Neck Shave (Haywire Guitars)

[Stratmeup]

I started a thread a while ago looking for some help with finding the right neck. The original thread is here:

http://unofficialwarmoth.com/index.php?topic=22470.0

All of the information from members was very helpful, but the best suggestion (for me) came from Black Dog, who suggested I send my neck to Haywire Guitars. He asked me to report back when i got the neck back from Haywire.

My neck arrived at Haywire last Thursday. By Friday it was in the return mail to me. I picked it up a few hours ago.

Rick shaved the neck from a '59 Roundback to something closer to the Wolfgang profile. Not only that, he was kind enough to dress the sharp edges on the sides of the fretboard. (came that way from the factory) Then replaced the sealer that Warmoth uses on their necks.

Finally, Rick adjusted the truss rod for me to have a similar contour to the contour he has put on hundreds of Warmoth guitars for customers.

I will be using this instrument at rehearsal tonight, but wanted to get this post up.

I slapped the neck/strings on and slightly raised the action. The guitar seems to be perfect. There are no buzzes or rattles. There is no longer a battle to effortlessly get to the places I want to get to only to be stymied by an overly large neck.

I'll write more after I use it tonight, but so far I am at a loss for superlatives. The turnaround time was better than expected, the extras were completely un-expected, but the big deal is really the results. And the result is nothing less that spectacular.

Highly recommended for anyone who needs help with their guitar. And thanks to Black Dog for the info. My experience says you can't go wrong with Haywire.

 

[Stratmeup]

OK, back from rehearsal.

After the first 1,2,3,4 countoff  I completely forgot I had a new neck. This is an excellent thing, and people who know what their fave guitar feels like will know exactly what a big deal this is.

It was completely effortless to play. I didn't spend a nano-second worrying about how to adjust my hand to compensate for an overly large or too thin neck.

I could not possibly be happier, and thanks again to everyone who helped out in the other thread.

 

[bbl4ck]

Hey Stratmeup,

Really glad to hear that the neck reshaping from Haywire Guitars worked out for you.  Sounds like they really took good care of you :icon_thumright:
I am even happier to hear this because I have that Clapton neck profile on my Firebird that I absolutely hate.  I hardly ever play her because the neck shape just does not work.
My Firebird neck will be on the way to Haywire's this weekend.
Thanks again for the feedback &  :rock-on:
 

 

[Stratmeup]

So how did it work out for you, Black Dog?

 

[LushTone]

I guess I'm lucky in that I find a fatback profile (25" scale)  comfortable. Though that's cool that the mod worked out for you!  :rock-on:

However, I usually find a 1 5/8" nut width uncomfortable. Switching between 1 11/16" and 1 3/4" is fine for me though.

 

[bbl4ck]

So how did it work out for you, Black Dog?

Hey Stratmeup,

Funny you should ask, because Rick called me this morning to give me an update on my neck and let me know it was going in the mail today.  I should have it on Saturday. 
Rick is a really nice guy!  He told me he had the same challenge with V shaped necks and he thought I would be very happy with how he reshaped it. 
He also noticed immediately one of the challenges I have with Warmoth necks living in Arizona.  After a couple years, the wood shrinks from the lack of humidity and the frets hang sharply over the edge.
I told him that I was aware of that problem and would clean them up when my neck came back home.  He informed me he had already cleaned up the sharp edges and there would be no charge for that service.
Considering these were SS frets, and most techs/luthiers complain about working with SS, I thought this was a generous offer.

The only concern I have is that Rick told me he had reapplied the Warmoth applied sealer on the back of the neck.  My concern is the neck is Canary and to the best of my knowledge, Warmoth does not apply any sealer to Canary.
Anyway, Rick was so nice that I did not have the heart to complain.  I figured I would just wait and see how it turned out.  Worst case scenario is a little steel wool will take off any sealer he applied. 

So far, I can say nothing but good things about the experience, but I will give you a follow up after I get the neck back on and test her out.
:rock-on:

 

[LushTone]

That's cool that the fret service was thrown in. Hmm why the sealer? I have a Warmoth goncalo neck (supposedly raw), I wonder if it has sealer...

 

[Cagey]

Warmoth puts sealer on all their necks. They won't say what it is, only that they do it.

See here:

All our necks are dipped in an oil based penetrating sealer which is compatible with virtually all secondary finishes. This provides enhanced stability; however, it is not adequate protection for playing. We strongly recommend you apply a hard finish to all Maple, Mahogany, and Koa necks. Oils do not validate our warranty requirements. We understand the attraction of raw or lightly oiled necks. They feel fast and are not sticky. Unfortunately, they are much more susceptible to moisture related warping and twisting. Our experience is that hard finished necks seldom warp. Raw or oiled necks don't fare as well. About 10% are rendered useless from the torture. The more acidic your perspiration, the higher the odds are against you.

 

[Stratmeup]

Warmoth puts sealer on all their necks. They won't say what it is, only that they do it.

See here:

All our necks are dipped in an oil based penetrating sealer which is compatible with virtually all secondary finishes. This provides enhanced stability; however, it is not adequate protection for playing. We strongly recommend you apply a hard finish to all Maple, Mahogany, and Koa necks. Oils do not validate our warranty requirements. We understand the attraction of raw or lightly oiled necks. They feel fast and are not sticky. Unfortunately, they are much more susceptible to moisture related warping and twisting. Our experience is that hard finished necks seldom warp. Raw or oiled necks don't fare as well. About 10% are rendered useless from the torture. The more acidic your perspiration, the higher the odds are against you.

Watkins Danish Oil.

The reason I remember this is that when my original guitar was built from Schecter branded/Warmoth parts, (1979) the luthier who assembled it told me he called the factory to make certain he wouldn't screw anything up if he applied a sealer to accommodate for the surreal coastal rain in Vancouver, Canada.

I had never heard of "Danish Oil" before, so the name stuck with me. (do they crush Danes to obtain such oil?)

 

[Stratmeup]

I guess I'm lucky in that I find a fatback profile (25" scale)  comfortable. Though that's cool that the mod worked out for you!  :rock-on:

However, I usually find a 1 5/8" nut width uncomfortable. Switching between 1 11/16" and 1 3/4" is fine for me though.

I'm told that is a Gibson Les Paul profile from 1959. I expect there's a million or more guitar players who find this to be comfortable.

It's a bit too large for me, though. I owned a bunch of Les Paul guitars and loved them, but when I finally experienced the 1-5/8 profile on my Schecter, I never did find anything else to be comfortable.

 

[LushTone]

The neck is obviously a very personal preference. It's the most important part of the guitar to me.

 

[Red Rocks]

We do not use Watkins Danish Oil. We do not disclose what we use , but I just wanted to chime in to correct wrong information. FYI shaving a neck voids the warranty. Some necks have machining and truss rod installation differences that we do not disclose. Shaving a neck down could lead to some heart breaking results. Just throwing out a warning.

 

[bbl4ck]

FYI shaving a neck voids the warranty. Some necks have machining and truss rod installation differences that we do not disclose. Shaving a neck down could lead to some heart breaking results. Just throwing out a warning.

That is good to know!  However, in my case it would be no loss because the V Clapton profile just did not work for me. 
I don't think I played the guitar more than a dozen times in the three years I owned her.  She was too beautiful of a guitar to just have sittin' in the corner collecting dust...

Thanks again for the info!

 

[bagman67]

Damn, that's a nice Firebird.  I have no use for those things, as a practical matter.  But that's one seriously badass axe.

 

[Stratmeup]

We do not use Watkins Danish Oil. We do not disclose what we use , but I just wanted to chime in to correct wrong information. FYI shaving a neck voids the warranty. Some necks have machining and truss rod installation differences that we do not disclose. Shaving a neck down could lead to some heart breaking results. Just throwing out a warning.

Huh, interesting on the Danish Oil thing. Was it always this way? I ask because if you knew the luthier I was speaking of, he is a clenched-butt-cheeks-honest type of guy. I wonder if he called Schecter instead of Warmoth? I didn't know until recently that this neck was made for Schecter by Warmoth.

Since you are here, can you tell me how in the heck I would be able to correctly measure the neck on my Schecter so I order the correct profile, without buying one of each of the necks in your inventory?

 

[Strat Avenger]

Interesting.
I'm considering having one of my production-line guitar necks shaved by Haywire.

 

[AutoBat]

Since you are here, can you tell me how in the heck I would be able to correctly measure the neck on my Schecter so I order the correct profile, without buying one of each of the necks in your inventory?

http://www.warmoth.com/Guitar/Necks/BackContours.aspx

 

[Stratmeup]

Since you are here, can you tell me how in the heck I would be able to correctly measure the neck on my Schecter so I order the correct profile, without buying one of each of the necks in your inventory?

http://www.warmoth.com/Guitar/Necks/BackContours.aspx

Thanks, I did look at that. I took a set of calipers and measured at the 1rst and 12th frets. The Standard thin seemed close.......until you got your hands on it. Too flat/thin.

Took the calipers again, and the '59 Roundback seemed close.......until you got your hands on it, too fat.

There must be a better way than this? A tailor tape, perhaps?

 

[Cagey]

A tailor tape won't give you profile. It gives you distance/circumference, which is generally a useless metric for necks when you're talking about "feel".

It's not just thickness, it's profile - that is, what shape the neck back has. If you look at the raw data, the differences in thickness from one neck to the next aren't much. But, the shape changes slightly and your hand can feel that. Has little to do with hand size; it's more a comfort/familiarity thing. You can get used to anything, except perhaps neck width. Get too far off with that, and you may never get next to the thing.

If you think a Standard Thin is too thin but a '59 is too thick, you're splitting hairs. There's not a great deal of difference between them dimensionally. Perhaps what you're looking for is a different contour/profile.

 

[Stratmeup]

If you think a Standard Thin is too thin but a '59 is too thick, you're splitting hairs. There's not a great deal of difference between them dimensionally. Perhaps what you're looking for is a different contour/profile.

I appreciate that there's little difference in thickness, and that's why it's so difficult to grasp why neither the Standard nor the '59Roundback felt right, or even real close to being right. If neither of these, then what the heck sort of contour did these necks have? Surely there were not that many different contours for guitar necks made at the time?