I have owned many Ernie Ball basses and guitars and have noticed that on the rather straight grain necks (post heavy birds eye era) all of the necks are flat sawn. I was wondering why they are not using 1/4 sawn. From my research, 1/4 sawn is much more stable.
- Thread starter jbaade77
- Start date
bovinehost
Administrator
Cost versus gain, I'd guess. I have about, oh, let's just say a lot of Music Man basses and don't notice any instability.
maddog
Well-known member
Anecdotal or is there some science behind the results you found?
bovinehost
Administrator
Uh oh. I feel some science comin' on.
nearly everything I have read seems to indicate that the 1/4 sawn wood is stronger at least in the plane that string tension is applied. I guess there are department of agriculture research from 30 years ago that says that flat sawn can be stronger but may not apply to softer wood that R. Sadowsky referred to in a post somewhere. I know that acoustic guitars use mahogany that is quarter sawn because other cuts are weaker in that wood. cedar tops are 1/4 sawn for acoustics. Lakland uses 1/4 sawn on USA made stuff and flat on the skyline series. I know maple is stiff enough that the clut is less important compared to mahogany. I know some old fenders are cut flat but some custom shop stuff is quarter sawn. A lot of the fingerboards I see for sale are 1/4 sawn. This all has interested me recently because I have a stingray 5 with a twist in the neck that seems more likely to have happened because of the flat sawn nature of the wood.
TNT
Well-known member
yeah, I think it's pretty much a fact that 1/4 sawn is stronger. The only things is, how necessary/important is it? Yes, it's nice to have, (can't hurt) but not "really" necessary.
I really don't consider it (personally) when I am considering a purchase, however it would be a nice amenity to have if it came with the guitar I chose, but not a requirement.
I really don't consider it (personally) when I am considering a purchase, however it would be a nice amenity to have if it came with the guitar I chose, but not a requirement.
syciprider
Well-known member
I'll take flat sawn and not pay US Lakland and Sadowsky prices and have a bass that was actually built by the factory that bears the name vice put together from outsourced parts.
Colin
Well-known member
also don't forget that all modern necks have a big piece of metal that runs down the length called a truss rod. This would help with stability
oli@bass
Well-known member
Check out this thread:
http://www.ernieball.com/forums/music-man-basses/41885-quartersawn-necks.html
http://www.ernieball.com/forums/music-man-basses/41885-quartersawn-necks.html
keko
Well-known member
Just curious, ...does DOB or S/N can tell what kind of "sawn maple" is on the bass!
syciprider
Well-known member
Keko, it's more luck of the draw. It's not something you can spec. BTW, 1/4 sawn is less green or earth friendly as it wastes more wood.
MattOfSweden
Well-known member
I'd take birdseye or flamed over quartersawn any day of the week - and twice on Sunday. 
OldManMusic
Well-known member
My wood shop teacher had a 1/4 sawn finger, but I'm not sure if it made him stronger
projectapollo
Well-known member
Wish I knew what 1/4 sawn and flat sawn are. I was always in the band room, not in the wood shop.
drTStingray
Well-known member
+ 1 - and many others I suspect!
I did look up quarter sawn etc etc and it appears to use only the very centre cuts of the log (where the growth lines are closer) - this implies throwing the rest away - not very environmentally friendly - the basses referred to by the OP are much more expensive than a comparable standard EBMM bass, so cost may be one of the reasons why.
However I don't think this is the point here.
1) I've never heard of Musicman necks twisting before and I don't think they're likely to apart from when exposed to extraordinary external conditions.
2) If the bass can't be repaired by a luthier, a new neck could be obtained from EBMM if the old one is returned. This is really a customer services query best dealt with directly.
I looked at the old thread referred to by Oli - the last post in it summed it up.
Musicman Nut
Well-known member
1/4 Sawn Neck have good and bad points, They are incredible stable but do sound much different and they use way more wood then normal, I Like them all, Anything EB does it perfect so i'm game if they tried it.
Rano Bass
Well-known member
If 1/4 sawn makes the basses more expensive i dont want one.
