Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Richey Kay on March 29, 2015 at 6:03pm

Hey Blake. I've never made a neck from maple, but it's a good strong wood so I don't think you have anything to worry about there. I shape the backs of all of my necks as well. Here's a pic of the 4 string neck I recently finished. This was oak but a similar principle.

It's maybe not the best angle to see from, but you can see that I removed a lot of wood. The neck blank started off at about 22mm, and I thinned it down quite a bit towards the headstock. No warping to be seen as yet!

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Permalink Reply by Scott aka Farmer Ted on March 30, 2015 at 12:23am

Wayfinder & Richey are right. With your maple neck & walnut fingerboard, a 1/2" rounding router bit will be fine. Even if your neck tapers in width from wide at the heel end, to more narrow at the nut, all will be good, since 4 strings only produce about 65% of the total tension of a full six string set.
A note about your tuning: an optional tuning other than ADGB with your chosen strings, is ADF#B, and there are chord charts online that make open chords (not power chords like GDGB tunings would employ). Look for "baritone ukulele chord charts" on Google. The chord shapes are similar to regular six string chords, but are in a different key, and are easy to learn.
Cheers.

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Permalink Reply by TN Twang on March 30, 2015 at 1:40am

Good answers! From good builders. Read & believe...

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Permalink Reply by Richey Kay on March 30, 2015 at 4:45am

Good points. Yes oak is mega strong and it does have big pores. Grain filler is good to use to get a smooth finish.

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Permalink Reply by Richey Kay on March 30, 2015 at 8:07pm

I use Rustin's neutral grain filler. You just mix it with white spirit (I think that's 'naphtha' or 'mineral spirits' in the US, I forget which).

It soaks into the pores and hardens. It does change the appearance, making the grain patterns more obvious.

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Permalink Reply by darryl kernaghan on March 31, 2015 at 2:45am

wish you'd posted yesterday Richie,i'm at the end of a solid build,nice grain,but coarse,sanded my arm off,and still not happy,i've put 4 coats on now so too late

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Permalink Reply by Richey Kay on March 31, 2015 at 8:08pm

Well, just bear it in mind for next time Darryl! What finish are you using on this one? If you're using oil you can wet sand and fill those pores with slurry?

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Permalink Reply by TN Twang on March 30, 2015 at 10:44am

I've had some early builds sitting around under tension for more than 2 years now. I always whittle away enough wood to make a comfortable curve in the neck profile. I think I can see a little bowing in early poplar 3 strings, but they're unfretted and the warping is not visible without a straightedge to check against.

On fretted instruments that are set up for a low action, the danger seems to be warping and twisting enough to cause fret buzz--not necessarily curving under string tension, but distorting the neck in all sorts of directions.

Give close attention to Wayfinder's comment above about gluing on a separate fretboard. Even on unfretted instruments this lamination of woods adds beaucoups stability.

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Permalink Reply by David McQueen on March 30, 2015 at 12:21pm

This is the neck for guitar #1. Rounded oak four stringer neck done with a sureform rasp and a scraper. It was strung up with light steel acoustic strings. It has not bent a bit in three years.

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Permalink Reply by Blake Hatton on March 30, 2015 at 4:52pm

thanks everyone! If you look at the picture, you can see the guitar as it is.  all i am going to do after rounding the neck is touch up some of the scratches in the box with some cherry stain, install some fret markers, then lacquer the whole thing.

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