# Acoustic guitar neck profile gauge



## difalkner (Jan 3, 2012)

This is a short video on making an acrylic gauge to guide me in carving the neck on the guitar I'm building.

David

Here's the finished piece - 








And the video -


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## BalloonEngineer (Mar 27, 2009)

Did you create elliptical curves or partial arcs? Are you planning on carving the guitar neck by hand or CNC carving it? I like the idea of matching the profile to a guitar you enjoy playing. My wife plays, but is very picky about the width and depth of the neck of her guitars. It seems the only one she really thinks “fits” her is a $2500 Taylor 12 string.


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## difalkner (Jan 3, 2012)

BalloonEngineer said:


> Did you create elliptical curves or partial arcs? Are you planning on carving the guitar neck by hand or CNC carving it? I like the idea of matching the profile to a guitar you enjoy playing. My wife plays, but is very picky about the width and depth of the neck of her guitars. It seems the only one she really thinks “fits” her is a $2500 Taylor 12 string.


They're actually asymmetrical C shaped in profile, which slightly thinner on the bass side and is what Takamine uses. I have a Martin, Gallagher, Guild, and have played dozens of others but I play this Takamine in our Praise Band at church every Sunday (it's the only one with electronics so that's one reason). I have grown to really love this neck shape so that's what I'm using for my build. 

Yes, I'll carve it by hand. At some point I'd like to write the program to take a neck about 90% of the way on the CNC and then finish it by hand, though. 

Your wife has good taste! :grin: What does she play now (if it's not the Taylor...)?

David


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## BalloonEngineer (Mar 27, 2009)

After a long struggle with Fibromyalgia she wasn’t able to play for several years and sold both her beloved Taylor 555 and a 6 string Tacoma. Recently she has the bug to start playing again and she has tried lots of guitars and not found one that matches the feel (or tone) of her old ones. 

A few weeks ago we went to a small local show for luthiers. There were some gorgeous guitars. Given me the bug to try and make one. A (not so) local jr college has a guitar making class I’d love to take (Red Rocks - very good woodworking program). I know a master luthier (classically trained European apprenticeship), who would be a great source for instruction and advice, even though he mostly builds or works on concert violins and similar instruments, but he is over an hour away.


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## TimPa (Jan 4, 2011)

i am looking forward to try using the cnc to make fret scale/indexers for the table saw out of plexi. are you threading the build somewhere?


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## difalkner (Jan 3, 2012)

TimPa said:


> i am looking forward to try using the cnc to make fret scale/indexers for the table saw out of plexi. are you threading the build somewhere?


No, Tim, I decided not to do a build because I knew it was going to take a long time. When I finish I'll post some photos, probably in detail, but no build thread.

David


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