DKMG neck - so shave or not to shave?

[eschoendorff]

Hey there...

About 5 or so years ago, I bought a DKMG from musicians friend (yeah, I know - not gonna do that again!) because on paper it seemed like the perfect guitar for me.

A while back, I bought a Dean VMNT (because it had the specs I wanted at a too-good-to-walk-away-from price) and I LOVE the neck on that thing. If I could have the VMNT neck on my DKMG, I'd be in heaven.

The neck profiles on the guitars seemed similar enough that I didn't think one would be much different fro the other. Both guitars have a sort of flattish D shaped, or so it seems to my hands. However, the shoulders of the D shape on the DKMG are just hefty enough that it makes things difficult when doing Schenker-style fingering patterns. This is one of the few reasons that I play my VMNT a lot more than my DKMG.

I'd love to take the neck down some, but I worry about possible neck instability then. Anyone ever shave down a DKMG neck? What were the consequences? Is it worth doing myself, or should I take it to a shop?
Thanks,
Ed

[straycat]

Hell the DKMG neck is thin as paper to begin with.Have at it but be careful.

[Mercenary]

I know what you mean. I used to have a DKMG and I wished the neck was just a bit thinner because it would be just perfect for me. Personally, I wouldn't fuck with the neck. Have you tried setting up your action differently? When I had an 81 and 85 installed my guitar tech set up the action on an angle, or tilt whatever you want to call it, and the difference was amazing. The tremolo was lowered on the high strings side. You could just flow so easily. Give it a try.

[Newc]

If it's the shoulders giving you trouble and not the actual thickness, shave those down.

[1337storm]

If you just want to gently re shape it, just go for it.
As long as you don't need to take to much the neck will be fine,
they are quite rugged actually,
especially on the shoulders...no truss rod in the way out there.

[Newc]

You can also greatly improve upper-fret access (at the heel) by rounding down those two flat parts that stick out beyond the neck pocket. On my WRMG they're like an inch beyond the pocket. Shave them down so they begin to slope right at the edge of the pocket.

[RobRR]

DKMG necks arent very thin at all... a bit too hefty for me actually as well. You should be able to shave that down no problem, theres plenty of meat there. Ive done it to one and oiled it afterwards, came out phenominally!

[eschoendorff]

Thanks guys. I think that I might buy a DKMG neck on Ebay and experiment on that and save my original neck. I'll post up and let you know how things turn out.

[Axewielder]

Well Schenker himself can pop off those licks on a chunky Gibson neck, so I vote you "man up"!

[eschoendorff]

Well Schenker himself can pop off those licks on a chunky Gibson neck, so I vote you "man up"!

There is a humbling element of truth in that statement

[straycat]

Not a bad idea really get a neck off ebay and go to town on it you just might end up with a cool playing neck worth a shot anyway.
I have had a few DKMG's and thought the necks felt small compared to 90's professional necks.
Funny thing I was playing my L.P. with a 50's chunky neck tonight and it felt so right.and my Charvel star felt like I had a ball bat in my hands whats up with that?

[Twitch]

Hell the DKMG neck is thin as paper to begin with.Have at it but be careful.

What??? Good god, theyre a ball bat compared to my Kelly. Granted, its not a Les Paul neck, I wouldnt say paper thin.

[eschoendorff]

Just a little update here... I bought a couple necks off Ebay: another DKMG and also a DXMG. I really liked teh look and the profile of teh DXMG neck, so I tried that first. Classic sharkfin + reverse headstock = WIN for my tastes. I haven't sanded the neck down and right now I am not sure that I will. The profile seems to be just a little slimmer than the original DKMG neck and I must like it because I have played this guitar more in the past two weeks than i have in the past two years! Thanks for all your help.



Should I attempt to modify the profile on the DKMG necks, does anyone have any tips for a first-timer?

[Newc]

While Fender alleges the "C" and "D" neck profiles were never about their actual shape, but more of a general classification, if you look at, say, a SoCal neck profile, you'll see the back is shaped in a smooth rounded fashion, like the letter C.
If you look at the typical Jackson neck profile, it's a bit flat in the middle and, while rounded on the outside, drops to a sharp curve on the ends like the letter D.



Cut off the tips of the letter C and invert the letter D and cut off the spine and about half the flat top and bottom:



Here you can really see how much more smoothly curved a "C" profile is, and how the "D" profile appears to be flat, with bulky "shoulders" on the outside (almost squared).

While the necks may be equal in thickness from the center of the back to the top of the fretboard, these shoulders give a thicker feel.

Shave them down so they're more "C"-shaped (smoothly rounded/tapered to the edge of the board) and you don't have to touch the actual thickness from the center to the board.


As for actually doing it, it goes without saying to take it slow and steady. You'll want some sort of powered tool to cut through the wood reasonably fast, but not something that's going to be hard to control and end up shredding the neck before you can stop it. A small hand-held power sander should be fine, but a Dremel with a large sanding drum would get you in trouble quickly.

If you'd rather do it with sandpaper by hand for the ultimate in control (and the ultimate in time-consuming), first mount something to the back of the neck to keep the paper off of it (a metal dowel rod, some rebar maybe?) but allowing it to work the shoulders you want to round off. Wrap a length of sandpaper (preferably from a roll instead of pre-sliced sheets) around the back of the neck, sanding surface towards the wood (obviously) and do the "shoe-shine boy" routine with it - back and forth, back and forth, wax on, wax off.
It'll take forever unless you use some really rough paper to start, then gradually go smoother to make it....smooth.

[eschoendorff]

OMG! That's exactly what I had thought... well, more like suspected, but this makes total sense. Thanks for your post Newc!