Since most luthiers are taking a well deserved posting rest and I am assuming a building rest during the holidays, I have a neck question. Seems one piece necks are highly desired in custom builds and multi-piece necks usually are given a grudgingly nod of acceptance. Scarf joints and built up heels do not seem to really excite people. I have done a few built up necks with scarf joints but not with wood of any quality as I seen my first few guitars as learning tools.
Since starting on this hobby I have picked up a number of sets of wood that will make some reasonable guitars. So while I have tops, sides and backs to keep me busy for a few years wood for necks is a question mark. The local lumber yard that does deal in hardwoods seldom has much in the way of mahogany, I have picked up some flat sawn cherry to do some laminated necks.
But then I have my 'gifted' mahogany. I was looking at some plantation mahogany one day when they had a pile of it and a gentleman said I don't want that junk and that he had some Honduran mahogany I could have. Long story short, he sold me two planks that are 8' long, one inch thick, and one 7 1/2" and the other 11 1/2" wide. He had it for years and figured he would never do anything with it and thought being turned into guitars was a worthy use.
So not really being a wood guy before I started with guitars, I would have thought just to build up whatever thickness I need and never thought of grain direction, run out or all the other details that makes you pick one piece of wood over another for a certain job. Now that I know more but certainly not enough about wood in my opinion, I have a need for necks and these two pieces. I figure a couple of pictures is in order about this time. Here is the 11 1/2 piece,
and an end shot of the two.
So given my needs and the wood that I have, what do I do? I do have a couple of blocks of mahogany that can be used for heels so I do not have a bunch of laminations but still end up with a scarf joint. I could always put a head and back plate to cover up the scarf joint with only the sides showing it. Or do I ignore the grain, cut out the neck outline and laminate three sections together and then add a couple of wings? So what would you do with this wood if you needed to build some necks?