I have been building my CBG's with 1 X 2 maple. I have given one to a friend and he says that the neck is starting to bow. Is this a problem others have seen and any suggestions on how to prevent bowing would be welcome. Thanks.
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Lou, I had that issue with my first two. I was able to salvage both of them by adding another 1X2 on the back side. Honestly this was probably overkill but looks and plays nice. The boxes in both cases had enough depth to add a .75" board. Even though they were stick thru designs, I kept the bridge end of the stiffener inside the box, and then tapered the neck end of the stiffener so it blended into the original neck between nut and first fret. The guys I've talked with who use quarter inch fretboards on a 1X2 neck don't seem to have this issue so again my solution is probably overkill.
I am sure that adding another 1 X 2 to it will help. Thanks.
I don't have Maple available near me, I've been using Red Oak with great results. I do add a 1/4" fingerboard of the same type of wood to all of mine. those additional ieces glued to the neck help a lot. Also use non adjustable trussrods on 4 string or more gits or bass gits.
Maple is generally very strong unless the wood is still green and hasn't been dried out before use.
Are you absolutely sure it is indeed Maple?
Yes.
Heel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S22Y3LQ3CsY&t=102s
Another option: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=681TE4CZ1dU
Sounds like the neck is under lots of tension,scale length? what strings, how high is it tuned? Maybe a pic? Have you tried using a heel, or adding a hardwood fretboard with your builds? Shorter scale lengths like 23” are less likely to bow as quickly.
I am using a 25.5" scale length with medium strings. This particular CBG does not have a heel. It was the first electric I built. I did not add a fret board, simply wood burned the fret lines. Thanks for the info.