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I have built 4 elctrics that I have made the body and bought an aftermarket neck. I am wanting to make a neck from scratch. I have a large piece of curly maple (6" x 6" x 96"), that I would like to use in this future neck. Any ideas on this? Would this be a good idea? How should I cut it, if I could use it? And basically, just any help I can get, I will greatly appreciate.
Thanks!

Is it flatsawn, quartersawn, what?

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Old growth, shmold growth!

With it being 6" X 6" it can anything he wants.

Cut it so the grain is vertical, like this: lllllllll

That will be the strongest and most stable.

Hmmm, I had no idea that maple was actually stronger flat sawn. For electric guitars it's not as crucial and it's been done so many times in the past that I'd be inclined to just use the surfaces that look the best regardless of the annular rings.

I would think the "other reason" is much more likely to be why Fender use flatsawn stock.

Is there a documented test, anywhere, anytime, which measures the deflection difference between flatsawn maple and quarter sawn ?

I would be amazed if such a test proved that flatsawn maple deflected significantly less under a given load than quarter-sawn.

I wonder whether flatsawn would warp or otherwise twist more over time, as this would concern more than strength with maple.

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"Preoccupation with an effect gives it power and enhances the error"
from "Your Owner's Manual" by Burt Hotchkiss.

If this is your first neck build, here is the process I would recommend.

1. Read everything you can about how to do this.
2. Watch a couple youtube videos
3. Go to the lumber yard and get a cheap scrap piece of Maple.
4. Make a practice neck.
5. Practice again
6. Cut up your good wood and make the real thing.

Necks are not that difficult to make and once you understand the concepts and process things should go smoothly.
Good luck

Dave

Somewhere on this forum, maybe a few months back, posted a link to a place that had a chart of wood stiffness, with differences in flatsawn and vertical grain (who cares of the log was actually quartered, what you have is vertical grain). i was amazed, like most would be, that most if not all hardwoods had better stiffness in the flatsawn orientation .. the reason we luthiers perfer the grain to be veritcal is usually the differnce in stability, with vertical grain not moving as mucha s flatsawn thru changes in environment. In the case of rock maple necks, its so stiff either way that for a guitar neck with a truss rod, it wont matter.

Leo did everything cheap, and wasted nothing ... he once received a boxcar of small maple and cherry pieces, supposed to be for necks .. they were all too short ... so he made all those wooden amp cases, in the 50s ....

Do the test yourself .. take a piece of vertical grain maple, or flatsawn, in a 1x1 size, 3 feet long - so all you have to do it flip it 90 degrees while testing - hang a decent weight off it and check the deflection - I dont have a proper dial indicator to do this ,.. but someone must ...

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Tony Karol
www.karol-guitars.com
"let my passion .. fulfill yours"

But I wonder how that test would go on shaped necks rather then just square stock.

Why would it be any different ?? .. the material's properties are inherant ... there is of course a range of values and differences between pieces, but in my example, its the exact same piece of wood .. you cant get any better than that.

One thing to consider though if its a flamed piece - the flame will usually show more intensity on the quarter face.

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Tony Karol
www.karol-guitars.com
"let my passion .. fulfill yours"

It is a great idea to make your own neck! You just have to be prepared with the knowledge and tools to do so, but it is not that hard. First of all you should tell us exactly what you want to make on what style of guitar because there can be some big differences.

The main reason for going with quartersawn lumber is dimensional stability. Strength is about the same in either orientation. I'm planning to run some deflection tests on flooring soon at work, perhaps I'll toss in a couple of samples of maple for the sake of argument and post the results. (yes, I love having access to a couple of Instrons)

Flatsawn and Quartersawn are both strong enough to resist the string tension, with maple. And, yhea, maybe flatsawn could me stronger, but not that much. And Q-sawn is way more stable than flatsawn.

Francis

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Francis Richer, Montréal
Les Guitares F&M Guitars