MIMF

I have done laminated necks but as a rule I don't have a glue joint in line with the truss rod. My feeling is that the glue joint is weaker than unmolested wood and since the neck is so thin there I want as much strength as possible. So I look at many other guitars by great builders and many have decorative laminations right down the center line of the neck, some multiple and very thin, sometimes a quarter inch of contrasting color wood. Also, I have the filler strip on top of the truss rod and the finger board to add strength. Am I being too conservative in my design by not allowing a lamination on the center line of the neck?

Brian

It is a well proven fact that a properly prepared glue joint is stronger than the surrounding wood.

It will depend on how strong the wood is to some extent but I'd say it depends a lot more on what type of truss rod you're using and how much tension you have to add to keep your necks straight under string tension. A single bent rod should never cause a problem while an over/under double rod can easily pop through the back of the neck at the nut if the adjuster is at the heel and there's less than 2-3 mm of wood behind it.

Brian Evans wrote:I have done laminated necks but as a rule I don't have a glue joint in line with the truss rod. My feeling is that the glue joint is weaker than unmolested wood and since the neck is so thin there I want as much strength as possible. So I look at many other guitars by great builders and many have decorative laminations right down the center line of the neck, some multiple and very thin, sometimes a quarter inch of contrasting color wood. Also, I have the filler strip on top of the truss rod and the finger board to add strength. Am I being too conservative in my design by not allowing a lamination on the center line of the neck?

Brian

I use a core box bit on the router so that the bottom of the slot is round then you don't have that sharp edge right on the glue line