Stratocaster Guitar Build - Part 3 - Building A Stratocaster Guitar Neck
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- Опубліковано 5 жов 2024
- Template sets to follow along with the build - fletcherhandcra...
This is another long video (26 mins) that covers -
one way of shaping a neck
thicknessing the headstock
sanding the neck contour
installing Kluson style tuners
My intentions were to get the neck completed by the end of part 3 but I didn't want to drag this video out to 45-60 minutes (and I want to cover everything in reasonable detail so we need another episode at least ) .
Part 4 will cover fretting of the neck, the final shaping of the neck , finish sanding and (possibly) some lacquer will get sprayed !! Finally .. :-)
Specs;-
Flame Maple Neck
Rosewood Fretboard
StewMac Spoke Style Trussrod built into heel of neck
12" Radius
Stew Mac medium fretwire
Tinted Nitro Lacquer - Навчання та стиль
This is the absolute BEST neck building tutorial I've ever seen. Very descriptive, thorough, and this is the first time I'd heard of this neck rounding technique and it makes things seem much less scary! The one fear I have with building a neck is screwing it up in the last stage.
Knowing a trade is one thing , sharing that knowledge free is another ! You are a "Master"-"Craftsman".
Hands-down, the best tutorial, how to shape an electric guitar neck! I watch this video the first time I started building 10 years ago and been using this technique ever since even on my acoustic guitars! Much appreciated. Thank you so much❤
This actually helped me to figure out how to model a guitar neck in SolidWorks. I had designed a Strat neck for fun, but I couldn't figure out how to map out the radius. The converging lines you drew on the back side of the neck made it click in my mind. Thanks again for sharing. It really is a gift for people like yourself to share with the world what took you years to perfect. You are very generous.
Hi, Yeah its definitely possible and probably quite a time saver. I've seen it done by a few builders but also quite dangerous as well. I've seen necks thrown across the room when a router has caught.
You are removing quite an amount of wood from the back with a BIG round-over bit ,which can be a recipe for disaster. If you take small incremental passes, it should work great.
Call me old-school but shaping the neck by hand is one of the most satisfying parts of a build :-) !
I know this is an eleven year old video but I just have to say what an amazing artist Mr. Fletcher is. Watching him shape that neck makes it look so easy that I feel like I could do it myself. Oh, sure, I get it that when I actually try it, mine won't look anything at all like his or even like a guitar neck but I can always use file dust as fire starter powder and the neck wood in the wood stove this winter. So I might actually try it.
Well I bit the bullet today, plucked up the courage and started with my rasp, following your technique and markings. 90 minutes later, I had an absolutely fantastic neck, dead straight, blended to the headstock and the heel, sanded to the first level. I have to say it was 10 times easier than I feared. The markings worked a treat, the facet approach just turned into a round neck profile with very little fuss. Thanks again for guiding me through this process so clearly and professionally.
It's NOT just that you know your trade, it is clear that you are a perfectionist. Amazing work. You have a lot to be proud of.
I love working with wood. And I thought about building an electric guitar. So when I found your site I watched the whole series! To me the daunting part was shaping the neck so I just bought one. I then watched your video again and said I can do that. I am in the middle of doing the neck and will start the carving soon. Your directions and comments are very clear. Being American, I love your accent! I can tell you are truely a craftsman. Thank you for taking the time to do the whole series!
I tend to rough out the transitions at the body/neck joint and the headstock but use a spokeshave plane to remove the straight section. It's easier than filing it all out
Thanks for doing these vids David. Its people like you that make you tube so watchable. Im new to guitar building but carpenter 22yrs. So Im gonna have a go soon. Thanks again from UK.
Absolutely incredibly amazingly awesome you sir are an inspiration to so many of us who want to learn the craft
right now I'm standing next to my workbench, with my laptop in front of me, learning a lot and building my first guitar. Thank you Mr. Fletcher for your awesome lessons!! I wish I could meet you some day, shake your hand and say: thank you !! ;)
This is the best video I've seen on this subject. I used this method recently and it turned out perfectly. Even for a beginner like me. Thank you so much
this is great stuff, I wish this was out there back in 1978 when I made a guitar in shop in jr high.. long story short I never knew about a TRUSS ROD.. and I used 2 different scales for frets, so the guitar was really umm... different, left it in my locker over the weekend and on monday I was shocked to find it had bowed really bad.. teacher said if it even makes a sound it is an A.. of course it did.. but I really wish I hadnt smashed it now, would have been neat to show ppl. :)
Your videos have been so helpful! I am making my fourth neck and I view these videos every time. Your method of carving really took the mystery out of the task. Thank you!
David Fletcher... ...U R AWESOME!
Thanks to your video, I've just remembered that I was taught just this technique by my Granfather when I was about nine. I was making something completely different but if nothing else, thank you for bringing back some great memories!
Hey there Thank you for these videos. Yesterday I began to make a guitar with the intention of buying a neck to use but after watching these videos I feel that making my own neck is achievable. Thanks for sharing knowledge Trevor
How’s it going?
Thanks David, my first three turned out OK. Still need to find information showing how to install double action truss rod with thru headstock adjustment. So I'm using e-bay necks, and that is turning out OK. But I sure would rather use one I made to justify all the tools I purchased watching your videos!
WOW! Thank you so much for making this information available. This will get me in the right direction to making my own instruments.......
Everyone will be happy to know I bought a 10-pack of pencils :-)
And, hopefully, by now you have a brass head hammer instead of a framing hammer for delicate fret work 😁. I know you're an artist and a pro so your use of the hammer isn't like it would be if I did it as just a poor beginner (why am I beginning anything at 68 years of age, I don't know) but it's fun to watch you.
Cheers for the great vids David - they are an absolute goldmine of clever tips and tricks. You've already saved me so much time by helping me avoid mistakes. Good on ya mate!
this playlist is really gonna help me with my industrial tech hsc major, thank you
I always thought that neck shaping was a conspiracy until I watched your video. Thanks.
Thank you so much for this informative video, it really helped me out building my first neck!
Started to watch last night and felt compelled to watch until 3.30am. Great stuff, always wondered how the struss rod was installed and now I know. Did you buy a new pencil yet?
Wow, late night huh ?! ;-) Yeah, I got a 6-pack of pencils , I'll be set for life :-)
I've never got on with a spoke shave - Dunno what it is but I much prefer my rasps for neck shaping. That's not to say a spoke shave isn't perfectly for the job - LOTS of people use them for shaping necks. As I always say there's more than one way to get the job done. Probably more sanding involved but that's ok ;-)
In this profession, thank you so much for sharing with us.
Thanks to you, I'm doing guitar walnut.
well, it doesnt make sense to me. Take Ibanez's AANJ heel for instance, they dont stick out at all, and they hold up just fine :D
These videos are fabulous and keeping me from getting to bed on time! :)
Thanks for posting them and... dammit. I used to live in Wollongong. If only I'd known I would have pestered you to to let me watch you work. haha!
Haha, thanks :-)
+aggmedia same thing! its 2:00 already!
+Fletcher Handcrafted Guitars Thank you very much for your kind videos! Greetings from Russia!
All builders fear building necks until they actually build one and realize its not so hard ;-)
HI Ray, I made sure that that I ordered tuners that had the same spacing as the template had. Most tuners you order will have a diagram showing the recommended hole placements.
These are awesomely entertaining and helpful.
Thanks Chris
guy is a genius.
Hi, its a contour gauge - You can get them from most hardware stores or you can buy them online from Ebay most probably
Best carpenter in Life!
I love watching your video. Very interesting explanation. You’re the best video that I saw.
Great video. Thanks! Makes me wanna try building my own.
Hi, Yeah definitely heard of them but I have not tried them yet. I need to check them out I think. Those Stew Mac Dragon rasps can remove some wood pretty quick too !!
best video ever for a guitar neck!!!! bravo!!!
This video has given me a lot of confidence in building my first neck now. As shaping it was one of my main concerns and now that I've seen you do this method I would like to do the same.
If there some where I can look up the measurements to draw on the lines for the facets?
hey man, winter is over I’m back in business :) I was a bit worried about the time it would take to shape the neck, but rasp + file = winning combination for me so thanks for your advice. I didn’t even need to use a grinder, to me it seems like it would not be worth it even if it would have sped up the process.
You can use a hard auto body block and sandpaper to run up and down your neck to get it level.
Hi Aldo, Maple for the neck and Rosewood for the fretboard
Your tips sir, are amazing. Thank you very much.
Your welcome ! :-)
Mr Fletcher, this is my forth time viewing this video, could we get more updates. Please!
Part 3 of my 10 part Stratocaster Build
Hi Henry,
Sure, I can be reached via enquiries@fletcherhandcraftedguitars.com
Regards,
David Fletcher
***** You are like the Roger Smith of luthiers! It's a compliment, believe me.
Thanks hamercalif
I know what you mean. As you can see by my profile pic, I have an Ibanez RG which has an all-access neck joint. And it does look very stylish. (One of my favorite guitars I own as well.) :)
But I do think Stratocasters with the longer tenon are still stronger, and for this particular body style, I think this neck joint does look better. But if you plan on building your own guitar, like these videos have inspired me to, you can build it however you want! :D
Beautiful work
Not all tuner spacing is the same, I'm using Gotoh "Kluson-style" locking tuners. The hole spacing for these tuners is 23.8mm with an 11/32" (8.73mm)-diameter tuner hole.
Great video. Love your techniques. Interesting that your neck is the same thickness on the 1st fret as it is on the 12th fret.
Thank you. Yeah, its almost a fatback. I still have the final shaping to do though so its not 100% decided yet
I've checked out a few of your videos... all I can say is genius! :)
Cheers Kenji !
Great ! Glad it went well.
Buy this man a BEER !! That was fantastic !! puts video into favorites.. a custom strat cost about 4k or les pual custom. I have priced materials all pieces needed pick ups bridge tuner gotoh duncan mahogany wood rosewood fret board nickle frets EVERYTHING..but the paint or stain was right at a thousand dollars.. OHH can I make a Tron blue Jake E lee strat -OR Iguana burst les pual- ? for a thousand BUcks..
Hi David: I was curious as to why you use a rasp and not a spoke shave to shape the neck? It seems that using the rasp would require much more sanding vs. the spoke shave. I guess that the rasp can be more accurate in some respects & perhaps just as fast. Perhaps a combination of the 2 tools would work best? Beautiful work & craftsmanship! Cheers, Steve
Best option would be to remove the frets, glue the board on and route it flush with a router. I guess you could probably get away with sanding or filing it down to size if that's the only option you have available to you
Where did you learn your skills Mr. Fletch - obviously you did a wood working trade or joinery, but did you visit a guitar makers factory to see how it was done?
Hello Fletcher, was delighted with its ease of drawing the lines to make the perfect curve of the arm of this Stratocaster. I wonder if you have any tips to draw the lines in Precision Bass, to facilitate the creation of the bend? Thank you!
Do you know how many builders buy arbors to press the tuner parts in with rather than using their drill presses and most have drill presses?
i love this video series ... i more respect for using my guitar
you really go into detail on your videos they are great bu i have a request. could you do ideos on how to build necktrough guitar im having trouble finding good videos on how t do it
Hello, very good tutorial, can you tell me how thick the fingerboard is before editing and after editing? How this is the neck at the heel and at the first fret without fretboard and finally how thick including fretboard from fret 1 and the heel. I would really appreciate this and other viewers too. Again, many thanks for the recordings! Mike The Netherlands.
just my local hardware store. Any decent hardware store should have a scraper like that. If not, try Rockler.
these videos are so interesting! thank you for making these!
Fletch, how much time in the real world did it take to round the back to a finished state? Thank you, William
a couple of hours from start to finish
ladys and gents this is how a guitar comes to life
Great stuff David--I've watched this series on the Strat build a few times now, and catch something new each time through...
Have you ever worked with roasted maple, by chance? I have a Warmoth roasted maple neck in the "fatback" profile, and I'd really like it to be in the "boatneck" profile now. So I was thinking of just doing a re-contour, but I wasn't quite sure how to establish the profile. Certainly the cross-section is out there for viewing, but I'm not quite sure how to transfer that over to the neck. Obviously I'd have to shape the thing by hand like you're doing in this video, but the trick might be in getting the profile even--because I am starting with an established rounded profile.
Also, I have never worked roasted maple so I'm not sure how well it will hold up to standard tooling like you're using here. Any idea?
Thanks and I'm going to just make one got some brazillian rosewood but thanks you for the quick response
Absolutely, get back into it ! ;-)
Before you route the head stock what is the measurement you make just behind the first tuner hole or how far behind the first tuner hole is that line drawn? You are doing such a great job making the neck, I have a video to build a strat by that leaves a lot out and does not describe nearly as well as you are. Electrics are quit different to build than acoustics are and I was having some troubles with measurements, you've helped a lot, thank you.
I think the fretboard also counts to the neck thickness.
What kind of pencil would you use on dark wood such as rosewood? It's almost impossible to see marks made with a regular pencil. Thanks for the videos, and very impressive work
love these videos. totally helps me out
Very good job!
I rly like the old fat necks. Especially the 50's Les Paul necks
Hi David, first I have to thank you for your videos, I've learned a lot. I would like to know which type of neck profile are you making in this video, sorry if you mention it, but my english is not good enough to understand all the things you said there. Greetings from Argentina!!
"Yes, I know I need to buy a new pencil."
I was thinking that back at the first video!!! Haha
Hey, David, I really enjoy your videos and they have been very helpful in explaining how to build a guitar, accurately. But i was wondering, since i plan to start building my own custom guitars, how much exactly you pay for all the equipment, wood , specialty tools, etc. you have to build this brilliant fender clone (P.S. id rather have this than a fender just because i can see all the work that went into it.)
Great videos sir. Subscribed. love a lot the technics you use. One question about radiusing the fret board (sorry that might have been the vid before this one) I learnt to use a white china marker on even a pencil to shade the finger board and when the shades are gone, check with the radius gauge. haven't seen using the calipers like that before. your thoughts? p.s. you are a fn beast with those files!! I have only built 2 guitars and am still afraid to go at it that hard lol.
When it comes to profiling the back of the neck, why not just use a router? So much faster, although I realize you choose precision over speed. P.S. Thank you very much for making this series!
Hi David, have you seen and tried the newer cheese grater files? They remove the bulk of material much much faster.
hi great stuff thanks i am on my sons computer but felt like i could give u a heads up i used as a machinists a ball end mill that might help u on your router of the end of the neck with a radius all ready built in and the shanks come in 1/2 and 1/4 inch sizes so they should fit a router and work as well love the vids walter rider
Thanks Walter, I'll check it out
David, you sound like you buy most of your tools from Stew Mac, you don't find them a bit high priced at all because I certainly do an don't buy anything I don't have to tool wise. You can find diamond files else where for half to quarter their price and others too.
Thanks! Keep up the good work.
Hello Fletcher, I'm a big fan of your work and your videos are extremely helpful!!! I just have one question, what's de diameter of your spindle sander in mm??? Thank you!
Mr. Fletcher, could you please tell me how can I practise on these handcrafting skills, in order not to spoil a nice piece of wood like that? Thank you!
Have you considered using a spokeshave instead of the rasp for the removing the bulk of the wood?
I use a Microplane now for the bulk of the removal. Ive tried a spokeshave but I cant get comfortable with it
thank you for sharing! this is great
It adds strength and support to the neck so it won't bend as easily. :)
Sorry, or the radius of the spindle sander in mm! Thank you again!
yes, good eye !
Hi! I didn't hear exactly how thick the headstock at the end of the routing proces was ;)
For that rough wood removal why not use a 45 degree router bit?
Have you ever tried to make a jig to use with a router to shape the back of the neck?
Ive bought these tools over the years, I would have no idea how much they would all cost now. For the specialty tools, check out the Stewmac website, you should be able to get a pretty good idea from there. Check out Grizzly for the power tools
I think it would be a lot faster to remove the bulk of material from the neck on a router table then finish shaping by hand.