Official Luthiers Forum!

Hello OLF!
Luthier Suppliers would like to introduce you to our newest jig. It is the new Patent Pending Stringed Instrument Neck Templates! We received them into stock this week and they are now available for sale. I was able to keep the cost at $21.95 each(Free Shipping in US, $5 anywhere in the world).

These new templates give you 11 essential elements of a neck so you can duplicate it using the given specifications. With over 50 different neck shapes to choose from, I'm sure we have something to offer every builder. We currently have Acoustic Guitars, Classical Guitars, Electric Guitars, Mandolins, Bouzouki's, and unusual guitars like 12 strings, 7, 8, and 10 string classicals.

In association with Edward Victor Dick of EVD Stringed Instruments, and Director of The Colorado School of Lutherie, Luthier Suppliers now offers a first time builder, or an experienced builder the chance to replicate a part of history. Edward discovered early on in his 30 year career as a custom builder that the most reliable way to ensure that his clients would like the feel of a new instrument was to precisely copy an exisiting neck that the player preferred. He thus began creating an archive of neck measurements and contours. The EVD Neck Contour Templates are the result of this research. This project has been a labor of love, and you get to reap the benefits of 30 years of research!

The product is made of ABS black glossy plastic with engraved measurements that store several data regarding a specific neck. They are cut to within 20 thousandths of an inch on a laser machine to our exact specifications. It is 1/16" thick, 5 3/4" width and 3" height(depending on the neck shape, it could be much larger). It includes the scale length of the instrument, radius of the finger board at the nut, width of the nut, string spacing at the nut, string spacing at the bridge, radius of the finger board at the last fret and width of the fingerboard at the last fret. It also contains the dimensions and cross sectional contour outline of the neck at 2 or more different points.

It is held in the hand while shaping a neck and used as a reference guide to check if the neck matches the dimensions and/or shape of the template. It is also used by holding it against the nut, and using the slots to mark the string locations on the nut. The bridge spacing has both slots and tiny holes to mark the position of the strings at the bridge. The template can also be held in place to check the width and/or radius of the fretboard at the nut as well as at the last fret. I was discussing the jig with Edward the other day and he has been using it daily in his repair business. For example, he needed to make a quick nut for a A4 Gibson Mandolin, but didn't have any around to use, so he pulled out one of our templates and made the string spacing in minutes! He also mentioned that he has mixed and matched these templates to get different string spacings at the bridge and nut, and even different fretboard widths and string spacings. The beauty about these templates, is that you can mix and match for an infinite number of combinations to create completely customizable neck shapes.

To see more information/instructions and a list of templates available for purchase, please visit:
THIS PAGE

We would also like your feedback on any other templates that you would like to see in the future.

Thanks for looking!
Tracy

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Tracy
http://www.luthiersuppliers.com

Tracy, again you've come through with a great jig. It is incredible how much information you were able to incorporate into each one. I can't wait to get mine.   

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Don Atwood
Arlington, VA

Thanks Hesh and Don! We aim to please, and try our hardest. I can't tell you how many hours Edward and I have worked on this jig. All the way from dealing with patent lawyers to dealing with programmers, to laser cutters. We have been at this process since June of last year. I do hope you all enjoy our hard work because it was done for all of you. Neither of us plans to get rich on this, but rather this jig be a way to preserve some of the most famous guitar necks into a historical archive. We will continue adding new neck shapes as we go. Coming soon will be some electric basses, acoustic basses, baritones, ukulele's, and several banjo necks. So we are not done yet.

Don, also, I shipped your templates today, but the 12 string will have to wait until later. When I got the template, I realized that we made the bridge pin awl holes too big, and this caused all of the string spacings to break out. This one will need to be redone. I'm confident it won't take more than 2 weeks. Thanks again for all your business.

Glad you like the centerline finder Hesh! Enjoy!

One other thing I forgot to mention, If you buy 5 of them you get 1 free!
Tracy

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Tracy
http://www.luthiersuppliers.com

Tracy

I just ordered one from you. How do I pay you the $5.00 for freight?

Cheers

Bob

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Bob Connor
Geelong, Australia

So I could ensure accuracy of my dishes and related jigs, I bought a couple of radius gauges from Tracey a little while back. Service, follow up and product was first rate, so I think you will be very pleased with your new gauge Bob.

Cheers

Kim

Thanks Bob and Kim! Bob, invoice and payment received, thanks! Your kind words are much appreciated.
Tracy

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Tracy
http://www.luthiersuppliers.com

Can't wait to pick mine up from you, Tracy!

-j.

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“If God dwells inside us like some people say, I sure hope He likes enchiladas, because that's what He's getting”
-jack handy

Come and get it J.!
Tracy

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Tracy
http://www.luthiersuppliers.com

Interesting story about this jig...Edward had contacted Kevin Ryan to let him know that we would be offering his neck shape for sale. His response was that he was planning on doing something similar and offering his neck contours through one of the big luthier tool companies, but since we were already doing it, and offering even more information on a template, he said he probably won't do it, and wished us the best of luck with this jig. He thought it was a great idea, and liked the way we presented the information in one simple to use jig.
Tracy

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Tracy
http://www.luthiersuppliers.com

Just wanted to put in a good word for Tracy's templates.
I just finished my neck using one of the early prototypes and it worked perfectly. I think the neck turned out really well.
Its quite handy and I will be buying some more for sure. Its a lot of info on one small template. What an amazing selection you have, too. Thanks Tracy!

-j.

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“If God dwells inside us like some people say, I sure hope He likes enchiladas, because that's what He's getting”
-jack handy

J.,
Thanks so much for the plug! You should show a pic of the neck you just carved. I think everyone would love to see it!
Tracy

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Tracy
http://www.luthiersuppliers.com

I did this on the first guitar I made.I just copied a neck I had on another guitar that I liked .I just cut them out of some chunks of scrapwood.Mine were free.
                James W B

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James W Bolan
Nashville Tennessee

The real benefit of these templates are for us folks who don't come in contact with a wide variety of necks (particularly some of the classics). I'm sure the repair folks see most everything and have an option to make a template while it is in house. Now, if someone wants a specific style neck, I'll have a reasonable chance of providing what they are after. On top of that, the price is really reasonable. Kudos again Tracy.

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Don Atwood
Arlington, VA

James, you are correct, in fact I copied my Santa Cruz neck when I did my 2nd guitar, and you are right it is free. However, the benefit of these templates is in the ability to mix and match to achieve a certain playability...For example, if I wanted a wider nut spacing and more of a V neck, and a wider bridge spacing, you can take several of these templates and use 1 or 2 components to mix and match neck components to come up with a totally custom neck styles.

Not only that, Edward, who does repair all day, is constantly making new nuts for unusual instruments where you cannot just make up the string spacing. He was telling me the other day that he had an old mandolin that came in that had a nut that was so damaged that he could not read the string spacing...the slots were too wide and you could not get the spacing right. He just pulled out our Gibson A-4 and had the information immediately. Had he not had the template, he would have walked to the front of the store, found a mandolin with fairly close spacing, then he would have had to measure and fumble with this instrument already strung up. With the template he was able to create a new nut in minutes.

So you see there are more uses than just the contour. Because we store so many components of a neck, you can come much closer to replicating a neck. The contour is only 2 of the elements of a neck, there are another 9 elements that make up a neck, and if you really want it to play and feel the same, you need to apply all the elements of the neck.

Hope this helps explain a little more. Thanks Don for the kudo's!
Tracy

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Tracy
http://www.luthiersuppliers.com

Ohhh you said the magic word ukulele

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Zac

Anchorage Alaska

Finshed my 1st! See #1 here

Tracy,
Will you bring the jig to next meeting?

Bob,
I may not make it to the next meeting because of my daughters school function, but it depends on what time it goes until. I may be able to make the end of the meeting. Scott Baxendale's shop is always a great meeting!
Tracy

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Tracy
http://www.luthiersuppliers.com