About to finish my tele. How long can a neck be off (without tension)?

[Jkater]

I'm about to finally finish the body of my parts-o-tele, sanding, contouring and finishing. I'll be rather slow at it. How is it for the neck to be off that long? (two weeks or so). Should I do something with the trussrod or just leave it be?

[BG76]

I wouldn't worry about it. You could back off the tension if you wanted to.

 

When I build a guitar it always takes me a month or longer to finish it after the neck is done and I've never run into an issue.

 

I just finished a Broadcaster that I started 3 or 4 months ago. It was fine.

[poolshark]

You could loosen the truss rod if you so chose. In theory, a certain amount of relief is required to keep your fret tangs 'squeezed' in place by the fretboard wood; with too little relief (i.e. a ton of backbow), your frets could *possibly* come unseated. I can't say I've ever seen it - I've personally seen a lot more unstrung guitars that came out just fine - but it makes sense in theory.

[StevenJM]

i wouldn't worry about it. i had a guitar in parts for probably 3-4 years, and when i put it back together finally, the neck was still perfect, intonation was still perfect... i was shocked.

 

i think we under estimate how strong truss rods actually are. they keep the neck's shape just fine.

 

that was my experience anyways. i've also had other necks off for months while refinishing and have never had an issue.

 

hopefully the same goes for you.

[=JL=]

I've just built a parts Tele with an '81 neck that's been unstrung for 12 years, I just bolted it on and the relief is exactly as it was when I last used it (ie, perfect).

[etawful]

I wouldn't worry about it at all.

 

How long do you think a Warmoth neck (or any other manufacturer for that matter) sits around before shipping?

 

A properly constructed neck will be made from wood that has dried properly and sufficiently and will be stable.

 

As long as you don't store it under a bunch of heavy boxes it'll be fine.

[DaleH]

Years. Fender seems to store them on shelves no problem.

[flummox]

I just finished a Tele with a Mighty Mite neck that was sitting around for at least a year. It's fine.

[C-4]

Necks usually become torqued under moisture situations. The companies make these necks up in large quantities and they sit waiting for a body for any period of time.

 

The only company where this would not matter, no matter how long a neck was off a guitar is Vigier as their necks are reinforced using a carbon fiber truss rod which does not allow warped necks to become a issue.

[Flatspotter]

But do manufacturers keep the truss rod nut looser than normal during storage, then tighten it when the neck is attached to the guitar and strung? It seems to me if they didn't, the truss rod would cause a back bow on the neck during storage.