Official Luthiers Forum!

I have a potential customer who has told me he wants a "flatted D" neck profile - something flat/thin. I think he wants to match something he owns and likes.

I would like him to send me something that actually works as a template for the neck profile.

I don't know how this can be done - and would like to advise my potential customer on how to create these templates for me.

I'm guessing I'll need him to send multiples at different positions on the neck?

I need some assistance please.

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P A U L B U R N E R
Burner Guitars

I believe somewhere in the Martin website they give neck profiles??

Usually all I need is a template from the 1st fret, and the 10th fret or so. I had a client who's pretty "handy" make me a template following this information.
http://www.13thfret.com/articles/blanchard/blanchard1.html

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I didn't mean to say it, but I meant what I said.
http://www.brackettinstruments.com/

I've made a bunch of Blanchard style templates...not hard, & safest if he has a neck he likes. You could also do it this way.

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Dave
Milton, ON

That's the method (the link to the Blanchard page that Woody posted) I've used and it works well.
To save the customer some work you could mail him the masonite/wood 'form' pre-cut. The CA step is not essential if your wood form is fairly rough. You could do the finish sanding once the customer mailed it back.

Cheers
John

Brilliant Dave (and Mark too)!!!

I know several of the top builders who have been known to send prospective clients to Guitar Center and while there they are to find a neck that they like and report back. Of course you have to be comfortable that your prospects won't act in a rash manner and buy the guitar at GC that has a neck that they like...

You want to keep in mind on your design plan, to make sure that the desired profile will structurally work well with the type and depth of the truss rod you entend to use. If you get the distance from the botton of the truss rod slot to the outside of the neck profile too thin (speaking of the nut end) and you end up with a 1980s model Gibson standard LP neck (one that breaks off at the peghead when breathed on) .

In other words you may be choosing the truss rod type based on the profile you want to make.

Or this could happen - the end of a hot-rod truss rod trying to go through the neck. Just not enough meat for that profile.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"