Flat sawn?

[ddw]

I'm sure there has been talk on here about these and I did search and didn't see anything directly about them. Has anyone played one of these new ones with the flat sawn/graphite necks? I like the idea of the graphite for extra stability but with the flat sawn wood doesn't it kind of defeat the purpose? I don't know enough about flat sawn to have an opinion and don't really know if I've ever played a flat sawn neck. I thought I saw that the new dk2m was flat sawn/graphite but while watching one of the namm videos the guy said it was quartersawn. I think the 3-bolt neck looks good, but I had a dream that I had one and the neck kept moving lol. I know they'll be fine. I have an old 3-bolt tele that works fine. I love the new ones but I'm gonna miss the sharkfins.

[LaoWai]

Should be pretty stable, I think the ones with the graphite rods are 3 piece… its good practice to alternate the cups (grain) when doing this type of joinery, If Jackson does this, they’ll probably hold up pretty well.

[Rich#6]

alternating the grain of the pieces and adding graphite makes it just as stable or more than qtr sawn and oiled.

[Flatpicker]

If you have played a strat then you have played a flat sawn neck.
Most of those have held up for round 50 years.

Carvin used to do the graphite rods in their necks. It's makes them very stable.

The only rub has been for those guitarists who hear with their eyes. They claim that there can be a tonal difference. Me, I don't hear it, but can feel the extra rigidity in the neck.
You can't grab the HS and flex the neck on the Carvins.

[schizotronic]

Swear to god ( any) that I can hear the difference. Of course, a lot of other factors interfere on my judgement, but I played some guitars with the graphite reinforcement. For example, let me tell as episode: Carvins are very rare here in Brazil. VERY. A friend of mine had a small shop in a nearby mall ( far from the other music shops in Sao Paulo) and one of his customers was selling every piece of his setup. I stumbled upon the guy and he said: " I have three Carvins to sell, have you ever heard of this brand?". I laughed, and said, let me see them. Next day I went to the sop again and the owner of the guitars brought them, he said: " this one is the most beautiful of all - but it sounds too bright for my taste". I plugged a 727 ( black) and another very, very similar. Wonderful guitars. The third one was a semi acoustic which neck needed a reset... well, that "other" guitar was really bright. Looked like a 727, same pickups according to the owner, tuneomatic bridges, 24 frets. All he said is that he custom ordered that guitar and he said the new ones have a graphite reinforcement bar (this story happenned around 2003).

I'm not saying the graphite was the factor. I'm saying that I heard both guitars, same construction (cannot tell wood was the same since one was solid black and the other natural) and I felt a neck with less "give" and brighter than the other. BEFORE the guy said anything about graphite. Anyway, sometimes I make guitars from the same plank of wood, same glues, similar necks. Similar pickups, swap the pickups, strings always .010's and I can notice a different tone. It happens and that's the beautiful of this addiction!

That graphite neck felt sturdier, more vibrant and acoustically the guitar was louder too. Unfortunately I couldn't afford any ot those babies.

[ddw]

Man I love you guys on here. I'm like the biggest Jackson fanboy I know and I think I know everything, but you guys are crazy schooled on this stuff. Much respect and appreciation!

[groverj3]

I don't think it's a big deal. My SL2Q has the three piece neck with graphite reinforcement and I didn't even have to adjust the truss rod when tuning down and changing string gauges after buying it. To me, that says the neck is pretty stiff.

[DonP]

I'm not worried about the stiffness, I'm more worried about how it sounds. I've read a lot about Carvin's graphite rods and how they stopped using them because people hated the tone. Of course this must be true because I read it on the internet

[schizotronic]

Oh, and I remembered something else. I played a couple of Spector basses, from different clients. The ones of 4 strings were nice, decent sound. Balanced sound I mean. The ones with 6 strings were treblier. Never thought about it, just assumed the construction had something to do with it.

Few weeks ago I read somewhere that those 6 strings basses had a graphite bar... Coincidence or not, that's my 2 cents.

[Flatpicker]

Oh, and I remembered something else. I played a couple of Spector basses, from different clients. The ones of 4 strings were nice, decent sound. Balanced sound I mean. The ones with 6 strings were treblier. Never thought about it, just assumed the construction had something to do with it.

Few weeks ago I read somewhere that those 6 strings basses had a graphite bar... Coincidence or not, that's my 2 cents.

That may be a bit of a apples to watermelons comparison.
The 6 string Bass has a lot of other changes that add mass on both the body (bigger bridge) and HS (2 more tuners).

[groverj3]

I don't worry much about tone in relation to wood. Mostly since magnetic pickups can't detect the virbation of the wood anyway (physics tells me this makes sense ).

Everyone has an opinion on that issue though...

[Devotee]

I don't worry much about tone in relation to wood. Mostly since magnetic pickups can't detect the virbation of the wood anyway (physics tells me this makes sense ).

Everyone has an opinion on that issue though...

Plug your guitar into your amp and knock on the body with your knuckle. If you can't hear anything through your amp then you're right. Every aspect of a guitar plays a role in its tone, even the paint.

[Ron Burgundy]

Plug your guitar into your amp and knock on the body with your knuckle. If you can't hear anything through your amp then you're right. Every aspect of a guitar plays a role in its tone, even the paint.

This man speaks the truth.

[groverj3]

Plug your guitar into your amp and knock on the body with your knuckle. If you can't hear anything through your amp then you're right. Every aspect of a guitar plays a role in its tone, even the paint.

Vibration transfer to the strings. Magnetic pickups can't detect things that are not ferrous.

Now, as far as the pickups themselves vibrating due to the wood vibrating. I'll buy that changing the tone slightly... but nothing drastic. Anyway, I don't want to get into an argument over this. I'm getting off-topic anyway. These things never end well

Basically, my opinion would be that there would be no difference in tone between flat and quarter sawn necks. Only a difference in strength, not a great one at that.

As with all things, until someone actually does scientifically sound studies into it it's all just opinions.

[xenophobe]

Now, as far as the pickups themselves vibrating due to the wood vibrating. I'll buy that changing the tone slightly... but nothing drastic.

Except that the wood acts as a vibration dampener for specific frequencies. Some frequencies will be boosted, others will be cut. The difference a mahogany, maple or alder body is actually substantial. Fretboard wood, especially since it has direct contact with the frets also significantly alters tone... ebony is brighter, almost tinny compared to rosewood. You can hear the difference both acoustically or plugged in. For whatever it's worth...