quarter sawn and/or roasted neck?

[WindsurfMaui]

I know very little about wood except I like it. I have read that people preferred quarter sawn guitar necks because they were more stable. Now we have roasted wood that is also touted as making necks more stable. So is it better to have both quarter sawn and roasted or is that just a waste of money? I like roasted for the feel but if quarter sawn makes the neck more stable without  robbing the neck of any musicality because the neck is too stiff I would be willing to do both. One reason I ask is I love the feel of the Vintage/Modern one piece Boatneck but not the feel of the Modern build boatneck profile. (Because of the double truss rod it turns the boatneck into more of a D neck with a hint of V on the bottom. This doesn't feel as good to me as the Vintage/Modern so I plan on buying Vintage/Modern in the future but would like a stable neck. So is it worth getting both Quarter Sawn and roasted or is roasted enough? Thanks.

 

[Cagey]

Warmoth's "modern construction" necks are ultra-stable, regardless of the wood. It's a good design. I've got many necks here of a pretty wide variety of woods that just don't move on me, even after of years of use, and this is Michigan, where the temperature/humidity varies pretty widely over the seasons. Quarter sawn sometimes has appearance advantages, but otherwise I'd just opt for the "modern" neck and call it a love story.

 

[PhilHill]

I agree with cagey, quarter-sawn wood was always considered desirable in the past. But that was mainly in the area of tops for acoustic guitars, for the strength factor and certain vibrational characteristics. I don't think it would make a great deal of difference in a neck's stability over that of roasted. It would add a little more resistance to string pull, but that is offset by the fact that it is a little more prone to sideways warpage. That's why builders often used it in a sandwich configuration with other woods in between.

 

[DangerousR6]

Warmoth's "modern construction" necks are ultra-stable, regardless of the wood. It's a good design. I've got many necks here of a pretty wide variety of woods that just don't move on me, even after of years of use, and this is Michigan, where the temperature/humidity varies pretty widely over the seasons. Quarter sawn sometimes has appearance advantages, but otherwise I'd just opt for the "modern" neck and call it a love story.

Ditto, i have many many Warmoth necks of all verities, and live in Texas where humidity and temp is like lottery numbers and all my necks are perfect..

 

[WindsurfMaui]

OK so if I am reading these correctly the consnsus is quarter sawn qould bew a waste of money just go with the straight roasted maple neck. Great thanks.

Cagey, unfortunately although I like the technology of the modern build necks it doesn't have the same hard V feel that the Vintage/Modern build does. Which is why except for the few Ebony topped necks I will be going with one piece Vintage/modern necks. This will give me the hard V boatneck feel that I like and I assume because it is roasted maple it is less prone to warp over the years.

I notice when I tune a Vintage/Modern neck by the time I get to the high E string I have to retune the Low E and A strings to a greater degree than I do with the Modern neck build.

 

[aarontunes]

FYI, the necks on the upcoming 40th Anni guitars are Roasted, Quartersawn, Modern Construction.

 

[WindsurfMaui]

What was the thinking behind doing both quarter sawn and roasted? Is there a stability issue? or a musicality issue? Some people believe quarter sawn necks are more musical.

 

[aarontunes]

What was the thinking behind doing both quarter sawn and roasted? Is there a stability issue? or a musicality issue? Some people believe quarter sawn necks are more musical.

We wanted them to the be the best of everything.

 

[WindsurfMaui]

So the general assessment is that doing both roasting and quarter sawn on a neck doesn't have a negative effect of making it too stiff or too brittle? Good to know.

 

[VinceClortho]

I have a roasted flame maple and a roasted quartersawn neck and while both are quite stable, the quartersawn is just a touch moreso.  When I do a drop D I get a slight additional increase in pitch on the other strings with the roasted maple vs the roasted quartersawn.  However, the difference is very small and both necks are the Wizard profile which are very thin and prone to more movement compared with thicker profiles. So my opinion is, if you want to be assured to get it as stable as possible, go with the roasted quartersawn, even though it very well could be unnecessary with the amount of wood on a boatneck.

My recently acquired purpleheart neck with the same specs is, so far, rock solid as far as stability goes.  I'm interested to see how it fares against the large temp and humidity change come winter.

 

[docteurseb]

1/4 sawn kind of screams 'premium', and it almost costs nothing so it makes sense to use on a ltd run / premium guitars.
For me it comes down to looks 1st, stability 2nd. Headstocks with plain maple can sometimes have wild grain I'm not fond of. Thus I usually get 1/4 sawn maple necks for custom order necks to avoid surprises, and plain maple if I can find one I like from the Showcase.

I'm surprised to hear the shape/feel is different between vintage modern and modern construction, I never got to do a side by side comparison though.
Is your assessment based on comparing several necks of each construction ?
Just trying to understand if it could be neck to neck sanding variations, or simply the difference between 2 pieces vs 1 piece construction (different shape/less rounded fingerboard edges), rather than modern vs vintage modern construction per say.

 

[WindsurfMaui]

Good question. I only own 3 Warmoth boatnecks. 2 Vintage/Modern, one a plain maple one piece, one a flame maple one piece and the one Modern with roasted maple and an Ebony (Black) fingerboard.

Let me describe a boatneck for those who don't own one just to be clear. The sides of the fretboard  on both builds are the same, very flat. The shoulders on both have been trimmed down so it doesn't have a C shoulder profile but more like this <. On the Vintage/Modern necks the line goes from the bottom of the fretboard at the base of the fret tangs to a hard V at the base. Now to be clear the base of the V is not a single sharp point but a flat point the width of the skunk stripe. While on the Modern build instead of a straight line to the V base it is more of a rounded arc to the V bottom where the skunk stripe would be (there is no skunk stripe on a Modern build as you know). The modern build I have has more of rowboat type flat side, rounded bottom to a slight V base.

What I like about the Vintage/Modern build is the hard V fits comfortably in the crook of my hand. What I dislike about the Modern build is that rounded arc at the bottom makes my hand wrap around it and so it is harder to get my fingers on the fret board. If I could flatten that round arc into a straight line it would be easier to get my fingers on the fingerboard. ( and yes I understand on thicker necks that I have to at times put my thumb on the base of the V to get maximum access for my fingers.)

As to your question. I don't know if the difference is because of a one off shaping decision or if all modern build boatnecks are like this. I was hoping not to have to learn the answer to that buy acquiring more modern boatnecks. Other than the build difference and the wood choices the only other difference is the Modern neck is 1 3/4 at the nut and the Vintage/Modern builds are 1 11/16 at the nut. But I don't think the 1/16 difference can explain the shape difference. Unfortunately, I don't think Boatnecks are that popular so I doubt we can get an answer to that question from other boatneck owners.

Conceptually I like the idea of the Modern build double truss rod construction. But since feel is more important to me than construction I may have to stick with a one piece Vintage/Modern construction  I am close to ordering, once Warmoth works through it's backlog, a one piece Vintage/Modern Roasted Maple neck for a future body build that I can temporarily stick on a Fender American Standard Strat I own. For me the roasted maple shaft boatneck with stainless steel frets is the slick set up.  If I can shape the modern build neck by sanding down the arc to give it that more straight line feel then I can experiment with the 2 piece modern build and some exotic woods other wise I have to stick to the one piece Vintage/Modern builds. Thanks for your help.

 

[stratamania]

Other than the build difference and the wood choices the only other difference is the Modern neck is 1 3/4 at the nut and the Vintage/Modern builds are 1 11/16 at the nut. But I don't think the 1/16 difference can explain the shape difference.

There is the reason. The difference between a neck profile on two different width necks even with 1/16" makes a lot of difference to how something feels in the hand.

 

[WindsurfMaui]

But the 1/16 difference in width shouldn't explain the difference in the shaping of the shaft. But I agree the 1/16 difference in width will effect the feel. I like the wider neck I just  want the shape of both builds to be the same. Thanks.

 

[ghotiphry]

I've got three quartersawn necks.  A pau ferro, a wenge, and a maple. 

The pau ferro is a 30" short scale bass neck, and is just my favorite piece that I have.  Hands down.  I don't know if it is the quartersawing that makes a difference, because I do have other pau ferro necks.  But I do know that this one is special.

If you're considering a quartersawn maple, I can say that they are absolutely a thing of beauty if you get the right piece.

Both necks have won me GOM, the white P and the flame maple mooncaster in my signature.

All three (bass) necks are steady as a rock.  But then again, I've never had a problem with the stability of a Warmoth neck, quartersawn or not.

 

[WindsurfMaui]

I know I am sold on roasted maple necks so my only question is does the roasting negate any of the benefits of the quarter sawn effects. But I think the only way I will know that is to pay the upcharge and buy a quarter sawn roasted neck and see how it feels. Thanks for the help. Beautiful necks.

 

[ghotiphry]

...my only question is does the roasting negate any of the benefits of the quarter sawn effects.

Yeah, you noticed I didn't actually answer your question.  I don't think I can.  I think my point is this: Quartersawing at least contributed to my favorite neck, although it is not roasted as it is not maple.  And there are also tangible benefits (at times) in aesthetics with quartersawn maple.  I'm assuming your possible roasted quatersawn neck will be maple, as I'm not aware of another roasted wood species Warmoth uses in neck construction.  So, there may be other benefits in the combination of a roasted quartersawn maple neck.

There's also this little nugget.  I highly recommend that if you do roasted maple that you burnish it and play it unfinished.  Knowing that you don't need to finish it will help to offset the costs of a quartersawn roasted piece.

 

[WindsurfMaui]

Yes the reason I am going for roasted maple is because I don't have to finish it. I love the feel of the raw roasted maple and find it hard to play a finished neck now. I doubt I will have the money any time soon but eventually I may also get a quarter sawn Goncalo Alves neck. These also don't need a finish and look beautiful but I am not sure I will like the feel as much as the roasted maple.

 

[Rick]

1/4 sawn is so pretty.

 

[WindsurfMaui]

I took a closer look at the two necks and I see one difference that helps explain the difference in feel between the Vintage/Modern and the Modern boatneck profile. The shaping of the boatneck profile starts at the bottom of the fretboard  while the shaping on the Vintage/Modern at the top of the fretboard because there is no seam. This seems to add to the V feel of the Vintage/Modern while the Modern build feels a little more like a D shape with a little V at the bottom. I think unless I can hand shape the Modern roasted maple to feel more like a V I will have to stay with the old technology and stick to the one piece Vintage/Modern build. That one piece vintage/modern just feels so good.