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Steel Wood

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(@greybeard)
Illustrious Member
Joined: 21 years ago
Posts: 5840
Topic starter  

I seem to have found a really strong piece of wood - in the neck of a cheapy cheapo Tele, that I bought as a hotel guitar. I restringed it with 9s as I usually do with solid bodiies, but found the neck was just a bit too straight. Even though it was cheap, it came with tools to adjust the bridge saddles and the truss rod, so 1/4 turn came off the truss rod - nothing. Another 1/4 turn.......and another........and another, until the truss rod was buzzing on the B and E strings.
The neck was - and is - still straight!
I've got a couple of sets of 10s, so I'll restring it, this week, and see if I can bend this mighty piece of maple.
Failing that, I've got some 11s..........................

I could understand a hefty neck, but this one is relatively thin.

I started with nothing - and I've still got most of it left.
Did you know that the word "gullible" is not in any dictionary?
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(@demoetc)
Noble Member
Joined: 21 years ago
Posts: 2167
 

Wow! Maybe it came from a really old piece of wood, or the grain was just right and facing the right direction. It's sorta like baseball bats (American baseball) where the grain runs parallel to the direction you're supposed to hit the ball - label up! - and if you hit it the other way, crack!

Either that or there's maybe an extra solid rod or bar in there, though that would be doubtful on a knock off guitar.

Interaction with the fretboard maybe?

Might just take a few days longer for the neck to respond to the adjustment?


   
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(@citizennoir)
Noble Member
Joined: 17 years ago
Posts: 1247
 

I agree -
Sometimes it takes a day or so for the neck to catch up with the truss rod.
Especially on big moves.
Wait a day and check it again.

You might wanna tighten it up a bit so it's not so loose.

Ken

"The man who has begun to live more seriously within
begins to live more simply without"
-Ernest Hemingway

"A genuine individual is an outright nuisance in a factory"
-Orson Welles


   
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(@greybeard)
Illustrious Member
Joined: 21 years ago
Posts: 5840
Topic starter  

I left the neck for 24 hours before trying it out and having had the problem for another 24 hours, I tightened up the truss rod just to the point where it doesn't buzz any more. Prior to that I'd spent nearly a week incrementally reducing tension on the truss rod - and getting no change in the neck.

I started with nothing - and I've still got most of it left.
Did you know that the word "gullible" is not in any dictionary?
Greybeard's Pages
My Articles & Reviews on GN


   
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(@citizennoir)
Noble Member
Joined: 17 years ago
Posts: 1247
 

Wow.

Well, it is a single rod type, so string tension is what makes it bow.
You could go with heavier strings as you had in mind....
or maybe try temperture extremes.

I can't think right now which makes wood contract.... heat or cold....?

Ken

"The man who has begun to live more seriously within
begins to live more simply without"
-Ernest Hemingway

"A genuine individual is an outright nuisance in a factory"
-Orson Welles


   
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(@demoetc)
Noble Member
Joined: 21 years ago
Posts: 2167
 

Makes me wonder now - how did they do neck adjustments on those...what were they called?

Oh, Travis Bean guitars with the aluminum necks.

I'm also wondering, if a piece of wood is old enough, like taken from ancient railroad ties that were in turn taken from 600 year old trees, would there be much room for them to expand or contract? I mean they're about as dry as could be, so...how does that work?

I guess maybe, like how luthiers shape wood, it could be steamed and bent, but wow, maybe just raise the action and make it into a slide guitar or something :)


   
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(@gnease)
Illustrious Member
Joined: 20 years ago
Posts: 5038
 

Are you storing it in a blue case?

-=tension & release=-


   
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(@racetruck1)
Honorable Member
Joined: 18 years ago
Posts: 518
 

I'd kill for necks like that, I bet if you put that on a good solid wood body it would sound great. Probabily a little (or a lot) trebly.

My experience with dealing with some of these necks is to throw some thinner tang frets in where you want some relief, and the opposite to take some out. Other than that, pulling and reshaping the fretboard which is a lot of work and hard to determine the final product.

They do make great slide guitar necks that are a little high but still fingerable. Or for retuning into a higher key.

When I die, I want to go peacefully in my sleep like my grandfather, not screaming......
like the passengers in his car.


   
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