longscale neck blank for Guild F-612?

[Darryl Hattenha]

Is there anybody out there that makes longscale (26.5") neck blanks that I could use to replace the neck (broken in three places) on a 1971 Guild F-612? (This is the model with the 18" Wide lower body.)

[Howard Klepper]

What most of us call a neck blank is a squared-off block of wood that does not have a scale, because the neck joint and headstock angle are not yet cut.

So I guess you are looking for a long neck blank? Figure out how long it needs to be, and ask any of the suppliers if they will saw you one. Or save money by getting lumber and making your own blank. You will need to add wings to the headstock, but you can saw those out of the cut-off of the neck blank.

If this is not making sense, you probably need a builder to make you the neck.

[Darryl Hattenha]

Thanks, Howard.

I understand what you mean. But I'm in no way a luthier. I just want to know more about it when I take the guitar to a luthier.

dh

[John Arnold]

I checked out a 1971 F-612 online, and it appears to have a 3-piece neck shaft, with a 1/8" stripe of maple in the center. That simplifies the task of finding good mahogany, which is in short supply in thicknesses necessary for a one-piece neck.
The neck blank is usually made from flat sawn lumber, and turned on edge. That means that the thickness of the lumber determines the width of the blank. For a one-piece neck, that means the lumber needs to be 3" thick (or more) for the width of the peghead. In this case, the peghead is probably a little wider than 3", and the wings at the peghead are about 3/8". That means that the mahogany needs to be about 1 1/4" thick. In the trade, this is called '5/4' lumber. Of course, you could also use 1 1/2" (6/4) thick lumber, which may be a bit easier to find.
Until now, I had never heard of a 612....or any long scale Guild 12's. I assume it is intended to be tuned low.

[Darryl Hattenha]

John,

I don't know if low tuning was recommend, but it's what I would do.

To reduce the chance of more neck breaks, I might replace the neck with a much thicker one. Would a 5-piece neck be stronger? Mostly mahogany with two maple stripes.

dh

[John Arnold]

The neck did not break from string tension....it broke because of mishandling.

Guild necks are not all that slim....I would reproduce the original exactly.

[Darryl Hattenha]

That's a good thing to keep in mind. I'd rather not have the neck look weird.