In the world of electric guitar necks there are a few variations of construction. For the sake of simplicity, I will take the example of typical Gibson with a fat heel, glued in, binded, angled head neck, vs the typical Fender, with a bolted on, flat heel and flat headstock. The difference in wood choice is not as important for the construction. We love them both, and in this build we will concentrate on the Fender Style Neck.
There are a few variations and different methods and order in which the process is executed and it depends on the type of tools used and personal preferences. Considering great many Luthiers could swear by their methods and may disagree, I like to experiment in tools and methods and maybe someday I will be sure enough of myself to say what is ‘right’. I will however give my consideration for every step we go through. So let’s dive in.
When cutting and gluing wood there is often no ‘Undo’ or second chances and as creative and artistic as we’d like to be counting on ‘happy coincidences’ is not something I like to incorporate into neck building. It is good practice to plan ahead and have everything laid out, figuratively and literally.
Big Lou Wide Necks
Since we are essentially replicating an existing design, there is no need to be over creative with the plan. You can find plans for different models of Strats in various websites, I’ll be using a set of plans from electricherald.com. Stratocasters have had their share of variations through the year, but the basic shapes have been the same.
You can make your own version or stick to specs you can also find on the Fender website if you want a more exact replica.
In this build I’ll be aiming for specs of a 70’s style strat, with a 9.5” C shaped neck, 22 Frets and 25.5” scale length.
Vintage S Style Guitar Neck
There are some tools that are essential to the building process, and others that can have substitutes with different methods. I will be using tools that are readily available to most hobbyist woodworkers and Luthiers, mostly hand tools or conversions of such with the aid of some Jigs I have built myself. No fancy CNC machines here.
I am going to point the tools along the way, if you want a full list be sure to check out my post – ‘the-ultimate-guide-to-guitar-building-tools’ (https:///the-ultimate-guide-to-guitar-building-tools/)
Hardware: A Truss Rod, Frets and Machine Heads will be necessary. The specs are flexible but it’s good to have everything in advance so you don’t end up routing or drilling the wrong size.
Custom Unfinished Vintage Strat Guitar Necks With 9.5' Rosewood Fingerboard
Building a neck might not be something you would do in one day, so it’s a good idea to have an allocated area where you can just leave it and pick up from the same point next time without having to organize the working area in the beginning and end of each session. Take into account a lot of saw-dust, wood shaving and chips, glues, oils and possibly spray.
The benefits of working with a template are numerous and great to the novice Luthier as much as the Pros. Took me more tries then I care to admit to get the first one right. Lucky that was not the guitar itself. On top of that, a good template can serve you multiple times and give you great accuracy and consistency. The preferred material is 10mm MDF. It is easy to work with and gives very smooth and predictable. It’s also not expensive so it’s great for all those accidents and beginner mistakes.
Print the neck shape in 1:1 scale. If you don’t have access to a plotter, which will print it on one sheet of paper, you can tile it (if it’s a pdf file) on A3, A4 or letter size paper through the ‘Poster’ option in the printer. The thicker the paper, the easier it will be later. Make sure you tick the ‘cut marks’ box to get crosshairs on the corners, to help align the tiles. The smaller the paper, the more tiles you will have and the bigger the potential for errors in accuracy. We are not counting on this for accuracy, but it’s nice to have.
How Many Pieces Of Wood Are Guitar Necks Typically Made With?
A word on accuracy –‘Measure, Measure, Cut’ How accurate the guitar and turn out is entirely up to you and depends on your experience and attention, but also on the types of tools and methodology you use. In most areas of the build, there is tolerance and if the body is a 0.25” smaller or larger, you might not even notice. However, the neck in general and the fretboard area in particular, will suffer from inaccuracy. Misplaced frets will not let you tune and intonate the guitar properly, missing the shape or thickness of the neck will change the feel and playability of the instrument and a badly shaped nut will either cause buzzing or have an uncomfortably high action. Pasting the printed plans
Cut the printed plans (the top view of the neck only) and paste it on a piece of MDF. Spray glue is preferable to white or carpenters’ glue as the latter wrinkles and may distort the paper. This is a good time to check the actual size against the specs. Check the thickness of the printed lines to see where the actual cut should relatively be.
Cut along the outline of the neck, using a band saw, a Jig saw, a table or any combination of those. Make an effort to make the lines along the neck as smooth and accurate as possible to save on sanding. You can also use a straight edge of sorts and route them using a Flush Trim Bit (Template copier). Remember, the whole idea of a template is that it copies the exact shape to the neck itself, kinks and bumps included, so make sur the template is smooth and straight where it should be. Mark and copy the centerline of the neck and the nut position. Don’t forget to drill the holes in the headstock for the Machine heads. You may want to only drill the pilot holes in the center, it will be easier to transfer accurately to the headstock.
Guitar Necks — Allparts Music
To get started you need a slab of wood of at least 1.5”x4”x26” (about 30mm X 100mm X 660mm). At least one side has to be straight and flat. If you can run it on a jointer to have angles square life will easier and more precise. Working with straight angles is easier for measuring, routing and planing. I like to do as much as I can before shaping the neck.
Mark the center line on the top of the neck. Measure and mark the thickness and note the thickness of the truss rod for the desired depth. Find the matching straight carbide tipped bit. You can use a guide or a jig to route the channel for the truss rod. There are different types of very simple jigs, depending on the type and size of router you have. Mark the ends. The truss rod nut should be right under the neck nut.
Don’t try to route the full depth at once, it is better to start very shallow, measure again and get to the final depth after a few goes. Depending on the Truss Rod you have, you may need a to have different depths in the two ends. You want the Truss Rod to fit snugly in the groove and be pretty much flush with the height.
Bolt On Vs. Set Neck: What's The Difference?
If there is any extra room, you would want to prevent the rod from rattling. There are a few methods for this which include, sticking masking tape or drinking straws in the spaces, or even some wax or a few dabs of silicone. The silicone maintains its flexibility when dry, so it wouldn’t jam the rod later.
This is where the template really comes into play. Place the template on the Neck and make sure it’s center line is aligned with the neck. Use double sided tape to keep it in place. Cut along the outline using a band saw or a Jig saw and leave as little as you can to make the router’s work easy as possible. The less force you need to use with the router, the better.
Using the Flush Trim Bit, with the Bearing against the template go around the neck to get a perfect template copy. Mark the positions of the holes for the machine heads and remove the template. At this point you should have a neck that looks right from the top but is a long cube from the side view.
Under The Hood #8: Woods Used On Fender Guitars
Before rounding the neck, we want to cut it to the correct thickness and thin the headstock thickness. You can use a Band Saw, a Router with the right jigs and Bits, a Grinder, a Planer, a Rasp Saw or a combination of all of the above. If you have a Press Drill, you may want to drill the headstock holes at this point. If using a hand drill, you will probably get more accurate spacing after
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