ToneMonkey Posted December 14, 2006 Report Share Posted December 14, 2006 Hello guys, On the cheap SG that I'm playing with, I've sanded all the finish off the neck to get it down to bare wood so I can see what I'm playing with. The neck wood doesn't look that bad and as I'm not the biggest fan of painted necks, I wanted to keep it wood. Unfortunately there is some staining from the finish on the neck and it appears to run fairly deep. For this reason (and I know that this is a bit arse about face), I've decided to make the neck asymmetric. The guitar is just for playing around with and I've never played anything with a asymmetric neck before. I know some people here build asymmetric necks so I'm after some specs. How far off the centre line is the thickest point of the neck. What kind of shape do you carve it to (I've played my mates resonators with a pretty much triangular profile and it was very comfy, so I'm thinking of doing this) etc etc. Cheers guys, I would have used the search, but it's not working for me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
biliousfrog Posted December 14, 2006 Report Share Posted December 14, 2006 I tend to reshape mine into a hybrid "V" & "C" for comfort....have done for years & didn't realise that others did the same. I do mine so that the thumb side is flatter & more of a "V" & the palm side a round "C". If you make some random chord shapes in mid-air in a Quo air guitar stylee, you'll notice that the thumb tends to stay quite straight whilst the palm & fingers curl round the neck (well, mine do)....that's why I shape mine in that way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickguard Posted December 14, 2006 Report Share Posted December 14, 2006 Well, personally, I like all those little marks and booboos, but that's personal preference...have you tried rubbing it down with acetone? That should get rid of much of the rest. I just finished reshaping the neck on my guitar...the neck was originally wide but flatter than I like (actually, it hurt my hand to play it)...so I took a little off the treble side... I can't give you any specs, though, and I doubt anyone else can...I just did it by feel, kept wrapping my hand around there until it just felt right....or at least more right than the original. I'll bet in the end I probably didn't take off more than a millimeter of wood to get it where I like it. Since I didn't make this neck, and I don't know what kind of truss rod is in there, or how deep they routed its channel, I didn't want to risk weakening the neck. Something to think about... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToneMonkey Posted December 14, 2006 Author Report Share Posted December 14, 2006 Yeah, I'd already thought of that. After I decided to make it asymmetric, I got my drum sander out and "cut into" the wood with it to see if I could get to the bottom of the staining but it appears to go too deep. Don'tthink much will help remove it, it's fairly bad. I'm seriously considering staining the neck black if I can't get rid of it (good idea by the missus that one) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted December 14, 2006 Report Share Posted December 14, 2006 stain makes scratches and dings stand out more...you have to cover it with solid filler and paint if you want to hide it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToneMonkey Posted December 14, 2006 Author Report Share Posted December 14, 2006 Scratches and dings on one of my necks? Not until after it's finished anyway I'll take it down to near the shape I want, give it an acetone wash and then do the final shaping and sanding, hopefully I can get it down to wood that way. If not then I'll have to paint it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christopher Posted December 14, 2006 Report Share Posted December 14, 2006 Scratches and dings on one of my necks? Not until after it's finished anyway I'll take it down to near the shape I want, give it an acetone wash and then do the final shaping and sanding, hopefully I can get it down to wood that way. If not then I'll have to paint it or just dye the wood to match the left over finish. unless I misunderstood and he dislikes colored neck, not finished neck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToneMonkey Posted December 14, 2006 Author Report Share Posted December 14, 2006 I'm trying to go down the route of not laquering the neck. I was intending on oiling it. A bit more info: The finish was black before I took it off. After going through several layers (the finish on this thing was like it had been dipped in treacle), it was all down to bare wood with the exception of a big black streak down the neck and an 'orrible looking patch on the back of the headstock. I sanded through to see how deep the streak goes and it seems that to get through it I would have to take too much wood off. However the streak is nowhere near as visible now (but it's still there). It's still black but it's not as obvious anymore. This is why I was thinking of staining it and then oiling it. I'm not too fussed if the odd ding shows up on the neck after a few years (I take it that tis is what you were on about Wes), I'm not bothered about a big of sanding and restaining it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted December 14, 2006 Report Share Posted December 14, 2006 no...i misunderstood...i thought you were trying to get a ding out,not a black streak...that's why i said it woud make a ding more visible. stain and oil?i did that on my first guitar and it got so gross looking after about 6 months i just took all the hardware off and threw it away Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToneMonkey Posted December 14, 2006 Author Report Share Posted December 14, 2006 But I'm not as grubby as you are Cheers Wes, I'll keep that in mind and do a few experiments Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oz tradie Posted December 14, 2006 Report Share Posted December 14, 2006 Just in case you haven't stumbled across this in your wanderings.......... asymmetric neck stuff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MzI Posted December 14, 2006 Report Share Posted December 14, 2006 Check out Tobias Bass guitars made by Gibson and also MTD Guitars. MzI Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattia Posted December 15, 2006 Report Share Posted December 15, 2006 I tend to reshape mine into a hybrid "V" & "C" for comfort....have done for years & didn't realise that others did the same. I do mine so that the thumb side is flatter & more of a "V" & the palm side a round "C". If you make some random chord shapes in mid-air in a Quo air guitar stylee, you'll notice that the thumb tends to stay quite straight whilst the palm & fingers curl round the neck (well, mine do)....that's why I shape mine in that way. Um, so you do it opposite to the way most (inluding me) do it, then. My thumb likes a little more shoulder (so a C shape on the bass side) and fingers a little less (so a flatter shape on the treble side. like so, more or less: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
biliousfrog Posted December 15, 2006 Report Share Posted December 15, 2006 um....yeah To me, the way you've done it there, it seems like you're creating a sharper angle for the fingers to bend round & a curved area for the thumb to rest on. I wasn't aware that anyone else had tried it 10yrs ago so I just did what felt comfortable to me & I've got quite small hands & stumpy fingers so maybe that's why? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thegarehanman Posted December 15, 2006 Report Share Posted December 15, 2006 I do it just like mattia, perhaps mine's a bit more pronounced though. It's a very comfortable feel for me and I've only heard good things from people who have played my necks. I've never seen a neck where it's chunky on the treble side and thin on the bass side though. peace, russ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickguard Posted December 15, 2006 Report Share Posted December 15, 2006 um....yeah To me, the way you've done it there, it seems like you're creating a sharper angle for the fingers to bend round & a curved area for the thumb to rest on. I wasn't aware that anyone else had tried it 10yrs ago so I just did what felt comfortable to me & I've got quite small hands & stumpy fingers so maybe that's why? One of the fun parts of all this is that you can shape your neck to fit your own hand...can't buy that in a store! The recarve I did was more similar to Mattia's photo, although like I said, it really didn't take that much sanding to make the neck fit more nicely to my hand. So the profile on mine isn't as dramatic as Mattia's. But there's something bothering me here...if this neck is one of those dipped-in-plastic type necks, then they wouldn't have stained the wood, they would have sealed it first, then painted it. So it seems odd to me that the black would have gone all the way through the sealer...is it possible that black is something else (like the wood). Personally, I'd keep the remnants of the old paint or whatever that is --it's part of the guitar's history, and I bet it'd look great under varnish... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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