Official Luthiers Forum!

What is your preference for neck thickness at the nut and at the 12th fret?

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Steve Sollod (pronounced sorta like "Solid")
www.swiftcreekguitars.com

I carve mostly a V shaped neck. With hard Mahogany, including the fretboard, finish sanded, 3/4" at the first fret, 7/8" at the flat just before the heel swells.

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https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100008907949110

C or soft V shape 13/16 @1 15/!6 @ 9th

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Blue Ring Acoustics
blueringacoustics.ca

I like a shallow carve, but you guys really go shallow... I have been going to 0.850" at the nut, which I got from John Mayes. I know some folks like a more hefty neck. I thought I would do a poll to see what others like. Thanks for your replies David and Alan. Anyone else?

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Steve Sollod (pronounced sorta like "Solid")
www.swiftcreekguitars.com

I carve and scape until it feels good.

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Say what you do, Do what you say.

...I stand corrected... I went back to John Mayes' DVD and he likes 0.750". So, David you were at where Mr. Mayes likes it.

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Steve Sollod (pronounced sorta like "Solid")
www.swiftcreekguitars.com

Soft V at .75 under the nut to .85 under the 12th.

I just checked my latest (I really go until it feels right), but I got about 0.85 at 1st fret to slightly greater than 1.0 where the heel curve begins. I'm building classicals, but so far seems like I'm on the hefty side. I would also describe my necks as a "C" rather than a "V".

20 mm at nut. 22mm at 10th

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Doug

Don't let fear or common sense stop you from trying to build something

"D" shape, .75" at 1, .85" at 12 on my electric necks, not including fret height. 14" radius.
Kinda like an SG or Gibson '60s feel.

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wah
Wah-wah-wah-wah
Wah

one last post and I'll let this go...

Robbie O"Brien likes 21 mm at the nut. That's 0.826".

I have carved a half dozen necks. I tend to go shallow because that's how I like then, but again, some folks like heftier. ...all depends on who it's for. I'm working on number 11 and haven't sold any yet, so I'm carving them the way I like them... I wanted to se what others like. Thanks for the responses.

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Steve Sollod (pronounced sorta like "Solid")
www.swiftcreekguitars.com

I like it about .80 at the first fret and .90 at the 12th. I go just a bit thicker from the first fret to the nut.

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formerly known around here as burbank
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http://www.patfosterguitars.com

20-21 mm at first, aim for 24mm at tenth...can't wait to get a CNC to dictate that into reality instead of taking hours to futz it there...

.935" @1st and 1.05" @9th. I like a D-shaped profile - large shoulders with rolled fingerboard edges. I prefer 1 7/8" at the nut and 2 3/8" at the saddle. These are measurements for fingerstyle guitars with 12 fret necks. I have fat fingers and prefer a fatter neck profile.

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John Lewis
Wannabe builder owned by 2 crazy dachshunds

.8 @ 1 & .9 @ 9

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Pat

IF I were building for my self, I would try to duplicate a soft C wide, neck with a narrow thickness. Very LesPaul'ish.

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Lance@LuthiersForum.com

21 mm at the 1st, 23 mm at the 9th.

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The name catgut is confusing. There are two explanations for the mix up.

Catgut is an abbreviation of the word cattle gut. Gut strings are made from sheep or goat intestines, in the past even from horse, mule or donkey intestines.

Otherwise it could be from the word kitgut or kitstring. Kit meant fiddle, not kitten.

I usually start out with certain measurements and then it ends up being around there. I'm glad to see others like a V shaped neck, that's become one of my favorite profiles personally especially on the electric. Classical guitars I tend to like on the thin side but I like a baseball bat for the electric guitar. I've also recently changed my profiles from being one thickness the entire length to thin at the not and progressively fatter towards the body joint.

Around .8/1 and .9/12 unless I'm copying a neck for someone. I too prefer a slight V shape.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

Are these thicknesses including the fingerboard or not?

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"I am always doing that which I cannot do, in order that I may learn how to do it."
Pablo Picasso

https://www.facebook.com/FenskeGuitars

Include the fingerboard.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

I like it almost 1" thick all the way down to the 11th fret or wherever your heel starts. Im not a builder but a player and so from the users perspective.