Square to Round neck on Oahu 1940s guitar
 

Looking to get a chunkier, wider nut older parlor on ebay.

Are the old (1940s) Oahu Hawaiian acoustic parlors that have square necks actually solid in the neck, or are they hollow? Anyone tried to round the square necks out on an Oahu with any success?

Thanks,

Curtis

Hey Curtis, I can only refer to the Oahu I have and it is a round neck, it is not hollow and considering it is a pretty cheap guitar of the time my best guess is that with the square necks they would not have taken the extra step (time and money) to hollow the square neck but as I said, just a guess.

The one I have is 1 and 15/16 (49mm) wide at the nut as well as 15/16" (24mm) neck thickness just on the nut side of the first fret, so pretty chunky by today's standards.

Jim

Thanks Jim - my guess-timate is as yours - that they wouldn't take the time to hollow out a square neck. Thanks for the neck description, which is also helpful!

Curtis

The necks are solid.

There is enough material there to reshape to a round neck for Spanish play. You will also have to change the neck angle, and maybe add reinforcement to the neck (carbon fiber or truss rod). Some people will also compensate the bridge saddle, which is usually straight (uncompensated) on a Hawaiian guitar.