Sizing up a Neck - quality evaluation

[Bruce Johnson]

I didn't participate in this thread because Richard (turnaround) has covered the subject very well.

If you are interested in this subject, here are two old related threads that I started. This one is about problems with "perfect" quarter-sawn maple boards twisting, and gets into the whole topic of alignment of rings and grain. It's from the perspective of Luthiers selecting and cutting boards for making new necks.

About That Quartersawn Maple.....

And here's a thread where I restored a badly twisted Ampeg neck, using the mechanical method.

Fixing A Badly Twisted Neck....By The Mechanical Method

 

[Fender_Bender]

I didn't participate in this thread because Richard (turnaround) has covered the subject very well.

If you are interested in this subject, here are two old related threads that I started. This one is about problems with "perfect" quarter-sawn maple boards twisting, and gets into the whole topic of alignment of rings and grain. It's from the perspective of Luthiers selecting and cutting boards for making new necks.

About That Quartersawn Maple.....

And here's a thread where I restored a badly twisted Ampeg neck, using the mechanical method.

Fixing A Badly Twisted Neck....By The Mechanical Method

The part about “being put on a shelf for 6 months to years” is the critical part. European luthiers have historically sought out wood that has be drying for a hundred years if they can. Certainly the idea of using something fresh out of the kiln is very risky.

 

[Bruce Johnson]

The part about “being put on a shelf for 6 months to years” is the critical part. European luthiers have historically sought out wood that has be drying for a hundred years if they can. Certainly the idea of using something fresh out of the kiln is very risky.

In my experience so far (25 years!), storing the wood on the shelf for years isn't critical. It's nice to do it for some extra peace of mind. But I frequently make up necks from wood that's only been out of the kiln for maybe six months.

When I saw a board apart into strips, I can usually tell right away whether the wood is dried thoroughly enough, and if it has any internal stresses. If it comes out of the saw with a curve, then it's not suitable for a neck. If it comes out straight, it goes into the stock on the shelf. Seldom do I see a strip that looks good when cut, but then has warped out of spec after sitting on the shelf for a year. Maybe 1 in 50. So, the time on the shelf is some extra insurance. But it's not mandatory.

Seeking out 100 year old wood is mostly about mojo, not practical construction technique. If wood has been treated properly, it will be thoroughly dried to a stable state in a few years.

 

[tzohn]

Six months is not enough not even for use as firewood.

 

[FunkHead]

Six months is not enough not even for use as firewood.

You didn’t read the whole post. 6 months was out of kiln time then split into strips. Then shelf dried for one year.
Then meticulously inspected I trust.

 

[tzohn]

You didn’t read the whole post. 6 months was out of kiln time then shelf dried for one year.
Then meticulously inspected I trust.

"Get put on a shelf for six months", it says nothing about kiln in that post (thread title: "about that quartersawn maple") I was referring to.

edit: Now I see what you mean, I missed the part that he was talking about his strips, not that twisted one.

 

[Turnaround]

One year is barely enough for firewood, but we are talking about drying green wood for firewood. No instrument maker that I know has ever used green wood for a neck - all use kiln dried wood. The better builders like Bruce cut up their boards into lamination strips and allow them further aging on the shelf for at least six months. I believe that's what is meant in the post you refer to.

 

[Bruce Johnson]

One year is barely enough for firewood, but we are talking about drying green wood for firewood. No instrument maker that I know has ever used green wood for a neck - all use kiln dried wood. The better builders like Bruce cut up their boards into lamination strips and allow them further aging on the shelf for at least six months. I believe that's what is meant in the post you refer to.

Yes, absolutely. I only use kiln dried wood from a lumberyard. If I were given some freshly-sawn green wood or unknown boards, it would need to sit for a few years before I even cut it into strips.

 

[Heavy Blue]

Wow! This is like a PhD course in wood to me. There’s so much info to absorb here in this thread that my mind has glazed over.

This is fascinating stuff. My strengths are with electronics and mechanical. Woodworking was always the weakest of my tech skills thus they are not much developed at all much to my regret in recent years.

Thanks to Turnaround for this very interesting thread.

 

[Heavy Blue]

This neck was twisted.

View attachment 4077038

View attachment 4077039

Got sick & tired of that twist eh?

 

[tzohn]

Got sick & tired of that twist eh?

I took drastic action

 

[lark_z]

Wow, great thread. My submission. Two bass necks.

First, an approximately 10 year old Squier P neck. Never a hint of problem. To my untrained eye, the grain looks nice on the bass side (once you get past the runout in the first couple of frets), not so much on the treble side.

Next, a free (dumpster find) Yamaha entry level neck, maybe 25 years old. I've had to heat treat it twice in the past 2-3 years due to excessive relief. Grain really looks sad around the third fret.

 

[Stagelab]

I’m learning a lot from this thread. I have an unfinished 32” neck here and i’m considering whether to keep or return it. My plan was to finish it with Tru oil and put it on a J body.

I’m leaning towards returning it. I’ve attached some pics. Here are the issues I see:

The neck wood and fretboard have a lot of figuring. The fretboard was advertised as rosewood but I don’t think it is. Neck is thicker at fret 1 than at fret 2 so I’d need to sand a correct taper. A lot of the frets are rocking so it probably needs a leveling. The heel is also 2mm wider than the neck pocket so more sanding is required there.

Anything else I should consider?

 

[dune]

I’m learning a lot from this thread. I have an unfinished 32” neck here and i’m considering whether to keep or return it. My plan was to finish it with Tru oil and put it on a J body.

I’m leaning towards returning it. I’ve attached some pics. Here are the issues I see:

The neck wood and fretboard have a lot of figuring. The fretboard was advertised as rosewood but I don’t think it is. Neck is thicker at fret 1 than at fret 2 so I’d need to sand a correct taper. A lot of the frets are rocking so it probably needs a leveling. The heel is also 2mm wider than the neck pocket so more sanding is required there.

Anything else I should consider?

I wouldn't want to put that much work into a neck unless I got it for next to nothing AND was confident that I wasn't just putting lipstick on a pig.

 

[Fender_Bender]

I’m learning a lot from this thread. I have an unfinished 32” neck here and i’m considering whether to keep or return it. My plan was to finish it with Tru oil and put it on a J body.

I’m leaning towards returning it. I’ve attached some pics. Here are the issues I see:

The neck wood and fretboard have a lot of figuring. The fretboard was advertised as rosewood but I don’t think it is. Neck is thicker at fret 1 than at fret 2 so I’d need to sand a correct taper. A lot of the frets are rocking so it probably needs a leveling. The heel is also 2mm wider than the neck pocket so more sanding is required there.

Anything else I should consider?

It looks like the nut is crooked with the G string side closer to the body. The fretboard looks like it “could be” pau ferro, but there’s many species that have been given the “rosewood” moniker that are not true Dalbergia’s.

 

[dlmarquez]

great thread! many thanks to all who have contributed for their expertise.

 

[dlmarquez]

oops, damn, that thumbs up is a little bigger than I expected