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solid vs. laminate neck?

Swift713

Swift713

Supporting Member
Dec 4, 2006
4,039
245
Florence, Ma
#1
Sorry (sort of) to be posting such a newbie question here but here goes. Honestly, I have been searching and browsing here for a couple days :D

I've got some nice 1/4 sawn mahogany 8/4x7 and I'm thinking of attempting a 6 string build. Would it be better to rip this board into strips and glue up a laminated neck or keep it a solid one piece?
I would assume the laminate method would be more stable, is there a science to rearranging the strips to increase stability? I think I've seen more necks with the laminates arranged top to bottom vs. Pilotjones' front to back arrangement. Should I rotate the laminates, turn them end over end, glue them up just as I cut them apart?
Any advise would be appreciated.
 
#2
My artistic opinion is that you should never slice wood to just glue it up again.

You want the stresses in the wood to cancel each other. If this sentence does not make sense to you, then you need to study until it does.
 
#3
Taking the beam and ripping it lengthwise, then reversing every other piece, will tend to cause any forces that develop later, that would have tended to cause the neck to bow to the front, back or side, to cancel each other out.

It will have no effect on twisting.

It will have a negative effect if you are not good at preparing and executing long glue joints.

You may find as you rip the pieces that you are releasing internal tensions, and your strips may warp.
 
#6
MikeyB said:
He's not asking for your artistic opinion. If that doesn't make sense to you, reread his post until it does.
Click to expand...
Okay, I laughed out loud at that. MikeyB, mikeyswood may come across as a callous, rude, blunt, good-for-nothing, SOB who does nothing but complain and deride others for their lack of attention to detail, but, um, what was I saying again?





:D
 
#8
Hmmm, some interesting responses here.
I would tend to agree that slicing up a board only to reglue it seems a bit silly but I'm pretty sure that plenty of people opt for laminate necks for other than aesthetic purposes. My George Benson guitar has a 3 piece maple neck and I assume they could have found a bigger piece of wood if they had wanted. On the other hand, my Lakand has a one piece neck. So obviously maple is commonly used either way. I guess I was curious whether mahogany was more often used for a one piece or laminate neck.
 
#16
if its complete malarkey then why is it that people laminate for any reason other than looks. I'm seriously curious because I personally don't make laminate necks and I only ever use quartersawn just to be safe. Ive seen you say before that if you have quality dry lumber flatsawn and quartersawn makes no difference. I don't dispute that but what I do believe is that people laminate because they believe the neck will be stronger and less likely to warp or bow with the wood glued up on edge. Whether that is true or not is another thing.
 
#19
Grain orientation as an absolute quality?
Most of my woodworking experience is with softer woods used in construction so the grain is frequently an indication of how the material will warp, cup, or bow.
I do believe that, all other things being equal, a laminated neck is likely to be stiffer than a solid neck if only because of the glue and the opportunity to orient the grain in two planes.
 
#20
DSCN3599.jpg


Over 30 years old and still plays like a dream.

Misconceptions and myths exist because people do not take time to educate themselves.
 

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