I want to get a guitar neck (or a full guitar?) that won't move due to changes in humidity etc.
It annoys me way more than it really should whenever I need to do a truss-rod adjustment.
Currently I'm waiting on
http://www.usacustomguitars.com/ to re-open (I emailed them and they've said they're not accepting orders until they've finished a workshop move).
They can do a neck with:
1. Quatersawn roasted maple
2. Carbon re-enforcement
3. "Fat-Back" neck profile (big...)
I've already built up a partscaster with a fat-back Warmoth neck, and I know I like it ... so that seems like a plan.
I thought I'd ask you guys for a bit of a "sense-check" while I wait for the above shop to open, and to see if you have any ideas.
I have been thinking about a Vigier, but I don't know if:
a) I'd like it, as I've never put my hand on one
b) I like the idea of just getting a neck, then I can mix and match at a later date
Anything else I should think about?
Comments
I should leave this to @ICBM or someone before I display my ignorance, but I believe even a fat, roasted, quartersawn neck is capable of warping or twisting, although I guess the carbon fibre rods will help.
And then even if you do have an adjustable trussrod the neck might be so stiff and sturdy it'd be hard for the trussrod to rectify any problem.
It's going to be less potentially problematic than an Ibanez Wizard, though, I expect.
That said I don't really see why adjusting a rod is that big a deal, if the adjuster is put somewhere sensible.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
I'm surprised no-one seems to have the same issues as me ... I feel like I'm doing something wrong...
I find that in the winter going from central heated places into the cold (even putting it in a nice case), and moving back to a different heated place, I get the necks of my guitars doing crazy thing - it moves inconsistently, and it takes a bit of time to settle when I get the thing to/from the new place.
This goes all from my Jem, set neck painted 80's charvel, and my Yamaha Billy Sheehan (huge necked) Bass.
I have a partscaster I'm playing a lot ... now that's the only thing I really play out with, so thought i'd try and get that thing "fixed up".
The size of the neck is no guide at all, in fact large necks can actually move *more* than small ones because if it's humidity-sensitive there is more wood to counteract the truss rod.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
At the moment I'm looking for:
* Hamer Watson, SS2, Vintage S, T62.
* Music Man Luke 1, Luke II
Please drop me a message.
1. Wood being quartersawn
2. Roasted wood
3. carbon re-enforcement (or at least, some kind of re-enforcement)
I'm lucky at the moment, as I have two Jems ... One has a very stable neck and the other seems to move if the wind changes. The stable one is quarter sawn and the other you can see all the grain is at a non-specific angle ... (as in ... I don't think they cared when they cut it).
I'd still want to go for a fat neck, as I like the feel and more general (not humidity related stability) - as in, if I lean on it it doesn't flex - my thin necked guitars go out of tune if I do that.
That ain't going nowhere.
That's a Status - it does have a rod, but it's really only there for changing string gauges.
Vigier are 10% graphite and 90% wood. No rod. They are rock solid as well.
https://soundcertified.com/speaker-ohms-calculator/
These are all mahogany or maple necks, bolt on and set.
Makes me wonder whether its something to do with the environment yours are kept in?
So that's definitely not helping.
I'd be surprised if your humidity is constantly lower than 40%, unless you have really full on air conditioning. Generally it's high humidity which causes necks to move around more/acoustic guitar soundboards to expand. Low humidity causes cracking/ebony fretboards to shrink.
Necessity of constant adjustment + inaccessibility would be annoying.
2 of my 3 have never been set up from the factory, the other was about 2 years ago at Feline..
They've probably moved but I'll be damned if I could really tell.. and I've probably become accustomed to the changes anyway.. its only if it went too low and buzzes or chokes or gets higher than what I like that I'd bother getting it set up again.. intonations ok..