humidity and neck bending.

#21
Whippet said:
which model is your?
Click to expand...

RGEW521FM

It's roasted, my SR bass has Titanium:

7j44TRQ.jpg
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Whippet
#24
I rechecked the price of my import Bacchus and the RG is comparable. Seriously, how could I go wrong with this beauty. My Bacchus has no fancy top and still the same price.

Is there any with the roasted and titanium? I can see that the Prestige has the 5pcs Wizard and KTS Titanium, but no roasted neck.
 
#30
Whippet said:
He said that a good flatsawn is just as stable as a quatersawn. I have no idea if this is true or not, but I would think that what you wrote above in change in dimensions given changes in humidity is accecpted as a fact by most people.
Click to expand...

You have to remember that there's no magical difference between flatsawn and quartersawn. A quartersawn blank is just a flatsawn blank turned sideways. The wood isn't any different, and in terms of expansion/contraction with exposure to humidity, the only "difference" is with respect to named orientations - words like "front" and "side." If you have a square piece of lumber that's cut perpendicular to the growth rings, it'll have one orientation in which it's flatsawn and one in which it's quartersawn.

The difference in properties between the orientations can make a big difference when the board is far from square, i.e. an acoustic guitar top, where the "board" the top is made from is hundreds of times wider than it is thick. Flatsawn vs quartersawn in an acoustic guitar top will make a huge difference in terms of how the top reacts to humidity. But a guitar neck is pretty square (maybe three times as wide as it is thick) so the differences in terms of orientation are much less significant.

At any rate, it's totally possible to build a good neck either way, and a neck that behaves differently with respect to humidity either way. The magic is really in selecting a true board, pairing it to a fingerboard it'll work well with, using a good structural design (ie truss rod, reinforcements) and good building technique. Getting hung up on grain orientation is missing the big picture.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Turnaround and Whippet
#31
Whippet said:
I forgot who and where, but I read an interview where the luthier (probably well known to be in an interview) said that he preferred flatsawn to quartersawn due to improved tone. I know this is a totally different topic and a controversial one for that matter.

He said that a good flatsawn is just as stable as a quatersawn. I have no idea if this is true or not, but I would think that what you wrote above in change in dimensions given changes in humidity is accecpted as a fact by most people.

Anyway it is interesting to hear peoples' different approaches to building and wood choice
Click to expand...
Flatsawn is exactly as stable as quatersawn. It doesn't matter which way you turn it when cutting, the wood behaves exactly the same. What you trade off is the direction of dimensional change - width vs thickness. Each has its own advantages and disadvantages.

Some think that quartersawn wood is more rigid than flatsawn. It's not true. Check out the demonstration I posted here (about halfway down the page):

Sizing up a Neck - quality evaluation
 
  • Like
Reactions: Whippet
#32
Turnaround said:
As water is absorbed into the wood, it will expand in length, width and thickness. On flatsawn wood, the major change is in the width of the board, but there is a change in length about 10% of the change in width. Change in thickness is somewhat less. In quartersawn, the length change is the same as flatsawn, but the width shrinkage is much less, at the expense of change in thickness which is greater than flatsawn.
Click to expand...



Once the wood has finih applied is this going to be an issue.

Most finishes are not permeable, correct?
 
#34
Turnaround said:
Lacquer, shellac, varnish (traditional) are inhibiters to moisture, but they are permeable. Modern plasticy finishes (poly) are much less permeable.
Click to expand...

why do the necks shift so quickly if it is an inhibiter? I swear just half a day out of the cabinet sometimes makes my neck shift. It cant be the temp change since the cabinet and room temp are the same.
 
#35
Some wood is more reactive than other. And some finishes are more of an inhibitor than others. It is definitely not temperature related - wood doesn't react to changes in temperature.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Whippet
#37
Also, the biggest reason why some necks bend when the moisture level changes is the difference in expansion between the neck and the fingerboard. If the neck has a decent finish on it, the neck wood is pretty well sealed up. However the fingerboard often has minimal finish on it, and will absorb more water from the air. In particular, the fret slots are vulnerable exposed spots where moisture can wick in around the fret tangs and into the end grain of the wood.

When the humidity goes up, the fingerboard absorbs some of it, swelling a bit at each fret slot. The fingerboard tries to expand in length, while the neck wood tries to hold it still. The neck bends backward, reducing relief and action. That's the most common cause of buzz when the humidity goes up.

But, in some cases, it can work the other way. The neck wood may not be very well finished, and may be able to absorb water. Sometimes it can absorb water through air in the truss rod slot. And the fingerboard may be a tight resinous wood that naturally seals up well. In that case, an increase in humidity causes the neck wood to swell and try to increase in length, while the fingerboard tries to hold it back. And the neck bends forward.

Most problems with short-term stability, caused by changes in humidity, come down to the wood not being fully sealed up somewhere.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Bob_Ross and Whippet
#38
Whippet said:
high humidity causes the neck to concave
low humidity causes the neck to convex

Taking out all string tension factors, is this universal?

Can a luthier make the neck so that it is the opposite of what I mentioned above?

Thanks for all information in advance.
Click to expand...
I don’t agree with your premise, for the same reasons others have given. Green wood and/or string tension will bow a neck, and lack of tension and/or improperly set truss rod can cause back bowing. In my world that’s called neck relief. Humidity issues usually involve “fret sprout” and very occasionally fretboard cracks.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Whippet
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom
Back