Laminated Necks- yay or nay

[88 asat]

I've seen several 3-4 and 5 piece laminated necks. I have a 2 piece G&L neck that was split off center, truss rod routed then glued back together. G&L touted this as being much stiffer, which it is. So stiff that the truss rod could not take the bow out. My reason for asking is that I just accuired 450 bf of mahogany, 5.75"x11/16"x8 and 10 foot lengths.Will be great for acoustic sides. Would like to makes some necks for electrics also, but I dont think it can happen unless laminated. [ I did get the G&L neck fixed]

 

[Festofish]

Why not? I say go for it. Luthiers have been doing it for years.

 

[Dismalhead]

Laminated neck = good thing IMO.

 

[Freeman Keller]

Vertically laminated necks will allow you to use some wood that is off quarter and you can do some very attractive effects. On the other hand, if the laminations aren't perfect it can look terrible

 

[telemnemonics]

Laminated is great, that's how more expensive to build carved top Jazz guitars were built before truss rods.

 

[guitarbuilder]

Not a fan of laminated necks. The only twisted ones I've seen were laminated maple. I prefer quartersawn one piece necks as the dimensional stability is greater. That being said, I'd rather have laminated vertical grain over laminated regular grain, but would use anything to build a guitar if I had to.... As always, YMMV.

 

[Marn99]

Rickenbacker have used it on all their models, as well as Gibson on some of their models, for more than 60 years, laminated necks are great.

 

[Blues Twanger]

Like many things, if done well with quality materials you will get a good result. Plenty of high end guitars, especially neck through designs, use a multi piece laminated neck for strength and appearance

 

[telemnemonics]

Vertically laminated necks will allow you to use some wood that is off quarter and you can do some very attractive effects. On the other hand, if the laminations aren't perfect it can look terrible

View attachment 795452

A good thing to consider, not only imperfect laminations but I would not want any seam to run out before tapering down to the headstock, so the pieces at the sides need to not be too thin, which also means that if for example the OP is simply using stock that's too thin as opposed to planning out decorative combination of woods, he probably wants to use no more than three piece for the main part of the neck?
Adding more to make the headstock though.

I mention this because I've been thinking of making a fretless bass neck using some flatsawn 3/4" flame maple, which makes 2 1/4" width and all three pieces run the full length of the neck.
At the nut though assuming a narrow Jazz bass shape the two outer pieces are only maybe 3/8" and those seams move from the back of the neck at the widest point to the sides of the neck at the narrowest point.
Using four same thickness pieces would show the outer pieces tapering to slivers up near the headstock, not attractive!

 

[pshupe]

Not a fan of laminated necks. The only warped ones I've seen were laminated maple. I prefer quartersawn one piece necks as the dimensional stability is greater. That being said, I'd rather have laminated vertical grain over laminated regular grain, but would use anything to build a guitar if I had to.... As always, YMMV.

You may want to qualify that statement by saying what kind of laminated necks are less stable than quarter sawn. I would say not many. The only condition I could see this being true is a two piece lamination of wood that is not quarter sawn. With a little bit of care a laminated neck will always be more stable than once piece, quarter sawn or not. As has been noted before you can use flat sawn wood, rip, and flip 90 degrees and you have a laminated quarter sawn neck.

Throw in a skunk stripe of some contrasting wood and you not only get more rigidity but a very visually appealing neck.

Cheers Peter.

 

[guitarbuilder]

You may want to qualify that statement by saying what kind of laminated necks are less stable than quarter sawn. I would say not many. The only condition I could see this being true is a two piece lamination of wood that is not quarter sawn. With a little bit of care a laminated neck will always be more stable than once piece, quarter sawn or not. As has been noted before you can use flat sawn wood, rip, and flip 90 degrees and you have a laminated quarter sawn neck.
View attachment 795457

Throw in a skunk stripe of some contrasting wood and you not only get more rigidity but a very visually appealing neck.


View attachment 795458

Cheers Peter.

Except for the issue that sometimes you see and feel the glue joints of the laminations down the road as the individual pieces move. The glue joints can telegraph through the finish. Wood moves.... Some woods are more stable than others. If I were building a guitar for somebody...I'd use as few pieces of wood as possible, unless they dictated that it be a certain way.

I'm not opposed to using a bunch of laminations on my own stuff, but for somebody else where they are paying....not so much, especially when not building in climate controlled conditions...been there and done that.

 

[Churchjack]

I had a Guild acoustic dread that had a laminated neck. Great guitar, what a boomer. My son's Taylor has a laminated neck, it's a wonderful playing guitar.

 

[El Marin]

OK, I'm in

 

[fretWalkr]

Gibson did a lot with laminated necked in the 60's and 70's. They are still stable and beautifully done. It's pleasing to my eye when I'm playing. Don't think twice, go for it.

 

[Maricopa]

Yes to laminations.

 

[notroHnhoJ]

Yay. Nothing wrong with them. That three piece stressed grain thing is a good idea, with some Gibson and most Hamer guitars.

 

[telemnemonics]

I had an early Alembic bass, the horribly imbalanced first version that Stanley Clarke played.
Lotta pieces in that neck!
It was old and had a lot of miles on it, the ebony board was cracked at the body as they often did on those Alembics, but the long thin neck was nice and straight, also seasonally stable.
Way too many laminations in that instrument, to me at least, but I could not deny that it was a fine instrument and reliable too, except for the funny five conductor cable that ran to the special Alembic power supply box.
Really just needed a new cable but I managed to solder a fresh end on the old wire to the RA plug and keep it working.

 

[Obsessed]

My Epi Sheraton headstock will never break off.

 

[SamIV]

I have several three piece neck - Ibanez and Epiphone - guitars that I have had zero issues with.

 

[RolandG]

I’m a believer in three piece laminated necks on Telecasters. They’re stiffer, enhancing that Telecaster attack on each note.