Uni-Neck

Skele is a prototype run amok.

In preparation for the mechanical complexities of Cupid, I wanted to build a test neck incorporating titanium tubing from headstock to bridge. I have long been violently opposed — Rebel! — to the stupidity of digging a pit in the highly stressed primary coupling area between the neck and body. All for the whim of screwing a pickup in the crater.

Obviously it's worked for the last 50+ years.

But that doesn't mean it's a good idea.

A one piece neck structure IS a good idea. Light, stiff, resonant, stable. Much faster and easier to build. The only adjustment is string height at the bridge. No joint hump. No dead spots. In comparison, a typical bolt-on (or glue in) neck is much like trying to land a Banshee on the deck of an aircraft carrier in a hurricane. Why are we so invested in 1950's thinking?

Pickup technology has been the limiting factor.

But the times, they are a changin'.

Because I wanted an apple-apples comparison, and because I have a premium chambered swamp ash 'Tele laying around the shop for test purposes, it seemed a good idea to create an easily accessed body in a familiar shape. Something to facilitate rapid pickup swaps. Ahem. NEW style pickup swaps.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Rick does not duplicate others' instrument designs for profit.

With the body crudely built from birch plywood and ripped 2x4 structural bracing, you can imagine my surprise when I hit the first chord after stringing up Skele. Everything was in thirds. One third less weight. One third louder volume. One third longer sustain. The plywood honeycomb acts as an acoustic soundboard amplifying the resonant Uni-Neck.

I'm in love. So much so that this week I will design and build a "serious" body to better match this experimental neck. Here's what you're looking at:

• curly maple Uni-Neck with titanium tube core
• Trapezoidal Neck Profile
• ebony fretboard
• stainless steel frets
• bone nut
• Waverly bronze tuners
• forged titanium bridge and hardware

LEARN MORE: Skele

Comments

[Jesse]

Rick, your ingenuity never ceases to amaze me! It's always a thrill to come on and see what creations you have uncovered and what traditions you've blown out of the water. Keep up the good work!

[goran]

I am in love too!
You just can't stop with innovations, can you?

Brilliant.

I am speechless.

Please post some sound clips soon otherwise I am taking a first flight to New Jersey! ;)

[Ola Strandberg]

Rick!
You are truly the most innovative luthier around! Every single thing you come up with is strange and beautiful. I love it!

[Alexander López]

I do agree with the pickup issue. That's why I love piezos: no routing required under the strings. Also, the Lightwave Optical pickups allow the strings to vibrate without additional magnetic damping. Have you tried those?

[Kaine]

I am amazed with your ingenious and innovative approach on the construction of your instruments. Keep up shocking us Rick!

[giulio]

your work is amazing!!!

I always liked brave luthiers and you are the bravest!!!

[Alberto Muti]

I was wondering: with such a "double-layer" body structure, would it be possible to use the space between the two soundboards to locate a set of sympathetic strings, just as is done in a Sitar or in some particular acoustic guitars? If the guitar body is so strongly resonant, it could give excellent results...

Still, I'm just a curious guitar player, not a luthier — what do you think about it?

[Rick Toone]

Alberto — absolutely.

I've got some designs headed in that direction — with a few twists — so now it is a matter of finding time to build them.

[Alberto Muti]

Hello there, it's me again, with another silly question...

i noticed you mentioning the body of the uni-neck prototype being made of birch plywood (i don't know about skele's body, though). recently, i have been struck by a new quirky model taken out by gibson, the Zoot Suit SG, which is actually a solid body guitar, perfectly SG-styled, composed of several layers of laminated birch, the layers are actually coloured in different hues, so you get a result that is somewhere in between appealing and appalling...though, as a Cream fan, i always dreamt to have a strange-coloured SG.

so it caught my interest, and i really would like to know what you think about the use of plywood, usually associated with cheap acoustics: do you think it can give good sonic results in a solidbody electric?

i know you don't have that much to do with mass production brand (i appreciated the "this is something very different" statement), but i had this question buzzing around my head, and i don't know any luthier to whom i may ask.

[Rick Toone]

Alberto — you ask good questions, and I enjoy thinking about them. Please feel free to continue to share your observations.

Any material — metal, composite, solid wood, plywood — has a dominant resonant frequency based on density. Additionally, it will have a frequency "fingerprint" that includes secondary frequency peaks as well as harmonics.

How that material is used will also contribute to the sonic "fingerprint" of the instrument. The shape of the instrument and where the materials are employed structurally both make a difference.

Can you imagine how an instrument would sound if the neck was made out of balsa wood vs. the body out of balsa wood?

In my opinion, plywood is not bad. Again, it depends on how and where it is used. Plywood is usually more stiff and stable than solid wood.

From an OBJECTIVE perspective, plywood is simply a material with characteristic frequency peaks. Everything, including pickups, can be designed to interact effectively with plywood to create a pleasing sound.

From a SUBJECTIVE perspective, your ear may or may not like the sound of plywood. But it again depends on the skill of the designer and if these other factors were considered.

[Alberto Muti]

it's not prudent to invite me to ask more question, i could seriously deluge you :)

Anyway, your answer is clever and open-miinded as always...

i don't think the folks at gibson have put that much research into the Zoot Suit pickups, even though they've got a strange looking new cover, that exposes the coils (the only research they made in the last 20 years is auto-tuners, midi output, that already existed, and a sound-modeling guitar, that variax made in the eighties. but i'm being bitter to them)...

i've seen the guitar in action on a youtube video, though, and unplugged it had quite a strong and brilliant sound. i wonder how's the bass response...

[Mark Vermette]

Alberto...

Actually, there are a bunch of not-cheap guitars made with plywood - Most of the upper-end Gretsch hollowbodies, and Gibson's ES-175 and related models were done with this material. Jim English makes some nice Gretsch-style hollowbodies, and does his own laminated tops and backs from scratch. His book on the subject has a funny photo of him using his Ford van as a laminate press!

I agree with you about the Zoot Suit SG. IMO it looked almost like Gibson's solidbody take on the 60's Fender Wildwood semi-hollowbodies, to which I had the same reaction.

[Alberto Muti]

Thank you for the information, Mark, i didn't know the wildwood series by fender, but it seems interesting... Anyway, another way of discovering that not everything they tell you is bad is ACTUALLY bad. And i love the trippy stripy colors. Too bad that i can't afford it.

[Nekros]

Rick, concerning your UNI-Neck, do the edges of the titanium tube "dig" in the wood after a certain time ?

How would you compare the overall rigidity of the plywood+titanium tubing to let's say a vigier neck or any non-trussrod necks stiffened with carbon round rods/rectangular bars.
Comparing also sound transmission and sustain between the two types of necks??

Thanks.

Oh and a little note to those who talked about the Gibson Zoot: it's plain'old DYMONWOOD , STRATABOND from Rutland plywood co, they buy it wholesale and cnc it.Concerning their pickups, they just used a transparent plastic (pmma or polycarb for ex), like the FREDs from Satch's pmma JS.

[Rick Toone]

Nekros — there is a substantial difference in tone between different types of neck construction. You can clearly hear the difference on an instrument like Orchid (bass) as notes ring with piano-like clarity, despite the short-scale, where traditionally you'd hear mud.

We are exploring this topic — physics, ergonomics & construction techiques — in great detail at eLUTHERIE.org. You have an inquisitive mind...if you're serious about building, consider joining us and taking your lutherie to the next level.

[steven long]

hi, steve here. what a cool and intivating neck design. in regards to neck stiffness, did you build other necks w/different rods/shapes/materials? i know everything is a compromise but i'm curious what were the findings regarding tone from different materials vs. stiffness vs. flex load.

[Rick Toone]

Steve — thanks for your questions.

Yes. Absolutely.

I experiment all the time...constantly trying new combinations of shapes and materials. Some favorites are emerging that are proving consistently excellent for both superior tone and neck stability.

I'm documenting all of this research in the Design & Technology Exchange at www.eLUTHERIE.org — where other members are also adding to the findings. Come join us.

Mark Frith and Ola Strandberg have recently completed instruments using variations of this emerging technology.

This is an exciting time period of innovation, and I feel fortunate to continue to meet new people passionate about the future of lutherie.

[Mike Pepper]

Mike, from the UK here. I think it might be time to coin a new term for this genus of guitar, where the main sound producing elements are all in one core linear piece.

I think of them as 'Armature' guitars, a term used in a variety of disciplines to describe the core component of something.

I am actually an electronics engineer, and I like the concept for another reason: it is a classic systems engineering 'cut', decoupling components in a way that allows greater flexibility. It might be possible to have the actual alloy armature CNC machined, to bring economies of scale, but for individual guitars to be hand finished and completely different. If the neck profile was internally a "Tee" or "Pi" section, then it might be possible to fit different backs to it, depending upon the player's ergonomic preferences.

A few minor thoughts, but I do like the term 'Armature' to describe what you're doing. Uni-neck, whilst descriptive, is a also a bolt together.....

I find this site very inspiring from an engineering-as-art perspective, and am stunned by the beauty of some of the instruments, and the elegant vision behind them.

Best wishes

Mike

[Rick Toone]

Mike — thanks for your comment, and sorry for the delay. If you get chance, please drop me an email. I'd like to learn more about you and your interesting background. Cheers!