Fender: quarter sawn vs flatsawn maple necks

[ModulusFan]

The biggest difference is, a quartersawn neck will do most of its seasonal dimension change from top to bottom, instead of side to side like a flat sawn. Less likely to get fret sprout in the dryer months.

 

[ModulusFan]

A good tech told me that it is only esthetics, apparently, any other difference is marginal. I own a 2008 USA fender jazz with an astonishing flat saw neck. It is almost 100% symetrical, and very lightly wavy, but most of the grain is pretty straight. Looks amazing. (Just looks, I know).

I also have a 2010 Fender custom shop (Great instrument), but that happens to have the worst quartersawn grain I have ever seen. Looks like a Squire Custom Shop neck, LOL. Still quite happy with the bass, but I was expecting a jaw dropping gorgeous grain.

While it is subjective, quarter sawn planks aren't usually much to look at. Much more character with flat, as it is cut across the growth rings making them bigger, and more apparent.

 

[Gomeztool]

Paging Dan Atkinson, your next test is here.

 

[Tusec]

I seem to remember Roger Sadowsky stating that he doesn't use quarter sawn necks, because flat sawn adds rigidity side to side, and the truss rod adds it back to front. It would seem that a quarter sawn neck may actually be less stable, (side to side) then.

I have a theory on this. I think necks are the key to tone, and I think the best sounding necks are the ones that are inherently stiff and that rely less on truss rod tension to counteract the tension of the strings. So I would tend to favor quarter sawn neck. But with that said, some of the best sounding instruments I've had have had stiff flatsawn necks.

 

[Willicious]

My P has a Musikraft neck that is VERY flatsawn.
It's been rock solid, with no perceptible dead spot.

 

[Chris K]

I have a theory on this. I think necks are the key to tone, and I think the best sounding necks are the ones that are inherently stiff and that rely less on truss rod tension to counteract the tension of the strings. So I would tend to favor quarter sawn neck. But with that said, some of the best sounding instruments I've had have had stiff flatsawn necks.

Nice theory, but the tonal differences in necks will come from the fretboard wood in the first place. See Dan Atkinson's rosewood vs. maple test.

And like you already incated, there is many quality difference of maple out there.

 

[sps500]

I live in year round 80% humidity and 97 degrees temp. I am in the tropics. Every bass I have brought back from the USA has had to have its truss rod tweaked, some more then others.

All are flat sawn necks....ie Sadowsky NYC, Alleva, Fender MIA, Warwick (German Made) to name a few. The only neck that has not needed any adjustments... My Lakland DJ USA. Says a lot for quarter sawn necks. The proof is in the pudding.

The 2 very close runner up's that only needed a really minute amount of tweaking ..my one piece neck on my Nordstrand and the 'B' neck on my LEJ.

So would I say quarter sawn is better..... I would have to say yes.

 

[Tusec]

Nice theory, but the tonal differences in necks will come from the fretboard wood in the first place. See Dan Atkinson's rosewood vs. maple test.

Given that fretboard wood can affect the stiffness of the neck, I'm not sure how that goes against my theory. It also isn't obvious that the difference in tone in that test was due to the fretboard wood. Why couldn't it have been the maple part of the neck?

 

[Fuzzbass]

I'm not the greatest photographer, especially with a cell phone, but you can kind of see that the Sadowsky on top is flatsawn (V-shaped grain), while the Benavente on the bottom is quartersawn (straight grain).

I think they're both attractive, and I have absolutely no preference one way or the other for any reason.

 

[mdogs]

I'm not the greatest photographer, especially with a cell phone, but you can kind of see that the Sadowsky on top is flatsawn (V-shaped grain), while the Benavente on the bottom is quartersawn (straight grain).

I think they're both attractive, and I have absolutely no preference one way or the other for any reason.

I don't think that you are really going to see much difference with Maple, now if you want to talk about quartersawn Oak, there is a HUGE difference in the way the grain looks.

 

[Gard]

Quartersawn is superior for stability. If you want REAL stability, use "mirrored" quartersawn in a 2-3 piece neck, where the outside pieces are oriented 180 degrees from each other, and the center is from another billet (and even better, a different species). This way, any inherent movement of piece "A" on the left is canceled by the same inherent movement of piece "B" in the opposite direction.

BTW, based on a bit of observation, the single most important issue in getting a good solid tone out of lower strings (B strings in particular) is neck stiffness. A good solid, stiff 34" neck will sound better than a weak, noodly 35" neck. Of course, a good solid stiff 35" will win as well...and if you're Sheldon Dingwall, that 37" B on his fantastically stable neck is the B of doom.