Zerberus
Baron Von Shred
Re: Neck Building advice
Ok, off the top of my head before I really fall asleep..
1. I personally do not feel the 3d6 bridge is ideal for what you want tonally, which at this point I assume is "thick but well defined and not syrupy, fluid but clear", with the guitar being one of the more "neutral" components allowing for more flexibility with effects and processing. Should I be correct, I think the Hannes would be a much better choice, but it is admittedly more expensive. I find the 3d6 to be "fuzzy" for lack of a better word, especially with the lighter string guages of shredders (7s, 8s, to a lesser degree on 9s). It`s almost as if almost as if the rollers wanted more force to be applied to them to have solid contact.
That said, I did voice this to the guys at Schaller as did others many years ago and have not used one since, so I could be off the ball due to a minor tweak in the machining.
2. Is that body to scale? If so, is the line on the treble horn a "to be removed" section? Becasue if you thowever would beke that out and move the heel up to about the 26th fret then you should have perfect access to the entire board with both hands, the current drawing would ba a "tapping only zone" from about 30 on up....
3. you say you have the neckthru section already carved... I assume that this is already attached to the neck? If so, please tell me the neck grain is quartersawn (vertical grain lines perpendicular to fretboard plane)...
If it is, you should be able to get away with a bass truss rod if you build the neck "low" enough. what I mean by that is the neck having no actual back angle and teh fretboard being on teh same plane as the body top. From what my addled mind gathers (which I`m noticing isn`t much anymore, and spelling is becoming a chore...), the trussrod will extend past the fretboard by about an inch, which would put the butt end end just before the pickup cavity. If you rout the cavity with the butt end a but deeper, like a 1 or 2 ° angle, you can cover it with a filler strip that should be thick enough to support the short exces length by itself.
*interjection from 15 minutes later* You did not read this probably not so great idea, you have no idea what the words I just said mean, and you want me to just shut up, stop my half asleep rambling, and tell you how to do it right. *
But using a bass rod really isn`t the right way to do it, because you really need an intermediate length of about 19", that`s why I asked about the welding. DA Truss rods are actually easy to make with a little experience, and actually saves a good 10-15 bucks depending on which exact rod you`re looking at, especially if the alternative is cutting down a bass rod.
If the neck is not quartersawn, then you`ll definitely want teh proper length of rod in there as the "softer" flex of the neck will cause the adjustments to be a bit larger, which would put more pressure on the fillet, adding to the risk of popping it out (TBH the more I think about it the more I think it`s a bad idea without a separate top)
This is where it gets interesting: you can either use 2 graphite rods flankuing the truss a la carvin, or you can use 2 rods allowing you to adjust both sides of the neck separately a la Rickenbacker. Or you can get /make a heavy duty truss rod and take the risk of the neck being too "soft", which shouldn`t really happen on non figured wood that`s been properly dried. Which way you go also depends partly on your neck profile, a thinner profile is of course weaker and needs more support, but the irony is that it offers less space to put that support in. This is one of the main reasons that many companies laminate their 7 string necks ans use 1 truss rod, the lamination makes it significantly stronger, making it easier to carver a thinner profile without pretzeling under string tension.
Assuming I`was right with the tonal profile, of teh 2 I would select Basswood here unless you really like it bright and aren`t bothered be weight (actually ash would probably balance better, phsyically, due to it`s higher density, and weight probably won`t be much of an issue unless you`re using hard ash...).
And I`, starting to become incoherent, I`ll call it a night and get baclk to this tomorrow :beerchug:
Ok, off the top of my head before I really fall asleep..
1. I personally do not feel the 3d6 bridge is ideal for what you want tonally, which at this point I assume is "thick but well defined and not syrupy, fluid but clear", with the guitar being one of the more "neutral" components allowing for more flexibility with effects and processing. Should I be correct, I think the Hannes would be a much better choice, but it is admittedly more expensive. I find the 3d6 to be "fuzzy" for lack of a better word, especially with the lighter string guages of shredders (7s, 8s, to a lesser degree on 9s). It`s almost as if almost as if the rollers wanted more force to be applied to them to have solid contact.
That said, I did voice this to the guys at Schaller as did others many years ago and have not used one since, so I could be off the ball due to a minor tweak in the machining.
2. Is that body to scale? If so, is the line on the treble horn a "to be removed" section? Becasue if you thowever would beke that out and move the heel up to about the 26th fret then you should have perfect access to the entire board with both hands, the current drawing would ba a "tapping only zone" from about 30 on up....
3. you say you have the neckthru section already carved... I assume that this is already attached to the neck? If so, please tell me the neck grain is quartersawn (vertical grain lines perpendicular to fretboard plane)...
If it is, you should be able to get away with a bass truss rod if you build the neck "low" enough. what I mean by that is the neck having no actual back angle and teh fretboard being on teh same plane as the body top. From what my addled mind gathers (which I`m noticing isn`t much anymore, and spelling is becoming a chore...), the trussrod will extend past the fretboard by about an inch, which would put the butt end end just before the pickup cavity. If you rout the cavity with the butt end a but deeper, like a 1 or 2 ° angle, you can cover it with a filler strip that should be thick enough to support the short exces length by itself.
*interjection from 15 minutes later* You did not read this probably not so great idea, you have no idea what the words I just said mean, and you want me to just shut up, stop my half asleep rambling, and tell you how to do it right. *
But using a bass rod really isn`t the right way to do it, because you really need an intermediate length of about 19", that`s why I asked about the welding. DA Truss rods are actually easy to make with a little experience, and actually saves a good 10-15 bucks depending on which exact rod you`re looking at, especially if the alternative is cutting down a bass rod.
If the neck is not quartersawn, then you`ll definitely want teh proper length of rod in there as the "softer" flex of the neck will cause the adjustments to be a bit larger, which would put more pressure on the fillet, adding to the risk of popping it out (TBH the more I think about it the more I think it`s a bad idea without a separate top)
This is where it gets interesting: you can either use 2 graphite rods flankuing the truss a la carvin, or you can use 2 rods allowing you to adjust both sides of the neck separately a la Rickenbacker. Or you can get /make a heavy duty truss rod and take the risk of the neck being too "soft", which shouldn`t really happen on non figured wood that`s been properly dried. Which way you go also depends partly on your neck profile, a thinner profile is of course weaker and needs more support, but the irony is that it offers less space to put that support in. This is one of the main reasons that many companies laminate their 7 string necks ans use 1 truss rod, the lamination makes it significantly stronger, making it easier to carver a thinner profile without pretzeling under string tension.
Assuming I`was right with the tonal profile, of teh 2 I would select Basswood here unless you really like it bright and aren`t bothered be weight (actually ash would probably balance better, phsyically, due to it`s higher density, and weight probably won`t be much of an issue unless you`re using hard ash...).
And I`, starting to become incoherent, I`ll call it a night and get baclk to this tomorrow :beerchug:
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