Anyone ever made a THICK neck THINNER

[dmraco]

Looking to take some material off a neck to thing it out.  I guess it would be like trying to make a Warmoth FAT profile like a Standard thin.

Thanks

 

[Jusatele]

Easier to do than make a thin neck thicker

if you think of it all necks are made thinner. should not be harder than getting out the sander.

But, ah, no I have not.

 

[Tonar8352]

I would check with the guys at Warmoth. You are talking a lot of wood between a fatback and a standard thin. 

 

[dmraco]

I would check with the guys at Warmoth. You are talking a lot of wood between a fatback and a standard thin. 

Its not a warmoth neck.

 

[Kostas]

I asked Ken Warmoth recently. He said it's not a good idea, especially necks with vintage style truss rods. You have to be careful how you 'll do it and how much you 'll do it.

 

[swarfrat]

If you're talking about a bog standard maple neck w/ a maple/rosewood/ebony fingerboard I think I'd just take it off and replace it with what you want. Actually I'm having trouble imaging a case for doing this - either you're wanting to stay with THIS NECK for some reason, in which case you're taking a big risk of destroying it, or you don't have special attachment to THIS NECK and just want something to your specs.

 

[dmraco]

If you're talking about a bog standard maple neck w/ a maple/rosewood/ebony fingerboard I think I'd just take it off and replace it with what you want. Actually I'm having trouble imaging a case for doing this - either you're wanting to stay with THIS NECK for some reason, in which case you're taking a big risk of destroying it, or you don't have special attachment to THIS NECK and just want something to your specs.

THe issue is this is a SET neck, glued in.  I took some measurments and it is 1.00 inch at the 1st fret and 1.12 at the twelth.  I would like to get those down to .9 and 1.0.

 

[Cagey]

I took some measurments and it is 1.00 inch at the 1st fret and 1.12 at the twelth.  I would like to get those down to .9 and 1.0.

Fer crissakes! That's not a neck, that's a baseball bat! You need to get your glasses fixed; you're picking up the wrong thing! <grin>

 

[stubhead]

Just out of curiosity, what is it? I might want one.... :headbang1:

The worrisome issue of course is the path of the truss rod. There are some famous shaved necks - Jimmy Page's Les Paul comes to mind, skinnier in the middle than at either end, supposedly. But then, you wouldn't hear about the ones in the landfill with the truss rod fallen out the back then, would you?

 

[dmraco]

Just out of curiosity, what is it? I might want one.... :headbang1:

The worrisome issue of course is the path of the truss rod. There are some famous shaved necks - Jimmy Page's Les Paul comes to mind, skinnier in the middle than at either end, supposedly. But then, you wouldn't hear about the ones in the landfill with the truss rod fallen out the back then, would you?

Precision Les Paul ............http://precisionguitarkits.com/Les-Paul-Junior-Double-Cut-Kit.html

I got it down to .095 and 1.1

 

[mayfly]

If it's not too late, I'd use one of these:

http://www.leevalley.com/en/wood/page.aspx?p=65692&cat=1,42524

 

[stubhead]

It's hard to look at the Lee Valley catalogs and NOT want some of their "Veritas" planes - the little ones are like works of art and the big ones are like science fiction machines:

http://www.leevalley.com/en/wood/page.aspx?p=32680&cat=1,41182

However, for all intents and purposes the sureform rasps and tools like that sawblade scraper are making gentle planing kind of anachronistic.

 

[CrackedPepper]

Watershed modified his neck's contour in this link.  Maybe he can provide you with insight on what he uses...

 

[Watershed]

Hey, that's me.

I have done it on quite a few necks actually.
The thing is that I am not making that drastic of a change to the overall thickness.
Generally, I take a '59, and attack the shoulders to make it an offset V.
I use sandpaper.  120 grit, then 220, 320, then ready for finishing, or enjoy if it's an exotic.
It takes patience, but it's the sort of thing you want to be patient with.
Like Jusatele says, it's easier to take off then put back on.

Do you really think they set the truss rod differently (deeper) based on the back profile?
I'm prepared to eat the consequences, but so far no issues.
But, I'm not looking for a super thin neck either.

Sounds like you are looking to remove 1 tenth of an inch, and still end up with a rather beefy neck.
I'd really be surprised if you sanded through to the truss rod.

 

[TonyFlyingSquirrel]

I did it to an old Squier neck and an old Ibanez neck about 29 years ago.
not much on the Ibby, I was just going for a more natural feel of an unfinished neck.

I did make the mistake of sanding down the Squier neck after scalloping the fingerboard when I should have left well enough alone.  The scallop turned out flawless but the additional sanding made the neck bend share of flat from the wind of a fart.

Lesson learned, more material is better, would never recommend a scallop/wizard profile combo.