Thread: flying v neck

the profiles of necks change over the years for the same model (just look at the difference in the les paul over the years)...I don't think it is set in stone...
So I'd just shape it to suit what you like if its for yourself.....
There are some good books like melvyn hiscocks book and martin koch that are based on electrics probably have a lot of info on neck shaping...

but by hand you probably need things like Chisels, rasps, spokeshave, scraper, sandpaper, a good vice for shaping things like a universal vice or parrot vice (check out stew-mac and LMI) and a lot of patience

Somewhere in the 10" to 12" range would be gibson. that is a straight radius not conical as in the new style compound radius necks that abound these days.

You should get dan erlewines guitar repair guide. there is an excellent discussion on neck radius.

If you are cuttiing the neck yourself, model it on a neck you find is good in your hands.

yeah thats right......if you have a guitar in mind that you like the neck on just make some templates of the shape of the neck......just a cardboard radius template of the back of the neck will do the trick...

A mate wants me to make him a Flying V. We're looking at a bolt-on neck using an old Ibanez LP neck, two GFS Tele Seth Lover style humbuckers, all attached to a Tassie blackwood body. I was hoping he'd be happy with the body in Fijian mahogany but he's got his heart set on blackwood.

What body timber are you looking to use?

Blackwood is light. The fiji mahogany is pretty and prolly better for sound as far as a flying v.

By the time you make up a 2 piece Flying V body the thing is about 17" wide! It's a hell of a big chunk of wood! The Tassie blackwood I get through Australian Timbers is generally heavier than the Fijian mahogany. The blackwood is gorgeous to look at and sustains well but it's so hard on tools and abrasives, where the Fijian mahogany is a total joy to work with.

What body timber are you looking to use?
I am going to use some 50 year old honduran mahogany that I found.

Originally Posted by JupiterCreek

By the time you make up a 2 piece Flying V body the thing is about 17" wide! It's a hell of a big chunk of wood! The Tassie blackwood I get through Australian Timbers is generally heavier than the Fijian mahogany. The blackwood is gorgeous to look at and sustains well but it's so hard on tools and abrasives, where the Fijian mahogany is a total joy to work with.

I agree the fiji mahog is a nice allrounder aesthetically and practically.
The place I get blackwood from lets me go through a pack. The colour is a good indicator of weight. If you pick up a light coloured piece you will find it weighs a lot less than the darker boards. I get the nice light coloured pieces and i use it for tele's. Light, hard and bright. Great for a spankin tele twangster.

Originally Posted by jtmullet2006

What body timber are you looking to use?
I am going to use some 50 year old honduran mahogany that I found.

Got any spare?

No sorry man I dont it was the oldest wood my local lumber yard had and they only had enought to make one guitar but if your looking for some old honduran mahogany try http://www.hibdonhardwood.com/home.asp I was told by a fellow luthier on another site that he got some from there.