Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Tom T on July 14, 2016 at 9:20am

That's pretty thin, but a lot depends on what it is made of. Ia the neck a hard wood like oak or maple?

Another factor is strings. How many? What gauge?

If the neck is hard wood and a 3-stringer I doubt that would have any problems. If it's a 4-stringer with medium or light strings, then you still should be okay.

It looks like the neck actually touches the bottom of the box. You could glue the neck to the bottom of the box to gain a little additional strength.

If it were mine, I would string it up and give it a try. If you want to be cautious, then glue the neck down.

Good luck

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Permalink Reply by Jobo on July 14, 2016 at 9:49am

Hey thanks for commung back soo soon. Yeah going for a 3 string. The box back is paper thin wood. I was thinking of doing a brace. I might just strimg it up n see cheers.
How

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Permalink Reply by Jobo on July 14, 2016 at 11:34am

ill do that for build number 3, I only have hand tools for sawing, so feel like i have invested too much time on this neck and pondering time, we all love a good ponder, to give up on it now. 

I was looking for some calculations on calculating the max tension on the woods thinnest point (weakest) and it seems out of my mental grasp at the moment. Don't know if anyone else has anything that could help with this?

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Permalink Reply by Jonno on July 14, 2016 at 12:03pm

hi Jobo. I'm a noob too. Here's my ten cents worth. Did you prep neck only to find scale lenghth you wanted went beyond box.Its fretless no prob doing what Way recommends and gittin that bridge off from beyond the box end. I just made a boo boo of preppin a neck and a box only to discover the neck scale length of 25 was too long for the boxmy box.Solution. I could have scrapped box or change scale length. I opted for scale length change down to 23.With the method I use for fretting I just had to take off frets, give a little sand and re measure. Re attach frets.
Gotta say your neck is thin where you cut pickup slot.

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Permalink Reply by Jonno on July 14, 2016 at 3:14pm

Good Call Way. You rock

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Permalink Reply by JL on July 15, 2016 at 12:27am

Here is an easy answer for you, add more wood to the sides of the neck inside the box to restore the strength.

Shane posted a video a while back about how he does mag pups, the part of the neck inside the box has a block of wood glued to each side, so that it looks paddle shaped and the cut-out for the pup doesn't have to go all the way across.

sort of like this:

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Permalink Reply by Kigar on July 15, 2016 at 11:16am

I'd say go for it with braces as JL illustrated unless your box was one of a kind. As you tension the strings it will either "hinge" at the thin spot or not, only one way to find out!

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Permalink Reply by Grandpa on July 15, 2016 at 12:12pm

Thankfully, CB Nation is a great fount of information regarding things like this, and many other questions which often arise during a build. Jobo, this will be a learning experience for you no matter how you decide to resolve your question. I have used the "wing" method described above to attach a a couple of hard-tail bridges, where the screw holes are wider than the neck, or too close to secure the screws. Worked great. If I had a hinging/bending issue with the neck, I might consider adding an external wooden brace on the outside of the back of the box, glued and screwed through the back into the neck. Not as visually pleasing as a flat surface on the "tummy side" of the guitar, but if it saves the playability of the guitar and keeps it from being a wall-hanger, it might be a route to ponder. As Wayfinder opined, I, too, have laid aside necks that I built that were not bend-proof, or wrongly cut, and started a new one. But I save them to try to salvage for a subsequent build. I have cut down through-the-box necks and used the shortened neck on a bolt-on build. I have glued a box-length 1 X 2 brace under the suspect neck and used it in a deeper box. I learned something valuable in every trial and error. Still building, still learning. I am impressed with the time and energy you put into your hand tool wood removal. I see some of the pics of some builder's workshops and tools, and think that I need to enhance my selection of wood destructing weapons. Then I read posts from new builders like yourself, doing an awful lot without power tools, and am reminded that I have a pretty fair arsenal that others work without. Hope your decision results in an interesting and good playing git. Keep buildin'!

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Permalink Reply by Grandpa on July 15, 2016 at 3:05pm

Amen to that,Wayfinder. I started out with a 12 volt drill, a miter box, some hand saws, and "shoeshine" sanding strips. Since then I bought a table saw that is mostly used for ripping necks, as you described. Prior to that, I bought 1 x 2's at HD. Now, I can buy better planks, or find vintage lumber and rip them straight. I have an old drill press, a 60 year old Craftsman bandsaw (works great) a newer router, all obtained by chance, by cheap, since I started building gits, and now I use them, as well as an orbital sander. I'd love to have a 36" belt sander, but haven't needed it enough to give up the real estate or $.  As you said, more than a person must have, but mucho convenient. I do admire the work folks create with less power, more elbow grease. Spoke shaves, whittling knives, brace and bit drills, Disston rip saws, block planes....those will get the job done. Kudos to you who build this way. I'm not a production shop, just a hobbyist. But I do like the outfit I've got. But if you want to clear part of that shelf, Wayfinder, you could send me that bench belt sander!  :)

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Permalink Reply by Grandpa on July 15, 2016 at 3:24pm

Well Jobo, I have run your question off into the weeds, so let me pull it back and ask you to tell us what you decide to do, and what the result is. Lookin' forward to hear about it.

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Permalink Reply by Jonno on July 15, 2016 at 9:26pm

Luddites he he he. I nearly bought myself a 10mm drill yesterday to make it easier to fit gotoh tuners. But I thought its the little bit of extra effort that brings more satisfaction when you finally build something that is playable. So I just gonna stick with me 6mm drill and rasp them holes bigger. Of coutse I could swutch to tuners that dont require a 10mm hole. I find CBG ing a journey. There are little obstacles that pop up, like Jobo has discovered, and you got find that little solution that can get you outa of a jam.And maybe enhance your build in the process. Cheers. Jonno

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Permalink Reply by Jonno on July 16, 2016 at 11:48am

Well I'll tell you what I did at the hardware store.I picked up a budget special of assorted drill bits. We talkin budget here. Around 8 bucks (thatz ozzie bucks) for around 15 bits.Cheap and nasty. I carried around with me thruout the store while I looked for some other stuff. I then did the old routine like you do at the supermarket when you change your mind bout something in ya trolley. Instead of taken it back where you got it you slyly shove it in an unrelated section of the store. Block of cheese next to the tissues. I shoved them drills next to some citronella candles in the barbecue section. Very naughty he he he

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