Rod isn't hard to install" It's not the Hot Rod, It's the traditional truss rod...Truss Rod Basically do I need anything else to add to it? It is just a rod at the moment and all the other one's i see in tutorial are rectangular - do I need to put a casing around it??????? Where do I cut it off? Where it enters the body (16th Fret) or at the end of the neck and do I anchor it with this? Which came with it???? I'll draw a picture - I find that works easier.. It won't let me put it on, so you can see it here...truss rod picture.. QUOTEÂ Is Durian that really smelly fruit? Hey skibum I think smelly is a bit pollite! Durian (the fruit) I've never heard of it - this timber is a light grey/pinkish sort of colour, medium hard - hardwod, straight grained..nice to work with...My uncle said it's Durian, but I may be spelling it wrong But I don't know if Australia usually uses the metric system? Yes, Australia is Metric Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monkey69962000 Posted August 2, 2004 Report Share Posted August 2, 2004 that calc is very helpful Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minideluxe Posted August 2, 2004 Report Share Posted August 2, 2004 Re: Truss rod Do you have a curved slot, or a flat bottomed one? The traditional rod requires a curved (in profile) slot Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fehgalloway Posted August 2, 2004 Author Report Share Posted August 2, 2004 Hi, I haven't routed anything yet, but I didn't know that, so thanks... Don't know if you looked at my TERRIBLE picture, but is that all right? does anyone know?? Would it just be easier for me to buy the Hot Rod...As I obviously don't know anything about this Another quick question... Is there any specific size for a head stock, or do you basically just have to be able to fit all the tuners on it..? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xafier Posted August 2, 2004 Report Share Posted August 2, 2004 Big enough to hold the tuners I would guess... but from reading the book I've got (reading plenty before I jump into building anything)... the head is part of what balances your guitar, if its too big and heavy then the neck will pull down... if its not heavy enough compared with the body then the body end will pull down... just go for a size similar to other head's course you can change it a bit, just dont make it huge or tiny! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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