Bye bye roasted maple

[ErikH]

Most of the necks I make are similar to the Wolfgang or the SRV, but now I'm tending more to the Clapton type neck with a more centered "V" (my fingers and thumb are so short that it's difficult to wrap my hand around the fuller thumb-side of the neck. But a "V" or "Soft V" are definitely more comfortable in my hand.

The roasted neck I pulled has the boatneck contour. It's fat but the soft V makes it really comfortable. My 30 year-old frankenstrat has the same contour. With going that fat, I like a 1 5/8" nut width. Other than that, 1 11/16" is fine and the neck coming with the Wolfgang profile has that. Though, the EBMM Axis (formerly EVH), Peavey Wolfgang and the EVH brand Wolfgang have a 1 5/8" nut width. With my big hands, the slightly wider nut with the thinner than boatneck profile will be fine.

[GuitarDoc]

I like my roasted Maple neck with the black dots, but honestly, it barely even looks roasted at all, LOL. It kinda looks like the vintage tint neck on my old Squier CV, just less orange a bit more brown. But it still looks like maple. It doesn't really look dark brown like I've seen some roasted Maple necks are.

I've got a roasted birch neck that looks as dark as wenge.

[ErikH]

New neck shipped yesterday. Estimated delivery is the 30th. Good thing I have other guitars to play....LOL. I think I'm going to finish it in Tru-Oil.

[GuitarDoc]

Once you get a chance to get used to it, let us know what you think about it.

[ehdwuld]

The roasted neck I pulled has the boatneck contour. It's fat but the soft V makes it really comfortable. My 30 year-old frankenstrat has the same contour. With going that fat, I like a 1 5/8" nut width. Other than that, 1 11/16" is fine and the neck coming with the Wolfgang profile has that. Though, the EBMM Axis (formerly EVH), Peavey Wolfgang and the EVH brand Wolfgang have a 1 5/8" nut width. With my big hands, the slightly wider nut with the thinner than boatneck profile will be fine.

So the neck that shipped
is it the boat neck
Is it soft v
Is it Wolfgang

I am a bit confused

[ErikH]

So the neck that shipped
is it the boat neck
Is it soft v
Is it Wolfgang

I am a bit confused

It's the Wolfgang profile neck that shipped, plain maple. The neck pulled (sold) is Boatneck profile (which has a soft V to it), roasted maple.

[marcello252]

I've always been interested in the warmoth boat neck profile , I have pretty big hands, measure 8 1/2, or xl I think in usa, for gloves, I think it could suits me well, but I have never had a chance to try it

[ErikH]

New neck delivered last evening. Beautiful maple. The fret work is really nice. Checked them all with my fret rocker and there are some spots that could be knocked down a little, and I mean a little. Funny enough is it seems to be mostly on the even numbered frets. I'll mark those and hit them individually, then lightly go over the whole thing with a short fret beam, crown, polish.

The Wolfgang profile feels great. Can't wait to get this on the guitar, strung up so I can play it. Waiting for the Tru-Oil to get here this Sat and then I can put that on. Short fret beam is on the way too. The only one I have is really long and need a shorter one to work the compound radius.

[GuitarDoc]

Is your beam flat or radiused? If it's flat you should easily be able to use that even on short areas of the neck.

I only use short beams (radiused) on initial sanding of the fretboard. Everything after that I use a long one (either radiused or flat), 18" or longer.

[ErikH]

Is your beam flat or radiused? If it's flat you should easily be able to use that even on short areas of the neck.

I only use short beams (radiused) on initial sanding of the fretboard. Everything after that I use a long one (either radiused or flat), 18" or longer.

Both my beams, long (16") and short (8"), are flat. I could tape off some of the short beam so it doesn't affect frets I don't want touched. That would do the trick being able to find the tall spots. Just did a quick check with it on the lower frets and sure enough it looks like it'll do. Saves me having to make a few small blocks like the video from Blake's thread.

[ErikH]

New neck is coming along. Finished with Tru-oil, frets leveled, crowned and polished, tuners installed, neck attached to the body. Next up is the nut. Going with black graphite. This is the slow and steady part besides working on the frets. I usually have pre-slotted nuts but not this time. Thankfully I have a slot spacing ruler to make my marks before cutting.

[ErikH]

Once you get a chance to get used to it, let us know what you think about it.

FINALLY playing it. After working the finish a little more (sanded the back with 600 grit and added one more thin layer of Tru-Oil), taking care of a few spots on the fingerboard and getting the 3rd nut attempt right, this beast is finally dialed in. The first two nut blanks I messed up on the slot spacing though I used my slot ruler and measured. Somehow the E strings ended up out just a little further than I wanted which screwed up the spacing. I thought I had the second one right but after playing it, something felt off. Sure enough, same thing. So, gotta keep practicing on that. It's not like I do this work every day. :-) I ordered a white Tusq Graphtech pre-slotted last week and got that installed last night.

The Wolfgang profile feels amazing. It is super comfortable up and down the neck. Playing above the 12th fret is awesome. Even with my hands it just feels right. This is the first neck I've finished with Tru-Oil and glad I did. When done right it is super smooth and fast to play on. I was playing for near 3 hours last night and didn't get fatigued. Though I got my neck from the Showcase, it's definitely worth the extra to go with the Wolfgang profile on custom builds.

Will be playing this guitar tonight at rehearsal.

[GuitarDoc]

Sounds super. So glad it worked out in the end. The first two nuts are not a loss...they are experience.