Laminated neck - with or without scarf joint?

[Fernando Esteves]

Hello!
I've found that laminated necks are waaaaay more stable than one piece neck, specially with soft woods like mahogany and cedar.
My electric with 3 pieces mahogany and carbon fiber doesn't need to get almost no tuning, while my 1 piece mahogany acoustic, the tuning changes like the wind change direction.

But my main doubt is about the headstock resistance to impact.
Do you think that a multi laminated necks with some hardwood laminates together with mahogany or cedar is resistant enough or with a scarf joint would improve *a lot*

I ask because matching the direction square of the laminates is not very simple and fast, need some fine work...

Thanks guys and gals

[Alan Carruth]

My students and I have made a lot of laminated necks without head joints, with no real issues so far. I generally carve them with a 'dart', similar to the back of the head on a Martin, which adds a bit of material in the weak spot just above the nut, but whether that has made a significant difference itself is hard to say.

When I do join a separate head on a laminated neck I usually use a through V-joint, which is what I also use on one-piece necks, using hide glue. It's plenty strong enough normally, but a blow to the head that would break off a one-piece or laminated neck will simply break the brittle glue line. There is no wood breakage. All you need to do to repair it is wash off the old glue, dry it out, and re-glue it with more hide glue. The point of the V has to come right at the center joint on a laminated neck, of course.

[Fernando Esteves]

Thanks!