On most of my necks I use a diamond shaped volute. I do this for 2 reasons: First, I like the look of it and secodn is that I feel it gives some added "meat" to the neck area around the nut where it would be most likely to have problems. Keep in mind that I have had zero problems with a neck breaking, even ones without the volute.
Most of my guitars are one piece necks but recently I have been using necks laminated with a decorative stripe down the center. I have some necks that I carved but not installed yet that are scarfed joint, some single pieces of wood and some laminated. The scarf joint definitely uses less wood to produce, so this is sometimes appealing to people who are enviornmentalist minded. The laminated necks would be the second in terms of wood used while the one piece neck uses the most wood.
I think that any luthier/builder is going to make sure that you wont have problems with the instruments you buy from them, so they will make a neck they feel is strong and secure while also filling your needs for playability.
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Regards,
Ken Hodges
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