Flatsawn necks?

[David Boehnker]

I've got a guitar set of curly koa with a 3 X 4" neck blank cut from the same log. I've been sitting on it for about 15 years but am finally ready to build with it. But, the neck blank is cut in such a way that a one piece neck from it will be flat sawn rather than quarter sawn. I know one can use graphite bars etc., but I think I recall Mario saying that flat sawn necks are not usually a problem. I'd rather not go with graphite unless I really need to, so I thought I'd solicit some thoughts on this. Seems to be pretty dense koa, but I don't have a lot of experience handling 3 X 4 billets. I do both short scale and long scale necks (with jumbo style body), and wonder if that makes enough difference in tension to matter.

[Rodger Knox]

Flat sawn is probably OK, it's just a little more likely to be unstable than quartersawn. I'm not familiar enough with koa to know if stability is a problem.
You could also resaw the blank into 3 pieces, flip the middle piece, and laminate it back together.

[Mario Proulx]

15 years old? If it is still straight today, it shouyld be good for another few centuries....

Really, there are millions of Telecasters and Strats and such with flatsawn necks. Go for it!

[David Boehnker]

Roger, I gave that some consideration, but it's top quality curly koa, and I think one-piece necks made from that are rare. Mario, thanks for the insight, this will be my next build.

[Barry Daniels]

Never seen a koa neck. I would install carbon bars to make sure it will hold up.

[Michael Lewis]

Flat sawn necks are the norm in the violin family world. They do this mainly for the direction of grain strength in the peg box, not wanting to wedge pegs into a flat sawn surface, which is slightly more prone to splitting. For a guitar neck I see no problem as long as the wood is structurally sound.

[Alan Carruth]

One supplier I know points out that ebony has a higher shrinkage rate across the grain than most quartered neck woods, and that leads to it's own sort of instability. Flat cut should match better, according to him.

[Mario Proulx]

Most(all?) hardwoods have been shown to be stiffer on the flat than on the quarter, so worries about strength are unfounded. I run all my mandolin necks "on the flat", as did Loyd Loar.

Go for it!

[Chuck Tweedy]

David, just thinking out loud here...

So ... now ... you are going to take a 3"x4"x~30" piece of curly Koa with the 4" face being quartersawn, and make a one-piece neck out of it.

I'm just saying, I wouldn't do that ... because the process of making a neck is SO wasteful.
This is just me - my bias, my value of wood - which is not the same as everyone's.
I would resaw that into uke sets or 4-piece guitar B/S sets to make the most of it.
A Koa neck is a novelty, but - in my evaluation - it is not worth it.

JUST my $0.02

[Mark Swanson]

I agree with Chuck, if I wanted to use it for a koa neck I would at least cut a 1" thick slab off of it and make a neck out of that with a stacked heel and a scarfed headstock. It would even save a lot of the piece if you made a one piece heel, and just scarfed the peghead.

[Mario Proulx]

I'm of the opposite persuasion. I'd prefer to see it used for one beautiful neck without the distraction of a stacked heel breaking-up the figure...

[Barry Daniels]

Yeah, I don't like stacked heels either. Looks like a stack of pancakes.

[Mario Proulx]

Especially with a figured neck...

[Mark Swanson]

It does, but in plain wood it works ok. In this you could make a one piece heel cut from one end, scarf the headstock and you would still have a pretty large piece left. Can't help it, I love to save good wood.

[David Boehnker]

Interesting discussion on the use of the wood for a one piece neck. My first guitar had a curly maple neck with a stacked heel, and even though I did my best to match the grain and curl, the stacking showed (a lot). Didn't care on my first, but I haven't repeated it. Actually, The 3X4 neck blank will make 2 one-piece koa necks (not really much waste there), and I do have two sets of matching koa (although the second set doesn't have matching top), so I'm with Mario's opinion that one piece neck(s) is the way to go. Mark, I'm giving the scarfed peghead some thought, but given the curl it would probably also show unless I got lucky.

Chuck, I understand your view on wasting the wood, but I just can't see cutting up something rather unusual to make uke or 4-piece back sets.

My brother, who thinks he is funny, suggested that I saw it up into Stratocaster necks and fret the koa surface like Fender does their maple necks.

[Joshua Levin-Epstein]

Exotic wood necks were very fashionable a while ago. This was a severe self indulgence featuring a solid Pao Ferro neck and Koa Body.