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Neck bending


Marshalljl

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I used to do it on sustained song endings and such. The amount of actual pitch change is pretty limited depending on the type of neck. A thicker neck doesn't give at all. In any case its not a substitute for a vibrato or regular string bending and over use can cause truss problems, especially on cheaper necks. You could simply buy a pitch bender pedal if your guitar doesn't facilitate the installation of a whammy. My buddy used one in his Boss multi effects unit that was very impressive. It didn't suffer from the digital artifacts associates with many older pitch shifters and had an excellent lock on the string which allowed smooth bends up to a full octave range on a note using an expression pedal.

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I myself don't do it but I've seen many who do & seem to have no prob.

Even Jeff Beck, who has a whole array of bending techniques (standard string bends, vibrato bar, bending behind the bridge, above the nut & pushing the neck,& sometimes uses diff ones in a single song, includes that as one of his tricks.

 

I'd say that if yer careful not to do more than a gentle push from the back it might be OK.

It might also best ( & most effectively ) be done w/ bolt-on necks.

 

In looking for a vid example of Beck, I just came across something I'd not seen before---bending the neck back to raise the pitch !

[video=youtube;-Z7dF0FfZTQ]

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I've done it for years, to all my guitars. expensive, cheat, bolt neck, set neck, etc. you don't use alot of pressure, it's a very subtle bend. I'm sure cranking on it could lead to problems, but have sense about it and use your ears. it doesn't take much movement at all to get a noticeable pitch change.

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I've recently seen a "larger than normal" amount of Fender necks that have "run out of truss rod adjustment" and ALL of them had 2 common factors.

1. they were all within the date range of 2002-2013 and has the newer style Allen wrench adjusting nut behind the string nut.

2.. all of the owners admitted to neck bending/flexing as a "normal part" of their playing technique.

 

being curious, I took one of these necks apart and found that the machined area just behind the truss rod nut inside the neck was "compressed and widened" to the point of the nut sorta "pulled its way through" and then ran out of thread on the rod. this area is "spot faced machined" to be just a small amount larger the adjusting nut, but the hole for the rod itself is only 3/32 smaller than the adjuster nut hole and the space between them is only 1/4" thick. IMHO thi si not enough "meat" to handle the pressure over long periods of time. I would deem this a "design flaw"

 

and for those that don't know me, I use the "quotes" to call attention to that fact that I'm using somewhat subjective wording and that some folks may interpret this in a manner not consistent with my original meaning.

 

so to the OPs original question,

I've never told anyone that neck bending/flexing presents any kind of an issue... until now. and its ONLY due to a obvious design change on (so far) one specific range of guitar models.

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I've seen disasters when people do the neck bending on Les Paul's .... Don't ever do it on a glued in neck SG' date=' it's heart ( neck ) breaking !!!![/quote']

 

This is a 1977 (I think) LP Custom. Yeah. Its sitting in the corner of my shop right now. I could fix it if the owner hadn't already tried - he used Gorilla glue, didn't prepare or clamp it properly, generally just mucked it up totally. Poor baby

 

 

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I remember Pat Travers doing it back in the 70s... IIRC, he broke a couple of necks that way. I wouldn't really recommend it.

 

 

I was more forgiving in my younger playing days, but I quickly wised up. I had lent a custom-made Gibson Les Paul to someone who I was told was a great player, who was asked to sit in with our band back in the early 1970's.

During the song he was sitting in for, he reached up and pulled the peg head of my LP and I heard a snapping sound. This guy had just disconnected the truss rod in the guitar. I had to send it back to Gibson in Kalamazoo. The work was very expensive to repair, and refinish this guitar. Now, I don't even want people to look at my gear.

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I was more forgiving in my younger playing days, but I quickly wised up. I had lent a custom-made Gibson Les Paul to someone who I was told was a great player, who was asked to sit in with our band back in the early 1970's.

During the song he was sitting in for, he reached up and pulled the peg head of my LP and I heard a snapping sound. This guy had just disconnected the truss rod in the guitar. I had to send it back to Gibson in Kalamazoo. The work was very expensive to repair, and refinish this guitar. Now, I don't even want people to look at my gear.

 

Ouch! :(

 

Hopefully the guy at least paid for the damage he did... but somehow I doubt it.

 

I had a brand new Les Paul in the mid-90s that I loaned to someone, and they brought it back with a bunch of belt buckle rash on the back. I'm a lot more cautious about who I lend my guitars to now.

 

 

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