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Hello again,

What are some common final neck thicknesses at the 1st and 10th frets, with the fingerboard attached?
I know it's a feel kind of thing, and it depends on the wood, etc. I'm just looking for a range so I know where I'm at.
This is a 5 piece laminated neck, mahogany with (2) 1/8" strips of hard maple. 25.4 scale dred with light, possibly medium strings.
The last one I made ended up .960" at the 10th and .835" at the 1st fret.

This is for me, and I have somewhat large hands, so I'll probably go a little thicker than some.

As always, your opinions are greatly appreciated.

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Horton, MI

Those arent bad numbers at all Kirt .. if you have larger hands and a re looking for a fuller feeling neck, thats probably as thin as I would go at the 1st.

I generally make a std neck taper from 820 to 920 (I usually add .080 to .100 to the 1st fret number to have the feel the same as you move up the neck - you could go more, but it will feel chunky).

A thin neck will be .800 to .810, although some may want to go under 800 t0 780. 750 is a very thin feel.

Dont be surprised by how much a difference of 15-20 thou feels. 820 to 840 is huge.

These are all numbers for a C shaped neck. If you want a soft V, you will need to stay 20-40 thou thicker all the way up as the flattened shoulders make the neck feel thinner than it is.

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

Kirt...I use 0.840" to 0.850" at the 1st fret position (not fretwire) and 0.890" to .900" at the 8th as my guideline. Once I have these landmark thicknesses established, I then use spokeshave, rasp, file and grits to create a straight line along the 2 reference points.

Beyond the basic thickness comes the cross-sectional profile which further refines the players' personal requirements. That's where profile molds created from a favorite neck can really help in getting it just right.

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JJ
Napa, CA
http://www.DonohueGuitars.com

Kirt,
You probably already know that I sell neck templates that show the neck thicknesses of over 55 different necks. You can get them here: http://www.luthiersuppliers.com/products/p10.html

What I've found is that the .820 to .920 is a medium neck, with .84-.85 being a thicker neck. I have a Santa Cruz F model that is .760 thick at the first. One of the Taylors is around .780 at the first. So between .76 to .85 at the first and .88 to 1" at the 10th is the range I see. Good, and let me know if I can help in some other way.

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Tracy
http://www.luthiersuppliers.com

Thanks so much guys.

Just what I needed.

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Horton, MI

My numbers are very close to Tony's

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Rian Gitar og Mandolin

Mine are usually the metric equivalent of Tony's 21mm and 23mm.

Colin

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I don't believe in anything, I simply make use of a set of reasonable working hypotheses.

Thanks Arnt, Colin,

I've been converting inches to millimeters and vice-versa for 25-30 years now, but my brain still
has no concept with anything over, say, 200 mm.

Always have to convert to inches to really know how "big" something is.
My brain is just calibrated in inches..... but I do have a calculator!

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Horton, MI

I am totally with you on this one...Canada converted to the metric system while I was in grade 9 or 10....the imperial system was already embedded in my brain, and I still to this day measure in inches instead of mm.

Thanks for the information here! I have always shaped my necks to feel, but now I have a guide line to work from as a starting point.
David

Your numbers look good. I have a 1958 gibson with a clubby neck...which I love. It is about 0.860-0.960 and takes on a slightly more D shape. I just finished the neck on my archtop with very simular numbers and gave it a profile somewhere between a C and a D. It is an excellent feeling neck so far. I also reduce the taper a little too. So its more like 0.850 to 0.925 or simular. The neck has a very simular feel all the way up and down. For the player in me, this feels good so far. I have not strung it up yet, so I can't say how it will be in real life situations.

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Joe

I shoot for 21/23 mm as well, more or less. 19mm on really skinny electric necks (with, generally, fingerboards around 5mm thick), but otherwise about 21 feels 'right'.

Depending on the player of course, but I shoot for .800-.820 at the nut and .900-.920 at the 9th fret.

Now one thing to remember is the thickness of the fretboard too. Some like to have a 1/4" fretboard some like 7/32" and some like 9/32". That will all affect the shaping of the neck and how close one gets to the truss rod embedded in the neck too.

I like to use a 7/32" fretboard, just a little less "edge" (I like to leave the fretboard edge flat and just shape the neck) for my thumb to wrap around.

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