Oh man I'm so bummed out!!
I did a test assembly of my new 4 stringer. I put on 1 string and the neck behaves like a whammy bar! The slightest pressure and the the whole thing bends enough to throw the tuning out dramatically.
The neck is a standard CB Gitty, fretted oak neck so I would have thought it was up to the task of a single string! I dread putting on 4!
I have screwed strips of 3mm thick aluminum along the sides of the neck to try and stiffen it and stop it from bending but they help very little.
I have considered gluing on another 12mm (1/2") of oak on the back of the neck to stiffen it. Would this work?
Should I glue those aluminum strips on as well? Does anyone think it might just bend a little bit and perhaps it will begin to behave and stop at some point or am I just hoping against hope!
You need to be a member of Cigar Box Nation to add comments!
Its a welded aluminum neck brace I had made up to stop the aluminum box from wobbling on my 4 string build. The neck is butt joined via 3mm thick angle brackets screwed into the heel and a plate screwed into the back of the heel but the box still flexed, I am hoping this will have sorted that little problem out! The 50mm x 25mm box section is welded to some angle that is bolted through the neck mounting brackets and the end of the box wall then runs the full length of the box and is bolted onto the box from the back. The pick ups and bridge bolt onto the box section and the license plate will cover the front of the box.
You can see the 3mm thick strips screwed into the sides of the neck to help make it more rigid along the neck...I may also epoxy these into place to make sure they don't slip at all.
I think next time I build anything but a classic "neck through" I'll go with a plain neck and then a fingerboard allowing me to shape a neck to suit and stiffen/ truss rod the neck under the fingerboard. I certainly won't get this ambitious again with a plain, pre fretted neck, nice enough but not enough room for maneuvering.
If you make a 3 or 4 string neck, you really don't need a truss rod. A hardwood neck with an addon fingerboard is plenty strong. I have made bunches of them without truss or reinforcing rods in them. I hate to see you got to all that extra work for nothing.
You can lay two 1x2 on their edges and laminate a neck that way and make it super strong too.
I have a build on the bench now....where the neck is just like Pascal says, but what i did was to suspend the box. The neck passes through the box but doesn`t touch the box. I used an under the box frame and a false bottom. The box is attached to that at the 4 bottom corners and attached to the frame. My figuring is the box will have better vibration being the bridge is the only part touching it. Plus the neck is one piece with an exotic wood fret board which helps in strengthening the neck.
Well, I've designed a drop in, welded aluminum brace to strengthen the butt joint and stiffen the box. Basically it is a rectangular, aluminum box section extension of the neck and mount for the bridge. I think it will do a lot in that it takes all the support work away from the box.
I think the best way to think of these creations, for me, from this point on is that the guitar is the neck, from tuners to bridge/tail piece....the box is but a shroud. For me that will be a better mindset to start with.
The neck and heel is butted against the box and screwed in from the inside of the box, by angle on the sides of the neck and by a plate across the bottom of the heel and along the back of the box. Basically only the top of the neck, the fingerboard surface, has not not be used to attach the neck to the box.
Replies
http://www.cigarboxnation.com/photo/neck-brace-1?context=latest
Its a welded aluminum neck brace I had made up to stop the aluminum box from wobbling on my 4 string build. The neck is butt joined via 3mm thick angle brackets screwed into the heel and a plate screwed into the back of the heel but the box still flexed, I am hoping this will have sorted that little problem out! The 50mm x 25mm box section is welded to some angle that is bolted through the neck mounting brackets and the end of the box wall then runs the full length of the box and is bolted onto the box from the back. The pick ups and bridge bolt onto the box section and the license plate will cover the front of the box.
You can see the 3mm thick strips screwed into the sides of the neck to help make it more rigid along the neck...I may also epoxy these into place to make sure they don't slip at all.
you have any pics of the box and how the neck is supported, would help alot
If you make a 3 or 4 string neck, you really don't need a truss rod. A hardwood neck with an addon fingerboard is plenty strong. I have made bunches of them without truss or reinforcing rods in them. I hate to see you got to all that extra work for nothing.
You can lay two 1x2 on their edges and laminate a neck that way and make it super strong too.
I am hoping I will end up with something that is as playable as it is pleasing to look at.
Now I have to wait till Tues/Weds till I get this part back from the fabricators. I've prepped everything else.
Grant me patience....NOW!
I have a build on the bench now....where the neck is just like Pascal says, but what i did was to suspend the box. The neck passes through the box but doesn`t touch the box. I used an under the box frame and a false bottom. The box is attached to that at the 4 bottom corners and attached to the frame. My figuring is the box will have better vibration being the bridge is the only part touching it. Plus the neck is one piece with an exotic wood fret board which helps in strengthening the neck.
I think the best way to think of these creations, for me, from this point on is that the guitar is the neck, from tuners to bridge/tail piece....the box is but a shroud. For me that will be a better mindset to start with.
box is just what it is, a box. wont hold much stress. youre rigt, tuners to tailpiecee in one piece is a heck of a lot stronger than a braced box.
......says the expert with just 4 builds on name...... :)
think you have a warping box than instead of the neck. bracing the neck will not help you in this.
the neck on my excample is all the way through the box.
you cut the neck? looks like Gitty's necks where made to go through the box.
-
1
-
2
of 2 Next