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We often get asked why there is no neck offering for the kit. The simple answer is that we want to be sure to offer quality and functionality for all parts. Prototyping the neck and materials is part of this process.

Traditional neck materials have of course proved themselves throughout time and are always a safe bet. Then again the world has changed quite a bit from the golden years of guitarbuilding. Many wood choices from those times are today many times threatened by distinction and international sales are strictly controlled. We want to explore outside the traditional thinking to find environmentally sustainable options in addition to the traditional choices.

The research results of alternative materials are scarce and sometimes hard to come by so the reliable option is to do one’s own research. The nerds within us felt natural to acquire this information through our own research. Technological comparison with traditional materials is essential to present the result clearly. Our choices for the non-traditional materials to test are based on functionality and appearance.

We built a bending simulator from an abandoned printing house press. The aim is to simulate the tension of the strings on the neck and investigate the effects. The set-up is similar to construction industry where they use flexural strength device to determine strength of glue bars??? but in a much smaller scale of course.

The research set-up is based on SFS-EN 408 + A1 standard on the strength of laminated and structural woods where applicable. 

For non-traditional research materials we chose birch and alder, 1 piece and 3 piece laminates. For more traditional comparison woods we chose sheathed sawn maple and quarter sawn mahogany which are proven to be great neck materials. 

Actual test was done by placing the test piece on 2 support bars, pressed at certain strength and measured with a force sensor.

Static force is applied on the guitar neck from the tension of the strings. This causes the neck to bend. As we know from experience the bend reverts back to original state when tension is released. The reversion is possible because the tension of the strings is quite small compared to the yield strength of the wood.

So why have we all been wondering about necks that seem impossible to straighten in a way other than sanding to new shape or simply changing the whole thing?  

The need for straightening can be caused by either the way the wood was prepared and handled before the neck construction or something that is more difficult to notice called creeping. In creeping the inner substances and bindings of the wood slowly mutate from a static state of tension caused by the strings. The mutation happens in the elastic range of the material and is difficult to research other than exposing the material to long time strength test in weather cabinet circumstances.

The bend caused by the force was measured from each test piece and results recorded in a table. The relation between the force and bend gives us the elasticity factors with which comparison can be made to vast amounts of woods of which measured mechanical traits are available. It’s good to remember that wood is an organic material and it’s traits are strongly dependent on the growing environment. This means the result of the tests is only valid in absolution for the test pieces used. Combining experience and research results verifies the quality of the woods under inspection at the level that we would use also for our own instruments.

Even though the actual interest here is the bend caused by the tension of the strings it is valid to use excessive force in the test. That said, finding the breaking point does not bring valuable information related to the behaviour of the neck. The tension of the strings by itself will not be able to produce the kind of force that would create such a permanent bend or transformation without a static stress of time and/or temperature changes. With the exception of one piece of tar alder all test pieces reverted back to close to their original state after being exposed to a bending force of 300kg. The tension of the strings can at maximum be of 60kg force with which the differences in the bend of the test pieces are still quite small.

The traditional woods mahogany and maple represent the extremities of the research. The actual pieces of interest, the bend of the laminated pieces from birch and alder sets into the middle ground. It seems birch does not benefit so much from lamination but alder then again does. It is worth mentioning that the single piece test pieces are cut from the same plank as the laminated pieces to produce reliable results. Attention was also put into the similarity of the grain pattern even though the effects of that related to the strength of wood are debatable. With regard to weight and stiffness this research concludes that as laminated structure birch can be a good option to maple and alder to mahogany.

Based on the research, laminated birch and alder nicely fulfill the criteria of an exceptional wood for guitar necks as long as certain conditions are met when choosing the material. The growing environment, light, warmth, moisture, the place the wood is cut and drying of the material in addition to the possible post-processing affect greatly even a large piece of wood. This is why wood keeps on being the fascinating construction material it has been throughout time. As the stiffness grows also grows the elasticity which in practice means the material will revert to its original form and is able to resist greater force than the single piece material.

Solid wood composite structure is a great way to add constructional balance to the neck of the instrument. The idea has become familiar in the industry for quite a while with the different solutions for additional stiffness. We aim to minimize the need for adding extra parts to the neck construction to enforce it and so choose to use the laminated approach known already from early 1900 century jazz-guitars.

The laminated neck is not the easiest and maybe neither the prettiest, what it definitely is, is the strongest and most stable construction as time goes by.

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