Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Don Thompson on January 6, 2011 at 11:03am

Frets? We don't need no stinkin' frets for slide guitar!

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Mark Werner on January 6, 2011 at 1:44pm

If you're building a six-string neck from scratch, you might consider that you'll likely need a truss rod.  Unless you build the thing really heavy..

That's why most 6-string builds you see use a pre-existing neck from a salvaged or junk guitar.

 

No, you don't need to radius the fretboard; the main reason for that is to compensate for string thickness.  The strings all end up level.   Classical guitars typically have flat fretboards.

Just use a slightly higher nut and cut the slots for the bass strings deeper....

 

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Andy Estabrooks on January 6, 2011 at 2:36pm

If you want to do six strings, you need a reinforced neck to prevent warp.  A steel tube (like old Martins) will work, if you don't need relief in the neck (using an adjustable truss rod) to improve action. A separate fretboard will cover the neck rout and tube, as well as improve stiffness of the neck. A radiused fretboard is nice if you do barre chords, but not necessary if you play with a slide.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Don Thompson on January 6, 2011 at 2:41pm

http://www.ratcliffe.co.za/articles/radius.shtml

yes, a radiused fingerboard is for ease in barring chords.

Don

 

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by jason fitzgibbons on January 6, 2011 at 3:10pm

you can laminate the wood to improve the strength, look in my pics at the six string that I built, i used five pieces of wood, and also left the fret board flat, its a great slide guitar neck.  It is a little bulkier than a usual neck, but its still very playable.  I have it strung up with heavy electric strings, and its a 24.5 scale, and the neck is solid as a rock.

 

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by tal bluver on January 9, 2011 at 9:47am

what wood would you use if you don't want to use thrust rod?

Andy Estabrooks said:

If you want to do six strings, you need a reinforced neck to prevent warp.  A steel tube (like old Martins) will work, if you don't need relief in the neck (using an adjustable truss rod) to improve action. A separate fretboard will cover the neck rout and tube, as well as improve stiffness of the neck. A radiused fretboard is nice if you do barre chords, but not necessary if you play with a slide.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Mister Scott on January 9, 2011 at 11:48am

Trust these fellers; unless you're laminating a neck using extraordinarily heavy wood (bloodwood comes to mind), you'll want something in there to keep the neck from bending. If we go by Glenn MacDonald's calculator (http://www.mcdonaldstrings.com/stringxxiii.html), a 24" scale CBG strung A-D-G from a set of medium strings puts roughly 94 lbs of pressure on the guitar; the same guitar with all 6 strings has roughly 156 lbs of pressure. Chances are you're going to need something to strengthen the neck. Andy Estabrooks noted the old Martins just had a steel tube inside to counteract the pressure; I strengthened an early 6-stringer with a 0.25" steel rod from Menards in a channel routed with a Dremel. It's extra work, but if you want the neck strong, it's a necessary procedure.

 

tal bluver said:

what wood would you use if you don't want to use thrust rod?

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Leroy Beal on January 9, 2011 at 4:03pm

Unless you want the experience of building a neck yourself, spend $35.95 and get a pre-made tele style neck and get on with your build. You can't buy the parts to make one for that cheap.

 

http://store.guitarfetish.com/Unfinished-telecaster-fit-neck-Paddle...

 

No one will think the less of you (at least not me).

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Paul Monaco ( Whittling Guy) on August 13, 2012 at 7:33pm

I make frets out of toothpicks.  Just saw the groove in the neck with a back saw or fret saw at the proper fret spacing then I glue the toothpicks in.  I use flat toothpicks on their edge, but I think you can use the round ones if your saw is the right thickness.  Then sand them level with the neck.  The contrasting wood looks really nice.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by The Phrygian Kid on August 13, 2012 at 8:22pm

I've made over three dozen six string guitar necks without truss rods aNd to the best of my knowledge all but one of them are still very playable. That one failure is still a viable steel. It can be done. Truss rod does not keep a neck straight, it exerts a counter tension to the strings to correct for movement. I'm not rubbishing them at all, but you can certainly make a good guitar neck without one. That said, making and installing a truss rod is not any more difficult than any other aspect of making a guitar neck if you have the right tools :) they actually require a lot of wood to be removed, it could be said that a truss rod sort of neccesitates itself. I wouldn't recommend a one piece or even two piece neck if you wanna skip on the rod, go get some strong hardwood flooring or decking and glue a bunch of them together

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Mungo Park on August 14, 2012 at 5:10pm

flat fret board  makes for easier slide, well for me anyways. Not to lead this thread off track but I also sit on the side of no truss rod, many a guitar is truss less and the notes are nun the wiser.

First go keep it simple and you will be playing the blues by sundown.

                                                    Cheers Ron.

                                                                 

• ▶ Reply