@stratamania Good to know. Thank you. Do you know why it is some have two string trees and some have one? It's always been a mystery to me. I've considered getting the Tiltback head to do away with the trees altogether, but then, is there a point at which your strat is no longer a strat? ???
A raw neck wood that's heavy, can be drilled w/o issue, and sounds good?
- Thread starter Learning
- Start date
Cagey
Mythical Status
- Messages
- 24,425
If the nut is cut properly, you don't need any string trees. Those were a cheap & dirty fix Leo came up with 100 years ago to compensate for the poor nut fabrication they were getting in a production line environment. The only reason you see them these days is out of tradition (or to fix the aforementioned problem). Unless a customer forces me to, I never install them, and haven't for many years.
stratamania
Mythical Status
- Messages
- 11,640
Whether they have one or two trees is mostly down to model and year of manufacture.
In addition to what Cagey mentioned, staggered modern tuners also help to get a better break angle.
In addition to what Cagey mentioned, staggered modern tuners also help to get a better break angle.
So, I've narrowed it down to Padouk or Goncalo, based partly on what little I can glean about sustainability, and partly on cost. Pau Ferro is quite expensive (for my needs), as is Bocote, and I have questions about the ongoing sustainability of Wenge.
I've gone so far as to make mockups of potential necks, and even hue-shifted aged padouk mockups to get a sense of what it'll look like down the road. It looks good either way.
My final(?) questions;
- How important is quartersawn for stability?
- Would you achieve the same sort of stability increase going to a fatter neck profile? That is, would a flatsawn Roundback neck be any more or less stable than a quartersawn Standard Thin neck?
- 2 piece vs 1 piece?
- related to the above question, how are Padouk and Goncalo as fretboard materials?
- the outlier is one specific quartersawn Brazillian Ebony (Wamara) neck Warmoth have in stock - any pros vs Padouk or Goncalo?
Thanks to all for your help and patience.
I've gone so far as to make mockups of potential necks, and even hue-shifted aged padouk mockups to get a sense of what it'll look like down the road. It looks good either way.
My final(?) questions;
- How important is quartersawn for stability?
- Would you achieve the same sort of stability increase going to a fatter neck profile? That is, would a flatsawn Roundback neck be any more or less stable than a quartersawn Standard Thin neck?
- 2 piece vs 1 piece?
- related to the above question, how are Padouk and Goncalo as fretboard materials?
- the outlier is one specific quartersawn Brazillian Ebony (Wamara) neck Warmoth have in stock - any pros vs Padouk or Goncalo?
Thanks to all for your help and patience.
stratamania
Mythical Status
- Messages
- 11,640
You will find various opinions on the merits of quartersawn versus flatsawn.
Personally, I like quartersawn but some will prefer flat or rift sawn. Quartersawn will often have less of an obvious grain pattern and will look straighter along the length. It depends of course on species and the individual piece.
Whatever choice you make, there is always the next one somewhere down the road.
Personally, I like quartersawn but some will prefer flat or rift sawn. Quartersawn will often have less of an obvious grain pattern and will look straighter along the length. It depends of course on species and the individual piece.
Whatever choice you make, there is always the next one somewhere down the road.
Cagey
Mythical Status
- Messages
- 24,425
Quartersawn lumber is usually chosen for its stability, although it does have a grain orientation that some prefer for appearance's sake. However, most exotic hardwoods are inherently stable, so there's no mechanical advantage to any particular reduction cut. Plus, Warmoth's "modern" neck construction is remarkably stable regardless of cut, so there's no need for the slightly more wasteful quartersawn cut. The added handling and increased waste has an effect on cost, so you have to want it more than flat or rift sawn.
As for sustainability, Warmoth is a fairly small company in a fairly small industry as far as wood use is concerned, particularly exotic hardwoods. Worrying about their effect on the consumption of hardwoods is kinda like worrying about water waste if you spit a bug out of your mouth. All necks are made from hardwoods, which are usually pretty slow-growing trees, so it's easy to use them up faster than they can be replaced. But, you'd be hard-pressed to find many companies making necks out of the hardwoods Warmoth uses, so again we're talking about a small fraction of a small fraction of consumers, which is nothing to worry about. More hardwood trees will die on their own than Warmoth uses in a year by probably several orders of magnitude. If you wanna worry about waste, worry about the millions of acres of exotic hardwoods some countries burn down every year because using the wood has become illegal and effectively worthless thanks to overzealous environmentalists, not the three and half trees Warmoth uses.
Along similar lines, the one piece vs. two piece neck construction has more to do with the efficiency of using a smaller amount of a harder, denser, less available wood for the the fretboard vs. neck meat for wearability's sake than any tonal characteristics.
As for sustainability, Warmoth is a fairly small company in a fairly small industry as far as wood use is concerned, particularly exotic hardwoods. Worrying about their effect on the consumption of hardwoods is kinda like worrying about water waste if you spit a bug out of your mouth. All necks are made from hardwoods, which are usually pretty slow-growing trees, so it's easy to use them up faster than they can be replaced. But, you'd be hard-pressed to find many companies making necks out of the hardwoods Warmoth uses, so again we're talking about a small fraction of a small fraction of consumers, which is nothing to worry about. More hardwood trees will die on their own than Warmoth uses in a year by probably several orders of magnitude. If you wanna worry about waste, worry about the millions of acres of exotic hardwoods some countries burn down every year because using the wood has become illegal and effectively worthless thanks to overzealous environmentalists, not the three and half trees Warmoth uses.
Along similar lines, the one piece vs. two piece neck construction has more to do with the efficiency of using a smaller amount of a harder, denser, less available wood for the the fretboard vs. neck meat for wearability's sake than any tonal characteristics.
For those curious, I pulled the trigger;
http://www.warmoth.com/Showcase/ShowcaseNeck.aspx?Body=1&Shape=1&Type=4&Paint=0&Path=Strat,Vintage%20Modern,Unfinished&fWood=34&sort=price&i=VMS12939#.W2ptSigzaUk
I ended up going for the most bonkers looking thing in my shortlist. If people are interested I'll post some IRL pics when it shows up.
http://www.warmoth.com/Showcase/ShowcaseNeck.aspx?Body=1&Shape=1&Type=4&Paint=0&Path=Strat,Vintage%20Modern,Unfinished&fWood=34&sort=price&i=VMS12939#.W2ptSigzaUk
I ended up going for the most bonkers looking thing in my shortlist. If people are interested I'll post some IRL pics when it shows up.
stratamania
Mythical Status
- Messages
- 11,640
A good choice.
Post some pics. Its part of what the forum is about
Post some pics. Its part of what the forum is about
Similar threads
