Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Shawn on December 13, 2010 at 3:42am

Well for me the cost is the factor. If I make one from scratch = wood blank , fret board , frets , fret dots , truss rod , nut and sanding clear and time = about $75. Premade from a guitar supplier ( I buy the paddle ones for $35) cut own head stock shape , sand down to my liking the neck saves me $40 some dollars. But if I want a 3x3 head stock the best plan is to build it as they run around $140 and up. My 3 and 4 strings I build as they are less time to build. As others have said it is a pride thing. I go with premade so I can get the best pickups and tuners and such in the rest of the build. It all adds up and most of us can't ask $700 for a cbg to the world no matter how cool it is. I hear " I could buy a real guitar for that" then I plug mine in to an amp and see the customer start to think. LOL

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Permalink Reply by Mister Scott on December 13, 2010 at 4:21am

wes carl said:

dont want to piss off anyone but ya dont have to go into a big disertation about it  if some wants to buy a neck id say it aint no body business but yer own

To each his own when it comes to CBGs, but this was a valid opening for a discussion among builders who prefer not to use pre-made necks (like Josh) and those who do (like Shawn). And to be perfectly honest, your comment about having us all start making our own strings & tuners was kind of unnecessary, seeing as quite a number of builders here already make their own nuts, bridges, tailpieces, fretboards, pickups, amplifiers... jeez, some even make their own boxes... All of which are handily (and easily) purchased. I don't see why discussing pre-made necks is therefore off the table.

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Permalink Reply by Bob Harrison on December 13, 2010 at 4:26am

I like your thinking on building. This has turned out to be a great discussion.

Cheers
Bob
Shawn said:

Well for me the cost is the factor. If I make one from scratch = wood blank , fret board , frets , fret dots , truss rod , nut and sanding clear and time = about $75. Premade from a guitar supplier ( I buy the paddle ones for $35) cut own head stock shape , sand down to my liking the neck saves me $40 some dollars. But if I want a 3x3 head stock the best plan is to build it as they run around $140 and up. My 3 and 4 strings I build as they are less time to build. As others have said it is a pride thing. I go with premade so I can get the best pickups and tuners and such in the rest of the build. It all adds up and most of us can't ask $700 for a cbg to the world no matter how cool it is. I hear " I could buy a real guitar for that" then I plug mine in to an amp and see the customer start to think. LOL

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Permalink Reply by Bob Harrison on December 13, 2010 at 4:54am

Scotty,
My necks will be pre carved on a hand made machine that I built to go on a hand made instruments with hand made pickups.. My claim has never been my stuff is the best in the whole world or this is how it should be done, it‘s just best for me.

What the heck , if you made a neck that I liked I would use it on one of my builds, and most likely make a pattern from it.. Good is good no matter where it comes from.

 

Cheers

Bob

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Permalink Reply by Uncle John on December 13, 2010 at 5:15am

I recently used my first pre-made neck and it kind of breaks my personal rules.  It does not look as nice or original as some of my own, but it made a quick build and the fret job is better than  my own.  May buy one again some time, but the more that is my work, the better I feel about it.

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Permalink Reply by Mister Scott on December 13, 2010 at 5:17am

Agreed, Uncle John. I brought up the discussion because I ruined a neck that I had been working on for a few weeks, off and on. Instead of spending another couple of weeks on this build, i decided to use a pre-made neck I bought on a whim a few months ago. It fits in the slot and is the right scale length, but it looks so dang out of place on the build...

Uncle John said:

I recently used my first pre-made neck and it kind of breaks my personal rules.  It does not look as nice or original as some of my own, but it made a quick build and the fret job is better than  my own.  May buy one again some time, but the more that is my work, the better I feel about it.

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Permalink Reply by Shawn on December 13, 2010 at 5:24am

Thanks Bob The finished cbg is what matters to me if it looks cool but plays like poop it's disassimbled and rebuilt end of story. The parts make up the whole the whole is what matters.

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Permalink Reply by c# merle on December 13, 2010 at 6:15am

not everyone is comfortable with hand/power tools so by all means use a prefab neck if you have one.

personally, i think making the neck is the most rewarding part. but i'd have no problem using a bought neck

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Permalink Reply by Bob Harrison on December 13, 2010 at 6:25am

Well spoken.

c# merle said:

not everyone is comfortable with hand/power tools so by all means use a prefab neck if you have one.

personally, i think making the neck is the most rewarding part. but i'd have no problem using a bought neck

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Permalink Reply by MichaelS Country Boy Guitars on December 13, 2010 at 6:52am

I'm all for making my own neck, but where do you get a decent $35 dollar neck? Unless its a secret I'd like to store that away till I need a fretted 6 string neck.

Shawn said:

Well for me the cost is the factor. If I make one from scratch = wood blank , fret board , frets , fret dots , truss rod , nut and sanding clear and time = about $75. Premade from a guitar supplier ( I buy the paddle ones for $35) cut own head stock shape , sand down to my liking the neck saves me $40 some dollars. But if I want a 3x3 head stock the best plan is to build it as they run around $140 and up. My 3 and 4 strings I build as they are less time to build. As others have said it is a pride thing. I go with premade so I can get the best pickups and tuners and such in the rest of the build. It all adds up and most of us can't ask $700 for a cbg to the world no matter how cool it is. I hear " I could buy a real guitar for that" then I plug mine in to an amp and see the customer start to think. LOL

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Permalink Reply by Mister Scott on December 13, 2010 at 6:54am

Shawn pointed me toward guitarfetish.com, where you can get blemished necks on closeout. The one I used was purchased for $27, actually. It's a fantastic deal, but that being said, they only offer Strat and Tele-style necks. If you want a 3 X 3, you'll have to go elsewhere.

MichaelS said:

I'm all for making my own neck, but where do you get a decent $35 dollar neck? Unless its a secret I'd like to store that away till I need a fretted 6 string neck.

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Permalink Reply by Wichita Sam on December 13, 2010 at 6:56am

Scotty,

 

having built over 200 CBGs I have come to this opinion.... anything up to 5 strings, I build.... 6 strings have so much tension on them that the build time required becomes prohibitive cost wise, and just drains out the fun for me....

 

everyone has their idea, that's mine....

 

the best,

 

Wichita Sam

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