Wood questions for new build.

[LeroyBlues]

Ok, I've built a 5C1 Champ, and a 5E3 Deluxe and a Partscaster, all turning out really great. In fact, have shown them to several "working" musicians and like them very much, so I know I did ok. Now I have the bug, really, really bad, to build a tele from scratch. I know I can build the body and finish it with no problems, have the tools and skills, and thought the neck is a bit scary I've looked over the threads on here and seen others neck builds and feel I can do that too if I exercise some patience. So I went to a mill in my area that sells rough sawn, kiln dried lumber of many species, just to get a look at what they had that I could use. Well, they have Ash, Alder and Hard Maple, even some Curly Maple. Most all of it is available in thicknesses from 4/4 to 8/4 and widths from 2" to 14", and 10' lengths. But I had no clue what to look for in the wood. All the ends were painted, not real sure why, maybe to seal them when they were drying, so I couldn't see the end grain. This wasn't really a problem for me for the Alder or Ash for the body, but I thought I needed to see the end grain for the neck wood. So my question is, what do I look for in the grain on the top, bottom and sides of the wood, when looking for wood for the neck? Seems to me the grain should run mostly straight up and down from top to bottom to be a good strong neck, but is this a fact? Any insight is greatly appreciated.

[jwells393]

Seems to me the grain should run mostly straight up and down from top to bottom to be a good strong neck, but is this a fact?

What you describe there is quarter sawn lumber. Yes it would make a good strong neck but most necks are not made from quarter sawn lumber.

A bit if Fender history. Originally Leo Fender used quarter sawn for the early necks thinking that a truss rod wouldn't be necessary. That turned out not to be the case.

[guitarbuilder]

Most of the stuff you see at a lumber yard is called flatsawn. That yields the most wood from the log. Flatsawn is not as dimensionally stable as quartersawn lumber, but it is stable enough for what you want to make, assuming that it was dried properly. Do a search for flatsawn and quartersawn lumber images so that you can see what they look like.
Marty

[LeroyBlues]

Thanks Jwells and guitarbuilder. The guy at the mill did say something to me about quarter sawn, not sure now if he said it was or wasn't, but he didn't use the term flat sawn at all, so..... Anyways, this is a really cool mill, cuts and dries it's own wood, has a huge selection of specialty woods, and I'm sure they have both quarter and flat sawn stock. I did look up info on the two cuts, but from what I gather from you is that it doesn't matter which I use. So when I go back, I should just look at the surface grain pattern and select a piece from what I see and like?