Carbon fiber / graphite neck makers?

Chris Pile

Chris Pile

Well-known member
So it seems Moses went belly up awhile back, and if you want a graphite neck you'll be buying the whole guitar from Modulus, Zon, Status, etc. I found an Aussie maker of graphite necks (Koloss) who also makes complete guitars, but I know little of them. Frankly, the surface of the neck looks like it was injected molded.

I ask because a client of mine with a Steinberger-necked guitar I built back in the 80's is thinking about a carbon neck for a Tele project he'd like me to complete.

Anyone hip to a source besides used stuff?
 
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I haven't seen one in years. I did have a Moses neck for a few years (for a Steinberger), but it never fit properly. There were gaps on either side even when it was supposed to be a direct replacement. I haven't seen anyone providing CF Tele necks in quite awhile. If you find anything, let me know.
 
I posted a link to the Koloss guitar kit sold on Treeverb. Seemed like a good deal....

Then I watched a bunch of videos.... NO BUENO!
The "carbon fiber neck" can be flexed with simple hand strength.
When the vibrato is used the strings lift UP off the saddle, and don't come back down in the right place.
In other words - it's a high tech fail.
 
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Have a look here: https://www.rubato.guitars/neck/.

Yeah, the Koloss stuff tanked hard (it seemed too good to be true). It seems they've revamped the guitars quite a bit in the meantime - redesigned the bridge and got rid of the fake c/f neck (except for the kit guitar, which still seems to come with a some kind of polymer neck).
 
Ashurbanipal said:
Have a look here: https://www.rubato.guitars/neck/.

Yeah, the Koloss stuff tanked hard (it seemed too good to be true). It seems they've revamped the guitars quite a bit in the meantime - redesigned the bridge and got rid of the fake c/f neck (except for the kit guitar, which still seems to come with a some kind of polymer neck).
Click to expand...

Wow, I hadn't seen these- thanks for sharing! Right away, the website looks a lot better than the Moses stuff.
 
ICTGoober said:
I posted a link to the Koloss guitar kit sold on Treeverb. Seemed like a good deal....

Then I watched a bunch of videos.... NO BUENO!
The "carbon fiber neck" can be flexed with simple hand strength.
When the vibrato is used the strings lift UP off the saddle, and don't come back down in the right place.
In other words - it's a high tech fail.
Click to expand...

Makes sense. Carbon fiber takes on very different properties depending on how the layup has been created with the layers of epoxy and carbon fiber. It's possible to create an outstanding carbon fiber neck, but it's also possible to create a terrible one.
 
I'm pretty hip to carbon fiber since I used to make tools for it, and parts out of it. There is no way this Koloss neck is carbon fiber. Might have carbon fiber dust in it, or perhaps the fingerboard is a thin sheet of carbon fiber. If I had the money and the guts, I'd buy a kit just to saw up the neck and find out WTH is really going on (and then post a vid about it).

The longer I look at the thing I wonder if it was designed by a player who couldn't deliver on the hardware - or a guy who made things and said, "Hell - I'm gonna make a guitar". Why does the bridge need tuners when the peghead has tuners? The bridge is too far back - some reviewers found to intonate the thing the saddles ended up hitting the body when the thing was dumped. What's wrong with just making it a hardtail? Cheaper and less trouble.

That body shape and profile is slick, and seems to be made well (one reviewer drove over it with his SUV). Their high dollar axes have wood necks - why not just do that on all of 'em?

Just sell the kit as a body with a good wooden neck, let the buyer get his own hardware elsewhere. I bet they'd still make money.

To get this thread back on track - looks like Status is the way to go for an aftermarket carbon fiber neck....
 
^^ Yeah. The minimal friction points, straight string pull and shallow headstock angle would suggest good tuning stability if the neck were to be installed on a guitar with a trem.

ICTGoober said:
I'm pretty hip to carbon fiber since I used to make tools for it, and parts out of it. There is no way this Koloss neck is carbon fiber. Might have carbon fiber dust in it, or perhaps the fingerboard is a thin sheet of carbon fiber. If I had the money and the guts, I'd buy a kit just to saw up the neck and find out WTH is really going on (and then post a vid about it).

The longer I look at the thing I wonder if it was designed by a player who couldn't deliver on the hardware - or a guy who made things and said, "Hell - I'm gonna make a guitar". Why does the bridge need tuners when the peghead has tuners? The bridge is too far back - some reviewers found to intonate the thing the saddles ended up hitting the body when the thing was dumped. What's wrong with just making it a hardtail? Cheaper and less trouble.

That body shape and profile is slick, and seems to be made well (one reviewer drove over it with his SUV). Their high dollar axes have wood necks - why not just do that on all of 'em?

Just sell the kit as a body with a good wooden neck, let the buyer get his own hardware elsewhere. I bet they'd still make money.

To get this thread back on track - looks like Status is the way to go for an aftermarket carbon fiber neck....
Click to expand...

I first became aware of c/f usage in guitars through Parker and the small British builder Gus, those are some slick axes - cedar neck/body and c/f exoskeleton, and stainless tubing giving the outline of the body.

When I saw the demos/reviews, I thought the neck was plastic, ha. I agree about the kit, having the aluminium body/wood neck combo would still be a winner.

Looks pretty rad though. Seems to have a height adjustable nut now too.
bdab8c8c-0e32-465e-9d46-3d9e14f9bb26.jpg
 
^^ Indeed, something like roasted flame maple, ebony, ss frets, graphite nut, and a compound radius will in that ball park.
 
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