Members superdistortion Posted September 12, 2009 Members Share Posted September 12, 2009 I also wonder, if you have a whole tree at your disposal, is it possible to get a wood piece that big to do both neck and body out of it? I mean with no glue or bolts for connection.Most luthiers and wood workers would recommend against that as that configuration would tend to warp. Also it wouldn't be a strong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Echad Posted September 12, 2009 Members Share Posted September 12, 2009 Most luthiers and wood workers would recommend against that as that configuration would tend to warp. Also it wouldn't be a strong. Even a truss rod won't save it? Or you mean that the body would warp? What about a neck-through with a single-piece neck then? I see most of the manufacturers using three to five pieced necks, is it for added strength? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members LTJ_roxx Posted September 12, 2009 Members Share Posted September 12, 2009 The wood would warp(if it were to warp) during drying as a board, but you could compensate for that upon the carving out of the body/neck from the block so long as it isn't totally {censored}ed.As for strength, grain aligned close to how it is in the tree tends to do well. if the tree is large enough a whole body/neck could be made from the heartwood, there won't be any stability problems. And you would need a truss rod regardless. It's totally possible, the wood is the main limitation. As for the reason a lot of neck throughs are multi-pieced is the fact they're copying rickenbacker. Basically(depending on design) your neck/body 1 piece blank would have to measure about 2"x14"x35"(at time of cutting). You could use the parts you carve off when making the neck portion for 2-piece bodies and/or 1-piece necks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DaleH Posted September 12, 2009 Members Share Posted September 12, 2009 Good point. It's not the worth the risk to their milling tools. No it's not worth the risk of a nail or what ever flying off a saw blade and killing a worker. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members LTJ_roxx Posted September 12, 2009 Members Share Posted September 12, 2009 No it's not worth the risk of a nail or what ever flying off a saw blade and killing a worker. Reclaimed lumber places are springing up more commonly around the US, and they generally run over the trees with a metal detector and mill things a bit differently in general. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DaleH Posted September 12, 2009 Members Share Posted September 12, 2009 Reclaimed lumber places are springing up more commonly around the US, and they generally run over the trees with a metal detector and mill things a bit differently in general. and the OP has one close by? What I would do is see if rhere is a nice clean piece and cut a 24" section. Then just rough cut a 4x what ever width chunk out of it with the chainsaw. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members LTJ_roxx Posted September 12, 2009 Members Share Posted September 12, 2009 and the OP has one close by? There's a lot throughout the midwest, as well as new england, the carolinas, even a few here in the south. Folks taking down old barns etc. plus IKEA making actual wood furniture damn near a custom shop market has made it a profitable business. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Echad Posted September 12, 2009 Members Share Posted September 12, 2009 As for the reason a lot of neck throughs are multi-pieced is the fact they're copying rickenbacker. And why did Rickenbacker do it in the first place? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members LTJ_roxx Posted September 12, 2009 Members Share Posted September 12, 2009 And why did Rickenbacker do it in the first place? The concept that because the wood grain expands and contracts oppositely it would keep the necks from warping. In practice, it's not totally necessary. Firebirds and various BC rich designs do well without it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members axegrinder Posted September 12, 2009 Members Share Posted September 12, 2009 Is the house within city limits? If so you can forget about getting it milled. Mills don't take wood from cities because of the high chance of there being nails and other metal stuff in it.Yeah cuz rural folk don't pound nails into trees. I'm not doubting you, but if what youre saying is true then I question the logic of the mills. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Echad Posted September 12, 2009 Members Share Posted September 12, 2009 The concept that because the wood grain expands and contracts oppositely it would keep the necks from warping. In practice, it's not totally necessary. Firebirds and various BC rich designs do well without it. Thanks for the info... I've also seen the multi-piece necks used as a design feature, up to 5 pieces on Ibanezes. Weird thing, since every extra piece of wood cuts the value for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members LTJ_roxx Posted September 12, 2009 Members Share Posted September 12, 2009 I don't care how many pieces of wood are in a guitar. I care about 3 things-Ergonomics, dependability, sound. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Surfdude Posted September 12, 2009 Members Share Posted September 12, 2009 I made this bass out of scrap in shop class, 25 years ago. Two or three peice body. Old Epi neck. Barely an inch thick. This bass rocks! I have had a ton of compliments on the sound of this instrument over the years. Flat out the best sounding bass I have ever heard. Very dense, hard wood. Probably why it sounds so good. Very, very hard to sand. I made it pointy because..well, that was 1984 after all. I also figured that rounded guitars held the sound in whereas the pointy ones actually would give the sound/vibrations a definite direction to go. Don't know if that has any basis in fact but it sure does sound good. But as far as using a tree you just cut down....do some good research on cutting and drying. Surfy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Citizen_Insane Posted September 12, 2009 Members Share Posted September 12, 2009 Yeah cuz rural folk don't pound nails into trees. I'm not doubting you, but if what youre saying is true then I question the logic of the mills. The chances someone put a nail in a tree in town is much higher than in the country. This is what my dad told me, he's been doing wood working for 30 years and worked with numerous mills. It is getting more common these days to use a metal detector to see if there is anything inside the tree, but the rule of thumb for most mills is no city wood. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Echad Posted September 12, 2009 Members Share Posted September 12, 2009 I don't care how many pieces of wood are in a guitar. I care about 3 things- Ergonomics, dependability, sound. The more pieces, the more it acts like a laminate... But very dependable, yeah. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members stratotak Posted September 12, 2009 Members Share Posted September 12, 2009 The chances someone put a nail in a tree in town is much higher than in the country.This is what my dad told me, he's been doing wood working for 30 years and worked with numerous mills. It is getting more common these days to use a metal detector to see if there is anything inside the tree, but the rule of thumb for most mills is no city wood. How are they going to know where you got the wood from? How are they going to tell If the wood was from a tree or whatever in city limits...? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DaleH Posted September 12, 2009 Members Share Posted September 12, 2009 How are they going to know where you got the wood from? How are they going to tell If the wood was from a tree or whatever in city limits...? Because mills buy there wood by the logging truck load and know the cut block number it come from. The trees are stramped on the butt end with a hamer with numbers on the head. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kherman Posted September 12, 2009 Members Share Posted September 12, 2009 Conklin Guitars use cherry wood for their Century series.http://www.conklinguitars.com/new_century_series_guitars.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Chippy Posted September 12, 2009 Members Share Posted September 12, 2009 Is the house within city limits? If so you can forget about getting it milled. Mills don't take wood from cities because of the high chance of there being nails and other metal stuff in it. My dad & I downed a pecan (gorgeous wood w/ lots of tunnels) for a neighbor that was too close to their house in exchange for some very basic shelves made from the wood. When we took the 2 main logs to the mill the first thing they did was run a metal detector over them. Mills will absolutely take wood from cities. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Chippy Posted September 12, 2009 Members Share Posted September 12, 2009 How are they going to know where you got the wood from? How are they going to tell If the wood was from a tree or whatever in city limits...? It's just typical internet BS. Maybe there are some that don't take city wood, but around here I've never of such nonsense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ihavenofish Posted September 12, 2009 Members Share Posted September 12, 2009 The concept that because the wood grain expands and contracts oppositely it would keep the necks from warping. In practice, it's not totally necessary. Firebirds and various BC rich designs do well without it. looks laminated to me. gibson usually laminates any non mahogany neck. maple especially, as it has a desire to twist. you can do it any way you like - guitars often violate conventional wood joining wisdom - doesnt mean its best. ric wasnt the first to laminate a neck either, i think its been done since the 1800's at least with classicals. in any case, cherry should make a perfectly fine gutiar body. i dont know how stable it would be for necks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Echad Posted September 12, 2009 Members Share Posted September 12, 2009 I like how there's more discussion about mills and their policies than the actual guitars... It's called HCEG. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Special J Posted September 12, 2009 Members Share Posted September 12, 2009 There are a lot of perfectly good hardwoods that aren't customarily used for guitars (e.g. walnut, myrtlewood, redwood, olive, etc.) because they aren't what Fender and Gibson used in 1950. Again, it goes to show how amazingly conservative (as a group) guitarists are. If everybody were like this, we'd all still be driving Model Ts and watching television on our 7" Motorolas... Instead we're driving PT Cruisers and watching television on our 4" Iphones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members LTJ_roxx Posted September 12, 2009 Members Share Posted September 12, 2009 looks laminated to me. gibson usually laminates any non mahogany neck. maple especially, as it has a desire to twist. you can do it any way you like - guitars often violate conventional wood joining wisdom - doesnt mean its best. ric wasnt the first to laminate a neck either, i think its been done since the 1800's at least with classicals. in any case, cherry should make a perfectly fine gutiar body. i dont know how stable it would be for necks. They don't laminate the maple necks on the zakk wylde models. Fender made one-piece maple necks in the 50s that are still being played today, no lamination. 1979 BC rich, neck through, 1 piece neck. I never said ricks were the first to laminate wood, just first to do it on neck throughs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ΨWindingΨ Posted September 12, 2009 Members Share Posted September 12, 2009 Actually the honor if neck-through goes to Les. For production it appears Rickenbacker beats B.C. Rich too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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