I recently read an article from a Mandozine interview where I got the impression bigleaf maple is not good wood for mandolin necks. According to the article, Charlie Derrington had a bigleaf neck go bad and made the statement he would never use it again. I just built a neck out of bigleaf and now am having doubts. Any one have any experince with this ?
Paul Josey
Works fine for me, and tons of archtop guitar builders....
One bad neck does not a bad wood make.
Agree. I’ve used it without problems. There is allot of variance in hardness with Big Leaf as with all species. I try to pick a flawless piece and orient the neck grain on quarter (perpendicular to the fretboard). I’m using mostly Red and Rock Maple for necks these days but I wouldn’t hesitate to use Big Leaf again.
Gail Hester
When Gibsons were made in Montana they sure used a lot of bigleaf there. I don't think there were ever significant problems with it. Interestingly, bowed instrument necks are generally always cut on the slab, not vertical. I think the issue of lateral grain strength is greatly overestimated. Looking over the fossil record (meaning 40+ years of repairing old good instruments) I notice that vertical grain was never a big deal in necks that seem to have held up just fine.
I've used bigleaf several times and have had no problems (yet). If it's not a one piece neck and has a truss rod or CF in it, I don't think you should worry too much. Just my $.02.
Dale Ludewig
http://www.ludewigmandolins.com
I think the issue of lateral grain strength is greatly overestimated. Looking over the fossil record (meaning 40+ years of repairing old good instruments) I notice that vertical grain was never a big deal in necks that seem to have held up just fine.
Agree. I started running my mandolin necks 'on the flat' a while back, and haven't had any issues at all. We see the figure in the wood much better this way...
Had a chance to spend a bit of quality time with John Reischman's Loar, recently, and the neck is also on the flat. 80+ years old, played daily, no finish left, and straight as can be.
All the Loars I've seen have flatsawn necks. I think they specifically did it that way to make the trussrod, which was then a brand new thing, more active.
How about quilted big leaf? Any issues there?
That was sort of my point: I don't think making a maple neck flatsawn, or even 45 degrees, really changes anything. In the violin world, necks are oriented on the slab like that to show figure better.
(Violin family necks are also raw maple, like Reischman's Loar - maybe it's raw maple, not anything to do with grain orientation?)
How about quilted big leaf?
I've done one in quilted bigleaf, a few years ago, and it's still perfect today, being owned and played by a local fella(so I get to see it often).
I've used quilted Bigleaf in two mandolin necks, and I'm about to use it in a mandola neck with no worries.
I, too, don't think grain orientation makes any real difference in the strength and stability of a neck, assuming a good piece of wood is chosen. Personally, I like the look of vertical grain better, especially with quilt.
(In violin necks, slab cut wood makes the walls of the peg box quartered. The peg holes have a better chance of staying round that way, and that's reason enough for me, regardless of the figure.)
John Hamlett
www.hamlettinstruments.com
I appreciate and respect the point Paul and others are making but given a choice, it just seems like vertical grain would be more stable and I just can't stop myself.
Here is some figure on necks oriented with vertical grain. The dolla neck is Red Maple and the F5 is Big Leaf.
Gail Hester
Nice, Gail!
The reason I said I like the figure of flat sawn necks better, is that they show the vertical grain(quartersawn) figure best to the player, therefor, while playing, you get the best view of the figure, where on vertical grain, the figure shows best when viewed directly from the back.
Subtle, but....
Thanks Mario, I understand what you were saying now. It's always hard to get the best figure on the headstock ears because of that orientation as well.
Jim, your point about Loars and making the truss rods active is sinking in. A vertical grained neck is dead straight, truss rod doesn't do much and there is almost no relief. Hmm...
Gail Hester
A vertical grained neck is dead straight, truss rod doesn't do much and there is almost no relief.
Except in the real world where there as many necks that disprove the point as support it. There's often a disparity between good and reasonable theory and often uncooperative reality, and I think this is one of those cases.
Paul, I should have been more specific and was reffering to the one's I've been making and, thinking out loud about the relief issue that Jim brought up. I'm not in the real world and don't want to be but thanks for letting me know how it is out there.
Gail Hester
My advice about this real world: it's nasty! Stay where you are. You're doing just fine right where you are!
(Seriously - your mandolins are magnificent.)
I'm not making any claims about how it works, just pointing out that this was what Gibson did at the advent of the adjustable truss rod.
I believe most pre-rod necks were quartered and of course they had the v-shaped insert in them.
And FWIW, the necks I was talking about that I'd made were quilted. And have CF in them. They're not moving. Well almost. They move enough for just what I would consider a good relief. I personally would be a bit hesitant about a one piece neck of quilted. Mario, are you using one piecers?
Grain orientation? I'm not sure which I think is most stable vs. pretty. But I do believe even is you get some stock where the grain isn't either, bookmatch it and it should be okay, assuming you use a TR or CF. I wish Spruce would weigh in on this. He's probably had tons of the stuff go through his hands.
Dale Ludewig
http://www.ludewigmandolins.com
Mario, are you using one piecers?
Yessir. Always have.
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