birdseye maple not structurally sound? Bogus or not?

[Zerberus]

Re: birdseye maple not structurally sound? Bogus or not?

No biggie, get some graphite re-inforcing rods in it if you are worried. USA custom guitars will build it.

+1

THe warmoth double expanding truss rod also adds stability....

While Flamed and quilted ARE weaker (the figure comes mostly from trees exposed to wind on the edge of the forest) "by natural design".... But nobody really knows what causes birdseye, so assuming it´s weaker because it´s figured isn´t really valid here, as it´s also a different species of maple.....

Again, in my expereince BE Maple causes no more stability problems than any other slab of hard maple..... Of course even standard maple can warp over time, but that´s usually from improperly dried wood (Read: Save time = cut costs).

 

[chcjunior]

Re: birdseye maple not structurally sound? Bogus or not?

G&L guitars, says that it is indeed not as stable as straight grain maple. G&L, no longer offers birdseye maple necks for thier basses. You can order a bass with a birdeye fretboard however. They also don't suggest using birdseye for necks on guitars that will get a lot of use.

Sprinter

Well, I'm bumming since I've got the birdseye maple neck on the Asat Deluxe. Sure is pretty though, and I guess time will tell.

 

[Xeromus]

Re: birdseye maple not structurally sound? Bogus or not?

Well, I'm bumming since I've got the birdseye maple neck on the Asat Deluxe. Sure is pretty though, and I guess time will tell.

I wouldn't worry about it, my guitar teacher told me a friend of his had a G&L neck that did the twisty act. He called G&L and they replaced it free of charge. They are good like that.

 

[Zerberus]

Re: birdseye maple not structurally sound? Bogus or not?

AND it still has to warp, first

 

[chcjunior]

Re: birdseye maple not structurally sound? Bogus or not?

I wouldn't worry about it, my guitar teacher told me a friend of his had a G&L neck that did the twisty act. He called G&L and they replaced it free of charge. They are good like that.

Good to hear. I made sure I filled out the warranty card as soon as I got the guitar.

 

[chcjunior]

Re: birdseye maple not structurally sound? Bogus or not?

AND it still has to warp, first

And hopefully that won't happen!

 

[Blueline]

Re: birdseye maple not structurally sound? Bogus or not?

like said above, birdseye is hard maple
and i have no reservations about using it for a neck
however, flame maple has a much more inconsistent grain pattern and is typically a softer wood
therefore, i'd be hesitant to use it without making a laminated neck
but opinions differ

 

[ratherdashing]

Re: birdseye maple not structurally sound? Bogus or not?

Warmoth's website has this to say on the subject:

"There seems to be a recurring rumor that Birdseye maple is unstable and not suited to guitar necks. Having made tens of thousands of Birdseye necks, we can assure you that it is no different in stability than plain maple."

I am inclined to believe them.

 

[casblah]

Re: birdseye maple not structurally sound? Bogus or not?

FWIW, I've got a boatneck contour Warmoth neck that is very stable. It has a 2x xpanding truss rod as well. I've never had any issues with it.

 

[Xeromus]

Re: birdseye maple not structurally sound? Bogus or not?

FWIW, I've got a boatneck contour Warmoth neck that is very stable. It has a 2x xpanding truss rod as well. I've never had any issues with it.

birdseye?

 

[casblah]

Re: birdseye maple not structurally sound? Bogus or not?

birdseye?

Yes, forgot to mention that :smack:

 

[Xeromus]

Re: birdseye maple not structurally sound? Bogus or not?

yeah I tend to think now that birdseye will be alright. I'm not getting a heavily figured one. That's what warranties are for anyway

 

[Willis]

Re: birdseye maple not structurally sound? Bogus or not?

yeah I tend to think now that birdseye will be alright. I'm not getting a heavily figured one. That's what warranties are for anyway

As long as you have it finished. Otherwise the warranty is voided.

 

[Seraphial]

Re: birdseye maple not structurally sound? Bogus or not?

FWIW, I've got a birdseye maple neck on my Peavey Wolfy and its been nothing but great. Maybe on the whole birdseye is a bit weaker than the norm, but a well built guitar w/ a good truss rod should sort it out.

 

[WhoFan]

Re: birdseye maple not structurally sound? Bogus or not?

I have 2 birdseye maple necks..... One is cheap ass piece of junk factory second neck i bought off the wall of a guitar store..... The bottom of the heel was not flat and had to be sanded flat to sit in the neck pocket right.... I knew it was not 100% sound when i bought it..... Anyways the body it went on is also a factory second! That guitar sounds amazing but feels and plays like dung! I almost smashed it a few months back at a jam with some fellow Who Fans.... I would of missed it as i said it sounds really good..... That Birdseye maple neck has lasted over 15 years now and no twisting..... I have never even had to do a fret dress yet as it does not get used a lot..... I was thinking of adding a floyd to that guitar and sanding the finnish off the neck and use oil. The finnish sucks and feels like wax.... real sticky.

I also have a wolfgang neck that is Birdseye... i just own the neck and have not made a body for it yet.... I got from a tech who had to order a new neck from Peavey as this one would not set up right for extra light (8's) strings.... too straight and no bow with such light strings.

I think when Clapton first designed his Signature model he had a few with Birdseye necks and they twisted on him out on the road... I think that is where most stories of birdseye being not as strong comes from... But a straight grain maple neck will be a little stronger.....

WhoFan

 

[Stirt]

Re: birdseye maple not structurally sound? Bogus or not?

We ship thousands of Birdseye necks a year. Speaking for the first year, we see no patterns of a specific type of figuring such as Birdseye, Flame or Plain maple necks coming back for warping issues more than the others.

Gregg-
Warmoth Guitar Products

 

[bluey@sunni]

Re: birdseye maple not structurally sound? Bogus or not?

Birds-eye and flame in Maple is a defect due to enviromental stresses, does look really cool though!
Best Birds-eye I've ever seen was in Mercedes AMG 230 years ago, as an option it was, as I recall $10,000, back in the early '90's. For the F***ing dashboard!
Gregg @ Warmoth should be able to put my mind at rest by telling me that a highly figured birds-eye neck can be made from a properly treated halved cut branch?
Maple is strong and stable so the "pretty" should not effect the outcome, but it is wood and natural and the rules don't always apply as tree's don't read physics.

 

[Xeromus]

Re: birdseye maple not structurally sound? Bogus or not?

I forgot to add the neck I'm looking at getting is a 13 degree tilt back 3 per side. It has a double adjusting truss rod and scarf joint which should decrease significantly any chance of twisting.

 

[Stirt]

Re: birdseye maple not structurally sound? Bogus or not?

Gregg @ Warmoth should be able to put my mind at rest by telling me that a highly figured birds-eye neck can be made from a properly treated halved cut branch?

At Warmoth, when wood comes in, it's kiln dried and sits around for a few years to do whatever it's going to naturally do before we use it for production. Once we start to process the wood, it is stressed more than it ever has been before with routing, drilling and clamping. Accurate production tolerances become critical here as the neck is structurally evolving.

I think proper drying, aging and accurate production ensures neck performance over the long haul. If you short change any of these processes, the life of the neck will shorten. All necks change over time, but if they were made well, then they will remain within playable tolerances for many years. We see very very few Warmoth necks warping for the thousands going out a year here.

Gregg-

 

[WhoFan]

Re: birdseye maple not structurally sound? Bogus or not?

At Warmoth, when wood comes in, it's kiln dried and sits around for a few years to do whatever it's going to naturally do before we use it for production. Once we start to process the wood, it is stressed more than it ever has been before with routing, drilling and clamping. Accurate production tolerances become critical here as the neck is structurally evolving.

I think proper drying, aging and accurate production ensures neck performance over the long haul. If you short change any of these processes, the life of the neck will shorten. All necks change over time, but if they were made well, then they will remain within playable tolerances for many years. We see very very few Warmoth necks warping for the thousands going out a year here.

Gregg-

I would like to try a fancy maple neck from Warmoth oneday. The only Warmoth neck i own so far is a 1995-ish plain maple/rosewood board.... That neck is the best. I have never even fret dressed that neck in 10 years and it is still straight as it was the day i got it.... Best guitar i have ever owned..... I am planing on building another Warmoth guitar soon......

WhoFan