My CS Charvel's neck is warped...

[Bengal65]

Damn Ak47! Sorry to hear of this problem. I can hear you. This is worse than my recent sustainer issue on my PC1. That was electronic, but this is worse. Like Sully said, there are good chances they can straighten a back bow and make it right. Hopefully, you will get her back soon.

[neilli]

that totally sucks, but i'm wth ralph; figured neck woods almost need graphite rods in them.
sully

My XTRR has graphite rods and that still moves for a pastime....

[Wizard of Ozz]

Is the neck plain or figured maple?

Nevermind, just did a search and saw pics of the dreaded birdseye maple.

I had a birdseye strathead neck do the same thing right out of the box, and have heard of a few others as well. I will NEVER EVER order another figured neck from anyone. Not worth the hassle. If they don't outright backbow, they at least move a hell of alot more with the weather, causing more pain than they're worth IMO.

Sorry to hear it, the guitar is absolutely gorgeous.

+1 on figured (birdseye) maple necks. I had to get rid of an EBMM Axis recently which had an absolutely killer birdseye maple neck. The neck kept bowing foward and back depending on the weather, and would even start to shift in the neck pocket. No more figured maple for me either.

[Bengal65]

I'm just wondering if some of the older Charvels, like PrePro and early PostPro birdseye necks had these problems? There is no real good data on birdseye maple as far as how it's formed and it's material strength is. 1/4 Sawn is the way to go for anything requiring strength and this shows with Charvel using this lumber for the recently made production Charvels and of course the Jackson PC1.

[dannyr]

Yes, the older birdseye maple necks move alot also. Birdseye maple is very sensitive to weather changes.

[Ralph E.]

Heck, looking back to the 80's I remember a whole bunch of necks (between my friends and I) that moved or warped on the "superstrats" (and most of those weren't even figured maple). It didn't matter what brand it was. The necks were so thin, they were just prone to instability, nothing you can do about it especially if they were unfinished, which most were back then.

I think my brother in law still has a twisted original Charvel pointy neck laying around somewhere (why he kept it for 20 yrs. is beyond me). It's completely shot.

[slayer]

Are tung oiled mahogany necks as bad as the birdseye necks at these problems? My next guitar will have this. Jack.

[dg]

If your mahogany neck is quartersawn, you should be alright. One of the reasons (probably the main reason) that birdseye necks are less stable is that birdseye figure only shows up in flat-sawn wood. Flame figuring shows up in quartersawn maple, so that might be the best choice for a more stable figured neck wood. Birdseye is awesome, though, and it's worth the risk and extra neck adjustments, imo. Sorry this happened, AK, and I hope they can fix it or replace it ASAP for you.

[Chrisb]

I worry about this a little I think my custom was supposed to be tung oiled koa neck, I've read recently that koa is best hard finished for stability purposes. Am I going to have a problem?

[RR05xx]

Most if not all old unfinished necks move. New ones seems to move more and I have had to do adjustments on all new guitars that I have purchased (Jackson, Charvel, GMW etc). That said, I have been able so far to do the adjustments myself (knock on wood), however, I have 2 new charvels which the jury is still out on.

Needing to send back a 2 week old guitar is total fukin b.s.

I hope it all works out.

[El_Kabong]

Sorry to hear of your troubles. As an aside, Suhr no longer work with figured wood for necks as it always comes back for warranty work.

[tmmsjm]

Birdseye in maple is actually a defect in the wood. The little indentations in the tree that cause the birdseye look are actually little pockets of "swirly" grain. It is unstable by nature. Using an oil finish or no finish only compounds the problem.
That being said, I've got an ESP Kamikaze with an awesome birdseye neck. It has an oil finish, but the headstock face and back are fully finished. Fortunately, I've had it for a year with no problems at all.
I didn't look to see where you're from, but the change in climate, especially in winter, could make a big difference.

[rattojack]

A gutiar luthier I knew a long time ago told me that birdseye is actually caused by a disease in the wood. I don't know whether that contributes to a less stable wood, but it might.

[tmmsjm]

Actually, no one has been able to positively identify the cause of birdseye yet. Some say it is a fungus, but no one has pinpointed it yet. I think the fact that the grain around the eyes goes in all different directions causes the problem.

[Chrisb]

A gutiar luthier I knew a long time ago told me that birdseye is actually caused by a disease in the wood. I don't know whether that contributes to a less stable wood, but it might.

POssibly but I've never heard that. Spalted Maple however is diseased wood, its not only diseased, its dying wood. And EXTREMELY unstable, which is why I'm a little suprised when I see 3/4 spalt tops. It works great as a veneered top. I do remember hearing that burl is caused by a fungus so maybe thats what your luthier friend meant. Burl also is extremely unstable but I've seen Burl bodies before so I dunno if its just that its difficult to finish.