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[img]I have been looking at some 1960s Fender guitars and neck on ebay and I find their neck and fingerboard construction a bit of a mystery.

The rosewood board has a top radius as well as a bottom radius. That means the maple neck has a top radius. Why would Fender go through the trouble to put a top radius on the neck, scoop out the bottom of the board to fit, and then radius the top of the rosewood. It seems like an awful lot of work when the neck top could be kept flat, the rosewood flat and then just radius the top of the rosewood.

I hope this image links ....
[/img]http://www.auctiva.com/hostedimages/showimage.aspx?gid=1376092&ppid=1122&image=445055950&images=445055769,445055790,445055812,445055826,445055724,445055748,445055838,445055855,445055872,445055891,445055911,445055929,445055950&formats=0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0&format=0

It would depend upon the production process back in 1966 but it is possible that they all start out to be made into 'all maple' necks, but when they got some breakout, like looks to have been the case in your image, which can happen when you cut the radius in a single pass on a molder, or if that process reveals some other flaws in the wood, they simply glued a rosewood veneer over the maple and then remove the same amount of wood from the back of the neck stock.

All in all its not so much work if you look at it. The rosewood overlay is thin enough to conform without shaping and it is supported by a full glue surface so it can't split once the glue has dried. I would be surprised if all Fender necks with a rosewood FB from 1963 on (pre 63 have a radius FB glued to a flat maple neck) would not have been made this way because Fender got smart realising that it saves a lot of wood, both in rosewood AND in maple because it allows a cover up option and even an upcharge for those necks released with a 'rosewood' FB that would pass visual grading to be left all maple.

The stamp by the way shows the model # is '16'. This means that this particular neck was originally fitted to either a Musicmaster II, a Mustang, a Duo sonic II, or a Bronco. Of course SEP is for the month of September, then the year 1966, and finally the "B" indicates that it is a 'normal' 1 5/8" nut width.

Cheers

Kim.

Dang Kim where do you learn all this stuff?

I recall reading that they bent thin boards over a radiused neck. Can't cite references, but I had no reason to doubt whoever said it.

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Bob Garrish
Former Canonized Purveyor of Fine CNC Luthier Services

Although it's off Topic, I was looking at Kim's avatar and after sometime I could swear it blinked at me. I watched it again and IT DID! Its not that it blinks so much but that the amount of delay thats been added to make someone wonder 'did I just see that' ? Very clever. -Vinny

Thanks all. Kim, you know your Fenders.

So, if the rosewood is nothing more than a veneer that conforms to the radius top, I guess the fret slots come pretty close to, if not all the way to the maple?

J

Another question: Looking at the photo above, I'm wondering how the truss rod was installed. The usual method is to route a channel for the rod, install the rod, maybe a thin strip of wood and then glue the fretboard on top. I'm not so sure how this one was completed. Is it possible to drill a channel through the entire length of the neck?

This is the usual method, but fender don't use the usual method. Fender do a lot of one-piece maple neck, so there's no fretboard and they can't do the installation this way. Never noticed either the walnut skunkstripe in the back of a fender neck?

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Francis Richer, Montréal
Les Guitares F&M Guitars

Could also be that they figured out how to automate the installation of the frets while the fretboard was still flat and that by slightly overbending bending the whole fretted fretboard on a die they got a few birds killed with one stone.

From an automation standpoint, it's a heck of a lot easier to press in frets on a flat surface than a radiused surface.

I wonder if bending the assembly would dislodge seated frets....but it's not that much movement....a few thousands. The tiny side movement at the ends might actually help it seat better.

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I read Emerson on the can. A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds...true...but a consistent reading of Emerson has its uses nevertheless.

StuMusic

Ah, yes, the skunk strip. These rods are installed from the rear of the neck.

I always thought that rosewood on the back of my Strat was decorative. It does look nice.

It's walnut

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Francis Richer, Montréal
Les Guitares F&M Guitars