Anyone ever have a neck shaved, or re-profiled?

[ehdwuld]

My Gibson has a 60s D
my Epiphone has a 60s C
They feel worlds apart

I like thw 60s C on the Epiphone
Its almost like the Wizard II on my RG2
The Wizard having that flat spot down the back and all

I would take and cut out the profile you want for the 12th and first frets

Take a raspand slowly shape the first fret area to match your profile
Then the 12th fret

Now aggressively drag the file back and fort between the two

smooth sand

not too deep
You can always remove more

Putting it back is more involved

Edit

Buy a neck on ebay and practice on it

 

[Aceman]

S
I'm not thinking about turning it into a Jackson or a wizard neck lol,

I think you should...

 

[orpheo]

I don't know. I don't know how to compare.

50ies is fat and round (59 slightly slimmer than 58), 60ies is thinner and a bit flatter; Norlin is like the 60ies thickness but rounder. At least, in my experience.

 

[Mincer]

50ies is fat and round (59 slightly slimmer than 58), 60ies is thinner and a bit flatter; Norlin is like the 60ies thickness but rounder. At least, in my experience.

This might be true. I'd need them all on a room at once to compare.

 

[GuitarDoc]

Getting it just right will be difficult. How do you remove less from the sides and more from the underside? It could end up with a little bit of "V" shape. And how would you make it a gradual taper increase towards the heel? If sanding by hand might not be uniform thickness. How would you even know you got it right?

I know myself, and if I did that kind of surgery, I would always be asking my hands "does this feel right? did I take off enough here?" and "does this section feel a little weird?" and "maybe I should of left it as is, it feels a little thin." And "I don't think it has the sustain it used to, but I'm not sure..."

My vote leave it alone because it could open any number of rabbit holes, and the most important thing is to just play and make music.

There is no problem getting things perfect if doing it by hand. It just takes patience and practice. I've made over 4 dozen custom guitars and all of the necks I make by hand. I have purposely made "V" shaped necks, usually I offset the "V" more to the bass side of the neck to fit the palm of the hand better. I've done 50's style necks and modern "C" shaped necks and even very thin shredder necks. It's all a matter of knowing the design you want ahead of time and being careful and patient to create that shape.

 

[Rex_Rocker]

It's something I've considered countless times, but I'm afraid the tone of my Tribute would change too much from doing so.

I really want a Classic or a Studio for the 60's neck.

 

[jeremy]

i dont think its crazy to reshape a neck, though ive only done it once and it was for my own guitar. it came out great, but i made the neck to begin with an its a bolt on so even if it totally messed it up, the guitar would be salvageable.

i think many of us have shaped a neck from a blank, some of us many times, and it isnt that different other than its fretted and finished

 

[Clint 55]

I reprofiled my fatback warmoth necks which have no taper to begin with. It's easy if you're handy with tools which you seem to be. I just took an orbital sander with 40 grit and went to town to take the bulk of the material off. Then I hand sanded with 40 to shape it smoothly. Then I went through the grits to take the scratches out, 80, 120, 180 etc.

 

[larryguitar]

Like Orpheo, I build my necks extra thick and work 'down' to a comfortable shape. I will add that it's easy to get sort of lost checking the neck repeatedly in isolation; I have since learned that having a model neck, even if it's not exactly what I'm building the new neck to, is a tremendous help. And don't just run your hands down it-play it for half an hour or more as you get close. Very small things start to make a difference, and it can be tricky to pick up on them with a brief strum.

Larry

 

[ehdwuld]

Do you have a neck with a carve you like?

 

[80's_Thrash_Metal]

Do you have a neck with a carve you like?

Yes, close to a dozen of them.
I'm really not very picky when it comes to necks, I love my Jackson necks, I have a Dean with a very V neck which I love, and 5 Gibsons I really like.
I just remember my last LPJ had a 50s maple neck and it wasn't my favorite.. so I am just sort of feeling out what y'all thought before I took some paper or a sander to one and tried it out.

Guitar should be here tomorrow. Maybe I'll leave work early and come home when I get the notification... Can't have it sitting out in the sun, it was 106 this week.

 

[80's_Thrash_Metal]

This guy moves a lot of wood quickly lol. I would go much slower.

 

[Masta' C]

I wouldn't hesitate to reshape a '50s to a '60s profile on a lower end Gibson. The thinner '60s profile is my preference, too.

As long as it's done relatively "professionally" and you can explain the logic behind the change to the next owner (maybe even frame it as an "upgrade"!), it probably won't hurt the value too much. Who buys a low end Gibson to maximize resale anyway? They're player guitars, not collectibles.

 

[orpheo]

This guy moves a lot of wood quickly lol. I would go much slower.

Seems normal speed to me? I shape a neck from square to 'shaped' in an hour. The transitions (heel, headstock), take me approximately 45 to 60 minutes also. It's not that difficult. And if you have a shape, and the transitions are already there, it's even easier and faster.

 

[hamerfan]

I am a fanboy for V necks. I converted so far 4 necks from Rounded 50ies, C necks or U necks to V (21mm with a small taper of 2mm to the 12th fret). I use a cabinet scraper for the job. Sanders tend to partly flatten the radius, rasps and files leaves marks in the wood
I finished the necks with gun stock oil (harder than other oils) or shellac on the Fender necks or spray can nitro on the Gibsons. All of them turned out great.

 

[GuitarDoc]

+1 to Orpheo, it takes me about 1-2 hours to shape a neck from a square (rectangular) block of wood depending on the type of wood I'm using...mahogany = an hour; Walnut, pernambuco, ironwood, or maple with a walnut/ebony stripe = 2 hours.

Hamerfan...I also like "V" necks but I prefer a "soft V" and slightly offset.

 

[ehdwuld]

I like the video of the guy at Texas Toast Guitars
when they got a StewMac 335 kit and reshaped the neck

He clamped it to the table and was done in about 20 minutes

 

[Rex_Rocker]

Each to his own, obviously. A friend has an 2010's American Deluxe Strat (nice guitar) with a V neck thinking it would help him with his tendonitis. He hated it when he first got it. I think he's grown used to it now. But I always thought "how can people like these" whenever I played it, LOL.

I'd like to try a thin neck with a V shape, though. Kinda like the Dimebag necks.

Then again, my first nice guitar was an Ibanez Prestige, so that's kinda the neck profile that I associate with "good" guitars. I can't help it. It's just embedded in my brain. I like the Gibson 60's or the LTD Thin-U, but those are more like "necks that I can get along with" rather than the neck profile that I'd have my dream custom guitar have.

I am a thumb behind the neck kinda guy, though. I'm by no means a shredder or even a lead guitarist even, but those are just the kind of necks that fit my style. I beat hard on the strings with my right hand, but my left hand always has a soft-ish touch. I'm VERY unbalanced right-handed.

 

[ehdwuld]

I played strat style modern C for the longest
then got an Ibanez with the Wizard II

My thimb ached for about 6 months as i got used to it

I love it now
But it was a transition

 

[Rex_Rocker]

That's interesting.

I've never felt pain from playing any neck profile. I just don't like some. I feel they're clumsy to move around on, but never played one so uncofortable that made me feel pain. I honestly can't imagine what it's like.

I hear people get cramps from playing the super thin Wizard necks.

The Wizard II is far from my favorite, but those vary A LOT during the years. The one I played was on a Korean Cort-made S series. I bet the OG Wizard II on the RG450's was better.

On that topic, the Wizards that I played were the Wizard Prestige (the 18mm one), the Wizard Premium (pretty much the same but with a slightly rounder fretboard), the Super Wizard from the 90's-2000's (17mm, but slightly narrower higher up the neck), and the Korean Cort Wizard II (19mm, I think). My favorite was the Wizard Prestige. The Super Wizard was nice, and I liked that it had larger frets, but I just really never bonded with that particular guitar because it had a trem. I bet I'd love the current Super Wizard HP with the carbon fiber reinforcements.