I saw a Teisco neck, think it is maple, at an antique store. Do you builders ever use a premade neck like this? I thought it was pretty reasonable, especially after looking at prices on ebay. $18 firm. I wondered how sturdy it is when you use a neck like this instead of the solid neck through the body? Also, I wondered how true the action would be if you can't try it. I guess it would just be a gamble and have to look it over real well? Just looking for a more expert opinion on if it is worth thinkin about buying it for a build.
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I do like the idea of the neck through though. The ones I have were built like that, and I feel more secure that they will hold.
One thing Letha a neck through usually mean the neck is one piece like in Michael pic. The neck is one piece all the way to the back off the box. If you start with a bolt on neck make sure the extention that is added is stong and glued. If you look to build a electric guitar with some acoustic properties thats the way to go. If you want a raging electric with a lot of sustain look into making a solid body. Its work great for Fender and just about every other company out there. What ever you do have fun and I know you will learn more with each one you make.
Michael, Kid, Rtz and strat, thanks so much for the advice. I think I will try to make it back out on Sunday, and see if it is still there. It think it will be, I found it hanging kind of out of the way. I will check everything that you said. I have an 11" box I love on it's way, and although I don't think I can build it myself, i do have a friend or two that are great. One builds his own dobro and guitars, and they are absolute dreams. I never knew you could hear the truss rod if it's broken, and I appreciate you all taking the time to teach me. I will let you know if I get it.
Letha
Nice job.
Point is a cigar box is not built to sustain the tension between the string ends an a neck join, it'll fold in on itself Lon before six strings come anywhere like in tune.
Nice job there michael, tho hardly a beginners project. Is it a six string job mate?
Give the neck a good shake to see the truss rod isn't broken, if you can hear it rattling leave it, old bolt in necks are everywhere. Enjoy :)
First thing you want to do Letha is check the neck, is the fret board straight look down the side or better put a straight edge on the frets board. Check frets wear if they are worn forget. Look for a trussrod in front of nut or at the other end if it not working forget it. Very important you want to know the scale lenght of the neck, measure from the nut to the 12 fret. Times this by 2 so if its 12 inches the neck is 24 inch scale (nut to bridge measurement) now you need to know the size of the box its going on. You can't put a fender 25.5 neck or a 24.75 Gibson scale neck on a 8 inch box, you need about 10 or 11 inch box. I build a little differant then most guy here I like to make solid body 6 string git because you have more tension then 3 or 4 string. You can alway add a extention on the neck and bolt it to the box, this is how i do a 6 string. Hope this helps.
Letha,
I haven't built with pre-made necks myself, but I have owned a fair number of new and used guitars over the years. Check the neck to see if it has a truss rod (it most probably will). Take a metal straightedge, lay it along 3 frets at a time, and see if the neck is bowed, or if there are any dimpled or low frets. Try to sight down it to see if it has any twist in it. If it is truly maple (there are lots of Teisco Del Rey maple necks out there that are selling for $50-100), then I'd grab it for $18! It's a good find; you will pay nearly double that for a decent pre-fretted CBG neck.
As far as using it in a CBG, just make sure you build a sturdy neck block into the box. Not sure if it attaches with one or two screws along the length of the neck, sticking out from where the truss rod is, or attaches with 3 or 4 screws through a bottoms-up neckplate arrangement like a Fender Strat neck, for example. Both types have been used successfully by builders here at CBN.