wide neck shave

**bradeinhorn** · Feb-20-2006, 6:49pm

my mando has a very wide neck. was wondering if it is possible to shave it down, perhaps to a v(collings) shape. is this doable and if so, how costly?

B

**Michael Lewis** · Feb-21-2006, 2:01am

Need to know more about your mandolin. What brand, style, does it have a truss rod, etc.?

**Paul Hostetter** · Feb-21-2006, 2:34am

Wide? Width is usually measured at the nut. I suspect you're talking about depth, or profile, not width.

**bradeinhorn** · Feb-21-2006, 8:22am

It is profile to which i'm referring. it does have a rod. it is a stelling LS-5. I'm wondering if it canbe tapered to more of a v-shape by removing material from the sides and then fine sanding it. it is now just kind of bulbous.

**Paul Hostetter** · Feb-21-2006, 11:36am

Of course you can change that. I do it on violins a bit more often than I do it on mandolins, but it's a pretty straightforward procedure. Think hard about it though: there's a common knowledge that heftier necks sound a little better. The instrument's sound is not all in the body.

Doing a V from a round one is pretty simple and has very little effect on stability of the neck (though thinning it from back to front would). In any case, if you have a trussrod, you'll be OK.

Then the remaining question is whether and how to refinish the part that's been reshaped. Violins are always left raw. Hand grot seals the wood pretty quickly and pretty well. Some mandolin and banjo folks like that feel.

**sunburst** · Feb-21-2006, 11:42am

I have, in fact, reshaped the neck of a Stelling LS5, some years ago. It was pretty chunky, there was plenty of material to remove without running into problems, and the sound didn't change noticably.
I don't know what it would cost you. It depends on who you hired, and, as Paul said, whether or not there was finish work involved.

**jasona** · Feb-21-2006, 11:47am

I have a Ratcliff, with a truss rod, and I like the v profile, but am less excited by the width at the nut which clocks in at 1 3/16". Can this be taken down relatively easily?

**sunburst** · Feb-21-2006, 11:56am

That's not as easy.
It's normal for the sides of the fingerboard to be straight, and the fingerboard continues beyond the neck onto the extender over the top, so, either the board would have to be narrowed and tapered over the extender, or a new board installed, and the extender reshaped, and finish touched up.
If there is binding on the fingerboard, it has to come off and then be replaced.

**jasona** · Feb-21-2006, 12:16pm

So, basically, I should probably just get a different instrument to get the neck shape I prefer?

**sunburst** · Feb-21-2006, 12:30pm

Well, you can't have too many...can you?

**Paul Hostetter** · Feb-21-2006, 12:50pm

Good point (30 and counting for me), but Jason, there are options.

If you can live with narrowing the thing at the nut only, you can have the strings set closer together with a new nut and reshape the edges of the board, rounding them in. This actually feels pretty nice in any case, but the net effect is that the neck feels smaller where you usually notice it most. Here's a sketch I did for this operation on a guitar:

The operation has been a hit on a few occasions I've done it. You're one of the rare people who wants a narrower mandolin neck. Most folks wish they were wider!

**jasona** · Feb-21-2006, 1:17pm

Hmm, interesting Paul. Something else to think about--thanks for this.

I go through phases--I love the tone on this mando, and am working on being comfortable with it. But every time I play a Collings or Heiden or Gibson I am astounded how much easier it is for me to play and how much faster and cleaner I play. The biggest problem for me is the reach to the G strings--its just a little *too* far to get cleanly each time, especially at the 5th or 6th fret in first position, and that is due to the stretch placed between my thumb and first finger by the width of the board. Sometimes if feels ok, but other times its exceedingly frustrating.