DavidRavenMoon
New member
Re: How to save Gibson- Part II- There's a lot of hope if they use Ch 11 wisely
That’s nonsense. The volute makes that area stronger. Track the headstock? What’s that supposed to mean?
Here’s the problem with the way they build necks; they are bandsawing the headstock angle from a solid piece of wood. This causes the grain to run out, so you have very short grain, which is weak.
A better way would be to use a scarf joint, so the grain runs parallel to the face of the head.
That WILL NOT break if you drop it. I know because that’s how I build my necks with angled back heads.
So a volute is a good compromise. There are zero disadvantages to a volute.
Problem number two is the large truss rod nut, which necessitates the removal of too much wood in that area.
A volute would also fix that problem by adding some wood to the area.
Plus they look classy.
Because no one dropped those guitars.
The ONLY guitars I have had to glue the heads back on have been Les Pauls and a Pedulla MVP. They use volutes, and it’s a maple neck, but it’s a band sawn head.
I used to own an ‘81 Les Paul standard. It had a maple neck with a volute. My crazy girlfriend at the time decided to throw the guitar from the living room to the kitchen! It landed on its head.
But the head did not crack in the usual place. Instead the entire neck popped out of the body. It did sustain a hairline crack from the nut, up the side of the neck. It was an easy repair.
So why didn’t the head crack? Because it had a volute and it was a maple neck, which is stronger than mahogany.
I own about 9 guitars. I’ve been a working musician since I was 16. I’ve dropped lots of guitars in the past 47 years. None of them broke the way Les Pauls do. It’s a flawed design. They fixed it once, but going back to the lack of a volute, along with their archaic truss rod system has left that part of the neck very weak.
If I were Gibson, I’d switch to a modern dual action rod, which removes less wood from the neck, and bring the volute back. I’d also use a scarf joint. You’d never see another broken head.
This is one of my basses. Besides the volute the head is attached with a scarf joint that’s hidden under the back veneer. One of these basses sustained a fall, and the very tip of the headstock broke off. It was purely cosmetic and the neck had no damage. It’s just a better engineered joint. And it’s been used for many decades by luthiers.
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That’s nonsense. The volute makes that area stronger. Track the headstock? What’s that supposed to mean?
Here’s the problem with the way they build necks; they are bandsawing the headstock angle from a solid piece of wood. This causes the grain to run out, so you have very short grain, which is weak.
A better way would be to use a scarf joint, so the grain runs parallel to the face of the head.
That WILL NOT break if you drop it. I know because that’s how I build my necks with angled back heads.
So a volute is a good compromise. There are zero disadvantages to a volute.
Problem number two is the large truss rod nut, which necessitates the removal of too much wood in that area.
A volute would also fix that problem by adding some wood to the area.
Plus they look classy.
Because no one dropped those guitars.
The ONLY guitars I have had to glue the heads back on have been Les Pauls and a Pedulla MVP. They use volutes, and it’s a maple neck, but it’s a band sawn head.
I used to own an ‘81 Les Paul standard. It had a maple neck with a volute. My crazy girlfriend at the time decided to throw the guitar from the living room to the kitchen! It landed on its head.
But the head did not crack in the usual place. Instead the entire neck popped out of the body. It did sustain a hairline crack from the nut, up the side of the neck. It was an easy repair.
So why didn’t the head crack? Because it had a volute and it was a maple neck, which is stronger than mahogany.
I own about 9 guitars. I’ve been a working musician since I was 16. I’ve dropped lots of guitars in the past 47 years. None of them broke the way Les Pauls do. It’s a flawed design. They fixed it once, but going back to the lack of a volute, along with their archaic truss rod system has left that part of the neck very weak.
If I were Gibson, I’d switch to a modern dual action rod, which removes less wood from the neck, and bring the volute back. I’d also use a scarf joint. You’d never see another broken head.
This is one of my basses. Besides the volute the head is attached with a scarf joint that’s hidden under the back veneer. One of these basses sustained a fall, and the very tip of the headstock broke off. It was purely cosmetic and the neck had no damage. It’s just a better engineered joint. And it’s been used for many decades by luthiers.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
