Ultra Luxe Neck builder?

[Martemirror]

Hey All

I am attempting to build a duplicate the American Ultra Luxe in Sunburst with Maple neck
So far the only sticking point is getting the new compound 10-14 augmented D neck built.
Fender wont sell it and Warmoth and Guitar Mill wont build it.
The reply from them is they "may in the future".

Anyone know someone who could?

 

[tfarny]

I'm not sure what "augmented D" shape is, and every single neck feels just a bit unique.
But Warmoth's standard compound is 10-16. If you can tell the difference between that and 10-14, well sir I congratulate you. And the "59 roundback" they sell is a very nice medium-thick D shape. To me it's most similar to the PRS "Wide Fat" and many Les Pauls I have played.
Note: Their "Standard thin" is really pretty thin.

 

[Raising Arizona]

Call Peter at Tone Bomb. They seem willing to make anything

I can’t tell the difference between 9.5-12,
Which I have both… I can tell a fender 7.25 tho and a 16. In between those I cannot. I’ve never played a compound I’ve liked. Hard to set the strings up

 

[Hodgo88]

Try Parklane Guitars, they seem to want to cater to the truly unique builds (with appropriate funding)

 

[RPadTV3000]

I'm not sure what "augmented D" shape is, and every single neck feels just a bit unique.
But Warmoth's standard compound is 10-16. If you can tell the difference between that and 10-14, well sir I congratulate you. And the "59 roundback" they sell is a very nice medium-thick D shape. To me it's most similar to the PRS "Wide Fat" and many Les Pauls I have played.
Note: Their "Standard thin" is really pretty thin.

Fender's augmented D is very different from the 59.

 

[tfarny]

Fender's augmented D is very different from the 59.

Ok. Warmoth lists the 59 at .86 to .96, so the difference between what you posted as "augmented D" is 0.5mm (3/128?) at the first fret (less than half the thickness of a dime) to a bit over 1mm at the 12th fret.

I'm aware that small differences in neck dimensions are perfectly feel-able and can be important to a player, but those are not very different at all.

 

[RPadTV3000]

Ok. Warmoth lists the 59 at .86 to .96, so the difference between what you posted as "augmented D" is 0.5mm (3/128?) at the first fret (less than half the thickness of a dime) to a bit over 1mm at the 12th fret.

I'm aware that small differences in neck dimensions are perfectly feel-able and can be important to a player, but those are not very different at all.

it's not just the measurements, it's measurements + shape. look at Warmoth's image below, for example. yes, the numbers aren't that far apart, but the 59 Rounback is rounder than the Ultra's Augmented D, which is much flatter.

additionally, going by your PRS and Les Paul examples, the Ultra doesn't feel like those necks at all. anecdotally, the Ultra neck is my favorite in Fender's current lineup and i'm not a fan of PRS wide fat at all.

 

[tfarny]

it's not just the measurements, it's measurements + shape. look at Warmoth's image below, for example. yes, the numbers aren't that far apart, but the 59 Rounback is rounder than the Ultra's Augmented D, which is much flatter.

additionally, going by your PRS and Les Paul examples, the Ultra doesn't feel like those necks at all. anecdotally, the Ultra neck is my favorite in Fender's current lineup and i'm not a fan of PRS wide fat at all.

View attachment 1101975

All right, well if you've played them both then you know better than me. I wouldn't put any stock into those photos at all, and the dimensions are pretty similar and they are both described as a D. But I've never played the augmented D so I'll defer.

 

[Freeman Keller]

A good neck builder can copy a neck. It can be done one of two ways - either a device called a "duplicarver" mounts the neck to be copied on one side and has a router on a pantagraph on the other. A tool is moved along the surface of the neck, the router shapes the blank.

The other way is simply to make a template of the neck you like and use that to shape the new neck as normal. The attached photos are of a vintage LP that the owner really liked, and wanted the neck profile on his new acoustic to be the same.

Of course with both methods you need a donar neck to duplicate.

 

[Hodgo88]

Ok. Warmoth lists the 59 at .86 to .96, so the difference between what you posted as "augmented D" is 0.5mm (3/128?) at the first fret (less than half the thickness of a dime) to a bit over 1mm at the 12th fret.

I'm aware that small differences in neck dimensions are perfectly feel-able and can be important to a player, but those are not very different at all.

Humans can detect patterns on a surface as small as 13nm. That's a large molecule, per an author of a report, found here:

Feeling small: Fingers can detect nano-scale wrinkles even on a seemingly smooth surface

In a ground-breaking study, Swedish scientists have shown that people can detect nano-scale wrinkles while running their fingers upon a seemingly smooth surface. The findings could lead such advances as touch screens for the visually impaired and other products.

www.sciencedaily.com

I'd argue that a delta of .039in (1mm) at the 12th fret is pretty huge. Very thin necks are .75in, very thick necks are 1in, that's a healthy range of .25in. Given that .0394 would be 15% of that range?

To your point, it's up to how much importance the player places on neck profile. I've got everything from a skinny Pro Mod to a 50s Baseball bat, C/D/U/V and I frankly don't care about the different feels. Sometimes it's a mood thing. OP wants what he wants though!

@RPadTV3000 in addition to profile and radius, fretboard edge roundover, fret size, nut width, and heel width will all effect feel in hand. If you're deadset on a copy, be sure to get every spec correct to avoid making a spendy mistake.

 

[Jupiter]

Stratosphere doesn’t have one?

Guitar Parts, Bodies, Necks, Pickups, Fender, Gibson and more | The STRATosphere

Your finest resource for guitar parts! Fender, Gibson, Charvel, Seymour Duncan, Guitar Bodies, Guitar Necks, Loaded Pickguards, Guitar Pickups and more...

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[tfarny]

Humans can detect patterns on a surface as small as 13nm. That's a large molecule, per an author of a report, found here:

Feeling small: Fingers can detect nano-scale wrinkles even on a seemingly smooth surface

In a ground-breaking study, Swedish scientists have shown that people can detect nano-scale wrinkles while running their fingers upon a seemingly smooth surface. The findings could lead such advances as touch screens for the visually impaired and other products.

www.sciencedaily.com

I'd argue that a delta of .039in (1mm) at the 12th fret is pretty huge. Very thin necks are .75in, very thick necks are 1in, that's a healthy range of .25in. Given that .0394 would be 15% of that range?

To your point, it's up to how much importance the player places on neck profile. I've got everything from a skinny Pro Mod to a 50s Baseball bat, C/D/U/V and I frankly don't care about the different feels. Sometimes it's a mood thing. OP wants what he wants though!

@RPadTV3000 in addition to profile and radius, fretboard edge roundover, fret size, nut width, and heel width will all effect feel in hand. If you're deadset on a copy, be sure to get every spec correct to avoid making a spendy mistake.

i didn’t say that small of a difference was not detectable but that
both of those dimensions are clearly in the “somewhat but not too thick” d shape. OP should get what he wants but he would be the one to say if 0.5 mm at the first fret is a dealbreaker level of difference so that he’d need to pay hundreds more to get what he wants. it’s not “very different” in shape based on specs alone.

 

[afcollett]

Parklane offer custom profiles.

not much in it though

Modern D	0.83″	0.87″
Augmented D	0.83″	0.89″

 

[memorex]

On some of these newer Fenders, the neck profile, not just the radius, changes from C to D (at the heel) over the length of the neck. I've played them. I don't find them to be any more comfortable than a compound radius over a single neck profile. I have both 9.5"-12" and 10"-14" compound radius necks, both slim C, and I like the 9.5"-12" slightly better. I also don't like Fender's tall-narrow frets as much as the stainless 6150s offered by Musikraft, which are about .047 high X .104 wide, or there abouts.

 

[Martemirror]

Nano particles! I had no idea I was starting a physics debate.
I truly appreciate the detail and discussion. For myself I am trying to replicate the Ultra Luxe neck and in fact Steve
from Parklane is working on a quote for me (thanks for earlier recommendation Hodgo88)
I will share what he is able to do The specs are available and I have sent along what I have.