Why Mum's are always right.

Scarf - yes or no

I don't actually remember my mum telling me to use a scarf, but if she had, it would have been great advice. Not so much for my neck, but certainly when it comes to headstock.

In case I've now completely lost you, this article asks whether it is better to glue a headstock to a neck or have a single piece.

The first question is perhaps, why is it even necessary? It's all about how the string lays in the nut slot. A customer recently asked what the string retaining bar or tree is for on a straight neck guitar, like a Strat. Simply, it creates an angle that forces the string down into the nut slot. A different method is to angle the headstock back entirely so that the downward pressure is created more naturally, for example on a Les Paul. Without this secure placement of the string, it can vibrate and result in rattle.

So, the headstock is angled back. What's the problem? Well, just as walking around looking up all the time would likely give you a sore neck, the angle creates a weak spot. Search for guitar headstock break on the internet and you will find it is more than a passing fad. Our joints are happiest when they are in a neutral position. Keep straining them and the muscles and tendons become sore and eventually break.

The fibres in wood suffer similar injury and their neutral position can be identified in relation to the grain. Apply force with the grain and you have strength. Work against it and Repetitive Strain Injury sets in.

Factory built guitars often rely on mass production. What is saved in time makes up for any waste in material. Take a deep slab of wood and cut out a neck template with an angle at the headstock. Then onto the next and the next. It is a perfectly established way of building a neck and clearly works, but it comes with two problems.

1. The wood cut away under the neck is wasted, adding further to deforestation.

2. The grain that is running along the length of the neck, suddenly runs against the flow of the headstock. This leads to a weak spot.

The answer - A scarf joint.

Cut the end off the neck blank at an angle, flip it upside down, prepare the surfaces and glue. There are now two lengths of wood, both of which have grain that runs along the length, bound together with a glue joint which is stronger than the wood itself.

This is the traditional way of making a guitar neck and like many traditional methods, maximises your chance of a sturdy instrument.

So, next time you have the choice to raise your nose in indignation or do as you're told and wrap up with a scarf, choose the later. Mums the word.

Happy Riffing

Chris