Get your Jimmy hat ordered before stocks run out.
@mattbeels well sadly, after all this time I still have two pieces of ash for a body and some that I can use for a neck and no time to spend making a guitar out of it all. Since squired som mahogany too though so a mahogany, ash, mahogany, ash mahogany laminated through neck isn’t entirely out of the question.
Anyway, hopefully I’ll be back in the near future for my next build!
…on an elaborate journey to turn trees into music.
@tej Ash makes a beautiful neck, done a few myself with zero issues but I always do a volute which may or may not help. Northern/european ash. It's the denser , heavier hard one. Southern ash aka swamp ash isn't as dense so may not be as suitable.
Interesting to re-read this thread.
I've got a neck-blank sized piece of Ash, quarter-sawn and not too heavy which I think I might just use on a future neck build. But maybe with some added carbon fibre rods for a bit more stability protection.
Online guitar making courses – guitarmaking.co.uk
do you believe carbon rods actually do anything?
I can't see that they'd hurt - so for the sake of another couple of slots in the neck and a few£ of carbon fibre bar, I see no reason *not* to do it.
Of course, you'd have to use the correct, acoustically-tuned, musical carbon fibre rod, not just any old stuff.
😉
Online guitar making courses – guitarmaking.co.uk
do you believe carbon rods actually do anything?
Me too I am wondering this. My guess is that , if wood really wants to warp , it will warp around whatever is in the way.
I also wonder if you add carbon rods in a guitar with a trussrod, does the carbon not defeat the purpose of the trussrod? 🤔
I think I saw that question either here or on another forum, but I cant remember what the answer was.
worst case I'll make a new neck, I like making them lol
It's a lot of time that would be wasted though. I'm not suggesting using CF rods in *every* neck, but if you're using a wood or a cut that wisdom says might be more prone to movement, why not do what you can to push the odds in your favour?
Online guitar making courses – guitarmaking.co.uk
@tv101 carbon fiber is necessary for longer necks not so much guitars but primarily bass guitars especially if using certain types of tonewoods. If you are a bass guitar builder, it is almost always a consideration highly regarded. It is a preventative measure for the natural tendencies of wood such as padauk, bubinga, wenge among other things that are prime neck woods that bass players prefer as opposed to the standard maple that does not require it. All my bass builds are carbon fibered.
@tv101 well seeing as this thread has popped up again I'll just say here and now, none of my ash necks have suffered a single issue. All still perfect and straight as the day I made them. Some are 3 years old at least.
Only time I had a problem was with birdseye maple and yew, yew is terrible for necks lol.
@nsj that’s good to know. I’m looking to make the next build a laminated neck with ash and mahogany now, also temping to throw something else into the mix. I’ve seen many examples of people using thin strips of something like purple heart which look really nice.
…on an elaborate journey to turn trees into music.