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Classical neck, No truss rod?
http://mowrystrings.luthiersforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10101&t=23225		 Page 1 of 1
Author:  Frei [ Mon Jul 27, 2009 9:42 pm ]
Post subject:  Classical neck, No truss rod?
Just wondering, as I look to cut my neck this and next week, why classicals don't have truss rods, and do you classical builders build with carbon fiber, or just the fretboard and QS wood? Why not add a little trussr?
Author:  WaddyThomson [ Tue Jul 28, 2009 10:19 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Classical neck, No truss rod?
Some classical builders use carbon fiber, and some use truss rods (Hill Guitars for one), others use nothing. So far, I haven't used anything in my necks.
Author:  PaddyD [ Tue Jul 28, 2009 11:31 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Classical neck, No truss rod?
A Lot of my Classical Building customers use a strip of ebony or rosewood in the neck to add rigidity, but certainly no truss rod

Paddy
Author:  Peter J [ Tue Jul 28, 2009 11:53 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Classical neck, No truss rod?
What Waddy said.... Many use Ebony or CF. Hill is one of the few who use a truss rod. I use 3/8 x 1/4 CF bars. The total string tension on a classical can be ~95 lbs. (D'Addario EXP45C) where a steel string can be at least twice that amount.
Author:  Mike Collins [ Tue Jul 28, 2009 12:32 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Classical neck, No truss rod?
A truss rod in a classical neck would be great if it did not weigh more than the wood removed to install it.
I've had a few Australian classicals in the shop with adjustable rods.
The necks were Padauk or some other heavy wood so the weight of the rod was a moot point.

I use CF like Peter J.-but I scrape & plane the f.b. with a forward bow for string swing.

I've seen many old classicals with no reinforcing in the neck and they look great !!!
Sometimes you get one someone put steel strings on and it's warped
Then the bridge rips off also !!

Mike
Author:  WaddyThomson [ Tue Jul 28, 2009 12:34 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Classical neck, No truss rod?
There is no accounting for stupidity, Mike! gaah
Author:  Alexandru Marian [ Tue Jul 28, 2009 1:03 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Classical neck, No truss rod?
It is also important to think about the weight of the box. If it is light, there can't be anything more annoying than a heavy neck!
Author:  Ricardo [ Tue Jul 28, 2009 2:23 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Classical neck, No truss rod?
check the classical guitar forum and see how many people bemoan the fact that they have a bow in their neck and no easy way to fix it. Thats why I put a truss rod in mine - the weight is negligible - the balance point on my guitar is around the 12 fret.
Author:  Alan Carruth [ Tue Jul 28, 2009 2:58 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Classical neck, No truss rod?
One of my students made titanium truss rods for his classicals. Worked great, weighed next to nothing. Tough to make, though....
Author:  WaddyThomson [ Tue Jul 28, 2009 3:50 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Classical neck, No truss rod?
Ricardo wrote:
check the classical guitar forum and see how many people bemoan the fact that they have a bow in their neck and no easy way to fix it. Thats why I put a truss rod in mine - the weight is negligible - the balance point on my guitar is around the 12 fret.


This is true, but most of them, complaining, are playing low cost manufactured guitars, not hand built ones. Those guitars are often built with necks made from woods of low stability - poorly quartered, poorly dried, used before acclimated, etc. Most of the posts you see over there for guys looking for guitars are looking to spend less than $1000, and many of them want to spend less than $300. Not saying there is anything wrong with that, but those are the guitars that need truss rods - the cheaply built ones.
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