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I have nearly finished shaping a guitar body out of alder. I wanted it chambered , but it's rapidly approaching 3lbs. I worried this is going to be a bit light for a balanced instrument. The shape is a double cutaway with a longer top horn. What should I consider in making a neck so that it's not neck heavy? So far I have considered woods other than maple (alder? Basswood? Mahogany?); keeping the neck thin, although I prefer fatter necks; using carbon fibre rods and lighter wood; chambering the neck. What's your advice? Is 3lbs really too light?

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Music. And Stuff.

Use a light but stiff neck wood like mahogany instead of maple, and definitely shape it to suit you taste, why else make your own guitar (this one is for you, right?). If you prefer a fatter profile, go for that. I use CF reinforcement in all my necks in addition to the truss rod because I like what it does acoustically, but single action Gibson style truss rod, light weight tuners and smallish headstock will all help a lot to keep the weight down where it matters most for the balance of the instrument. If it still ends up neck heavy, you can always put a counterweight at the end strap button or thereabouts...

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Rian Gitar og Mandolin

It is for me, yes. In fact, the one thing I just love about my first build is that the neck is a perfect fit for my left hand.
Thanks for the advice, Arnt. Mahogany it is. So you find that carbon fibre makes a difference acoustically? I already have the tuners (Japanese Fender inlines). Have you ever reinforced a headstock ? Is it possible to chamber a neck, or even just the headstock?
When I designed the channels, I left the block of wood behind the bridge, so hopefully that will balance it out.

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Music. And Stuff.

It much more depends on the center of balance than the weight of the neck wood unless you are thinking about some ridiculously heavy type of wood. Mostly....it's where the strap connects to body. My bodies are very light and the necks, made mostly from sapele and maple, aren't particularly light but the strap button is mounted on the upper horn so it hangs nice. The whole guitar weighs about 6.0 lbs playing...which indicates a pretty hollowed out body. I don't care how light you make the neck. If the strap button is mounted on the neck joint it's going to hang funny. Gibson SG's are a great example of a guitar that hangs funny from a strap.

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I read Emerson on the can. A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds...true...but a consistent reading of Emerson has its uses nevertheless.

StuMusic

Here's a shot of the body, so far. The routing is in the back (yes, back) so that the pickups can be mounted in the top, accessible from behind. It will have a fixed bridge, so that block of wood behind the pickup cavity is staying. Hopefully that top horn will help the strap hang the body correctly.

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Music. And Stuff.

Is this a lefty? If not, then you may have an issue for balance because the front strap button will not be anywhere near the 12th fret, which is a good rule-of-thumb.

EDIT: Duh - we're looking at the back.... sorry...

Build a nice solid headless neck.

Mr Viking - haha! No worries The cavities will have wood panels glued on. Obviously, the pickup and control cavities will be screwed in.

Headless... interesting idea. I've heard of people using Steinberger tuners in the body. Anyone here done that?

The neck actually joins around the 14th fret, which is 'close' to rule of thumb. Is there a method or theory for calculating balance?

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Music. And Stuff.

Here's my design, with a fairly accurate (i.e. for design purposes only) neck outline and a roughly sketched headstock. I marked where the 12th fret is.

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Music. And Stuff.

I would have to agree that the type of wood usually doesn't affect the balance as much as other aspects will. I'd say get some of those lightweight kluson tuners and you'd be just fine with a regular truss rod. (I like adjustability.) Although the tuners don't weigh as much as the neck, the fact that they're at the very end makes a big difference (leverage). Let us know what you decide.

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How about port orford cedar or Spanish cedar?
Both are light weight and have been used for necks.

Oh yes, leverage.My tuners weigh about 210g, the Hipshot Babygrand bridge weighs 100g, each pickup (3 singles) weighs around 30-50g, a few grams for the back covers...it sounds like I might have enough weight at the body end to balance. As it is, the body tips backwards sitting on my knee and with a tele neck temporarily fixed to it, it seem to balance ok. Yup, that leverage thing could bite me somewhere nasty...

I like adjustability too, so I'm definitely installing a truss rod and go with maple (fingerboard and neck). Hopefully keeping the headstock small will help.

Plan B (or probably M, if you're keeping track) is to just finish building the thing and swap the tuners for lighter ones, then try a heavier bridge. Schaller make a one piece that weighs in around 200g.

So nobody's tried chambering a neck? Would routing two channels either side of the truss rod weaken it too much?

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Music. And Stuff.

Spanish Cedar. Good idea. At 28lbs/cu ft it's pretty light. Lots of people here seem to like it.

Ok, I take that back. Spanish Cedar it is. Black Forest Wood (Calgary) have some in stock and it's only $9/bft. The worse that will happen is that I have to make another one out of maple and I have a spare neck. (I'm a 'worst case scenario' kind of guy).

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Music. And Stuff.