Double Neck!

[Fernando Esteves]

Hello!
I'm in negociation to build a double neck guitar+bass.
Does anybody here build a double neck before?
What is the optimum distance from neck to neck?
Cheers

[Charlie Schultz]

Hi Fernando,
You might find some useful info in our libraries, check out:

https://www.mimf.com/nl-ksearch/ksearch ... y=50&all=1

and

https://www.mimf.com/ksearch/ksearch.cg ... y=50&all=1

[Fernando Esteves]

Thanks

[Freeman Keller]

Fernando, I built a double neck 6/12 string electric guitar for my son. It was patterned roughly on the iconic Gibson EDS1275 (the Stairway guitar). The neck centerlines are 6 inches at the body joint, but following an idea from a BC Rich double neck they splay out slightly so there is a little more room at the head.

I have a lot of thoughts about this and other double necks that I looked at while building it that I would be happy to share.

[Freeman Keller]

Here is the Gibson 6/12 that I had on my bench. It uses full size tuners on both necks, I was able to use smaller ones on the 12 which significantly lightens the head. Its still darn heavy

[Fernando Esteves]

Thank you!
Yes, weight is a big concern. One of the necks is going to be bass, so I already said lightweight tuners is a MUST.

My main doubt is the distance between each neck at the body joint. It have to be small or the body will be a mile wide, but need to have enough distance to be playable

[Freeman Keller]

Thank you!
Yes, weight is a big concern. One of the necks is going to be bass, so I already said lightweight tuners is a MUST.

My main doubt is the distance between each neck at the body joint. It have to be small or the body will be a mile wide, but need to have enough distance to be playable

As I said, the sort of standard (if there is one) is the Gibson EDS and the centerlines of the necks are 6 inches and parallel. The BC Rich double neck has the neck splayed out at an angle (I don't know the separation), I did that very slightly with mine.

One of my cardinal rules is to build a guitar to fit an available case if possible. Mine just fits an EDS case. Chamber the heck out of it, push the necks as far into the body as you can, consider short scale and light weight tuners. Get a set of the EDS plans and modify them to fit your needs. I'm also going to suggest making sure your customer really wants this thing - I sure wouldn't

[Fernando Esteves]

Hahahahaha me neither!
Thank you!