# RGI aluminum neck build thread



## broj15 (Apr 27, 2019)

So recently I've been thinking the herd here and there in an effort to buy my "dream guitar" and last night I took step one and decided to pull the trigger on on an RGI 700 series neck. Here's the specs for those that don't know.

*NECK SPECS:*

_Material: _6061 Solid Billet Aluminum


_Scale: _25.5”


_Nut Width:_ 1 11/16”


_Frets: _22 Stainless Steel Medium/Medium


_Fretboard Radius:_ 12”


_Tuners:_ 3+3 Sperzel Locking


_Nut:_ 6061 Aluminum (cut for heavy gauge strings)(0.013", 0.020", 0.024", 0.035", 0.046", and 0.056") or cut to your specific gauges if specified


_Heel Pocket:_ Fender Strat Style (5/8” deep, 2.18” heel width, 3” total length, 5” radius heel curve)


_Thickness:_ .700” at Nut, .725” at 7th fret, .740” at 12th fret .760” at 15th fret


_Neck Shape:_ Very flat U shape, maximum thinness without structural loss, no tapered heel


I decided to keep it simple and go with black dot inlays and a flat finish as opposed to the mirror finish. As of right now wait times are about 3 months~ so for now updates to this thread will come slowly.

In the mean time, I need to decide what kind of wood I'll be using for the body, and what pickups I plan on using. For the body I'm thinking either ash or mahogany. I want something that will be very dense (to help compensate for the heavier aluminum neck and prevent neck dive) and will accept a stain easily. My plan is to stain it pure black and then finish with some kind of oil for a matte look. Also need to think about hardware & control layout as well, but I have a while to figure that out. 

Anyways, I'll keep this thread updated as this little project progresses.


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## budda (Apr 27, 2019)

Yes!

I hope more members buy RGI necks. Alex is a sweetheart and I'm super excited he ventured into doing this.


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## Winspear (Apr 27, 2019)

Dude, nice! Very excited to see this. RGI have come along at a great time and are absolutely killing it. 
I plan on doing a jazzmaster baritone and a rickenbacker 4003 bass with his necks. 

I think mahogany would be a good choice, ash could be a bit bright with the alu neck.


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## Seabeast2000 (Apr 27, 2019)

wow, thanks for posting. Didn't know about these. The idea of a custom RGI O.G. Wizard neck is making me a little nutty.


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## budda (Apr 27, 2019)

Is he doing different neck profiles?


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## broj15 (Apr 27, 2019)

The906 said:


> wow, thanks for posting. Didn't know about these. The idea of a custom RGI O.G. Wizard neck is making me a little nutty.





budda said:


> Is he doing different neck profiles?



Afaik he's only doing the 700 series bass and guitar necks for now. His site says he'll do custom work, but he adds that it takes alot more time & is pretty expensive. It's not quite wizard thin, but these necks are called the 700 series because the measurement at the first fret is .700", or 17.78mm. looks like the OG wizard is 17mm at the first fret, so these RGI necks aren't too far off. That being said, the neck profile is surely different. Looks like these necks are about as flat as can be (he calls them a very thin flat "U" shape, with no heel taper, and only rounded shoulders.


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## budda (Apr 28, 2019)

Ya they are pretty flat. I only briefly tried the prototype.


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## Seabeast2000 (Apr 28, 2019)

broj15 said:


> Afaik he's only doing the 700 series bass and guitar necks for now. His site says he'll do custom work, but he adds that it takes alot more time & is pretty expensive. It's not quite wizard thin, but these necks are called the 700 series because the measurement at the first fret is .700", or 17.78mm. looks like the OG wizard is 17mm at the first fret, so these RGI necks aren't too far off. That being said, the neck profile is surely different. Looks like these necks are about as flat as can be (he calls them a very thin flat "U" shape, with no heel taper, and only rounded shoulders.



Thanks, yeah that is pretty thin. 12" is the radii according to the site for the 700. Says he will do runs and one-offs with economy of scale duely noted.


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## Lemonbaby (Apr 28, 2019)

How heavy are those? I'd assume you'll end up with a very neck-diving guitar after replacement.


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## MaxOfMetal (Apr 28, 2019)

Lemonbaby said:


> How heavy are those? I'd assume you'll end up with a very neck-diving guitar after replacement.



Depends on a number of factors, while aluminum is going to be about two or three times as heavy as most wood, if it's thin enough and with the skeletonized headstock, it'll probably come in close to some of the heavier wooden necks in practice. 

I've worked on a number of Bean and Kramer instruments with aluminum necks and most didn't seem to have a problem with dive, even those on bodies with similar dimensions to SGs. 

I'd definitely go for a heavier body to compensate, so this thing might wind up at the 11lbs+ mark. 

I've never heard of RGI til now, but the operation looks really cool.


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## broj15 (May 14, 2019)

Nothing to report as of yet, other than we decided to go with luminlay side dots (no extra charge) and he just posted on Instagram that he's experimenting with microtonal necks and and a tunable tail piece for jazzmasters style bridges. I'm assuming it's intended use would be to mount a pickup between the bridge and tail piece and then be able to adjust the tailpiece for tunable drones.


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## Bearitone (May 15, 2019)

broj15 said:


> Nothing to report as of yet, other than we decided to go with luminlay side dots (no extra charge) and he just posted on Instagram that he's experimenting with microtonal necks and and a tunable tail piece for jazzmasters style bridges. I'm assuming it's intended use would be to mount a pickup between the bridge and tail piece and then be able to adjust the tailpiece for tunable drones.



Sounds pretty over the top. I love it.


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## budda (May 15, 2019)

The "third bridge" is cool. I dont know how it would be used for drone but I believe it can be done  (not my bag).

The black block neck makes me think about blacking out a strat and making an order. Then I remember I have no money.


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## LiveOVErdrive (May 15, 2019)

Wouldn't a tunable tailpiece just be for fine tuning like this?


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## Winspear (May 15, 2019)

Here; 

I'm absolutely desperate to try this and will be pursuing it asap, with or without one of his necks too


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## LiveOVErdrive (May 15, 2019)

Oh dude that is wild


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## budda (May 15, 2019)

Gonna have to watch that video.


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## broj15 (May 20, 2019)

Well, no pictures, but I did meet up with a local builder for the body yesterday, Erik at ESB guitars. Very chill dude. Super nice. Builds small quantities and one offs in his basement. He's been building guitars for himself and his brother since he was in his late teens/early 20's, however he didn't start doing it professionally until 2011 after he came back from a 5 week workshop with.... NEAL MOSER. Here's a link to his site

https://esbguitars.com/

Overall meeting with him yesterday was great. Invited me into his home, let me meet his cats, and let me play a few completed builds he had on hand. Almost everything he had in His house we're guitars he'd specifically built for himself, so they weren't To my specs, but the quality of the builds we're evident. Fretwork & fit & finish were all on point. In addition to that he took me on a tour of his shop and basically walked me through the whole process how he builds a guitar. Really made me feel very comfortable and super welcome and showed 100% transparency, which is a breath of fresh air after all the small custom shops that have burned people these past few years. 

Also, his day job is building cabs, first for St Louis music back in the day, and now for a small boutique builder located just outside of the city, so he definitely knows his way around a wood shop, which is very reassuring. 

Unfortunately he won't start cutting wood until the neck arrives (wouldn't make sense to do otherwise), but we did decide on some specs and aesthetic choices.

SG body shape, mostly made of mahogany but with a thick ash cap. Gonna do a transparent black stain so the grain from the ash can show through and give the whole guitar a nice worn out look (should pair nicely with the flat finish on the alu neck). I showed him a pic of Alex Wade's old custom ESP 7 string tele for reference. 

For a pickguard he does a 2 layer black/aluminum sheet metal as part of his signature look and we both felt that would be a nice way to tie the neck and body together aestheticly.

Also gonna try and work in his custom EYE inlay (can be viewed on the guitars on his site) somewhere on the body, but we haven't chosen a location yet. 

All in all I spent almost 3 hours with Erik talking about the build, gear, and just getting to know each other. If anything I'm just more impatient about getting this guitar in my hands finally.


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## broj15 (Aug 5, 2019)

#85 (that's me!) Is finished and on its way out the door! I'm expecting an email with tracking info within the next day or too. And just in time for my birthday, which is Thursday


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## broj15 (Aug 10, 2019)

Well unfortunate news. Apparently his order numbers for sqaure space are slightly off from his actual serial numbers, so while I am order #85, my neck is actually #91, so he said it will be another 2-3 weeks, but that's no big deal. I'll keep updating this thread as more info becomes available.


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## budda (Aug 10, 2019)

Glad you found a body supplier!


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## broj15 (Sep 13, 2019)

Pics first and words later:















































Well, after 2 days of obsessively checking my tracking info it's it's finally arrived.
Overall the turnaround time was a little under 5 months. My order was placed on April 27th and or came in today on September 12th. A little over the original 4 month eta, but I'm not complaining.
To say this is a quality neck is an understatement. When you hold it in your hands (and it is quite heavy despite how thin it is) it doesn't really feel like you're holding part of an instrument. It feels more like a tool or a precision part of a high end performance car. The finish is perfectly smooth. A bit shinier & more reflective than I had expected (aka it does tend to show finger prints a bit more than I'd like it to). The "brushed aluminum" finish is supposed to have a feel closer to a satin or oil finish, and while it does seem to have a little more friction I definitely wouldn't call it "sticky" feeling by any means.
The fret work is absolutely impeccable. Not a single sharp fret end, and all appear to be perfectly level when I checked them with a straight edge. I'm guessing since Alex is only making necks right now (and with mine being #91) he's had PLENTY of practice getting his fret game on point and it definitely shows.
The strangest thing about the neck is probably the shape. The fretboard has a 12" radius, which is normal enough for me, bit the new k profile itself is unlike any I've ever played. Literally the definition of thin and FLAT. The back of the neck is completely flat with no radius for probably 80% of it's surface area, the edges are rounded off nicely. I think the strangest part is that the neck is the same thickness the whole way down, as opposed to getting slightly thicker the closer you get to the 22nd fret. I tried my best toc this in the pics, bit given the reflective surface, and my apartments less than ideal lighting I don't think I got it. Just imagine it as a .7" thick bar of aluminum and then take a 1/4" round over bit to the edges.

Now, my next step is to get the body made. I'm supposed to meet up with Erik at ESB customs this saturday afternoon so he can get a feel for the neck and we can workout the details for the body. We've got a good idea of what we wanna do (sg with a hardtail bridge, HH with 2 volume and a 3 way toggle) but we'll be picking out what particular pieces of wood I want him to use and going over some other details.
That being said, I'm still undecided as to whatk of pickups I want to put in this thing. I really like the pickups in my t60, but finding another set without stealing them from another t60 is proving to be difficult, so it looks like I need to find an aftermarket pup with a similar sound. If anyone has any ideas or suggestions it would be much appreciated. Either way, I'll keep this thread updated with any progress that's made.


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## secretpizza (Sep 17, 2019)

Nice man. I’ve got a Dunable Cyclops with RGI neck arriving tomorrow and am very excited to try out the aluminum neck.


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## vilk (Sep 17, 2019)

They have a Dunable Cyclops with a Robot Graves neck at Bricktop Recording where my band was just recording this summer, I played with it a fair bit though we didn't use it on the EP.

Fretwork is so super good. It's almost like it's Plek'd.

...but I dunno if I could get along with the shape of that neck. or the weight of it.

But it feels so good to play a chord totally unplugged and it just sustains forever like you've got a compression pedal dimed.


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## secretpizza (Sep 18, 2019)

That's the exact one I bought. It popped up on the Dunable KVLT facebook page last week and I couldn't resist. Years ago, when wait times were shorter, I very nearly pulled the trigger on an EGC SG-style guitar, but ultimately (correctly) decided that my grad-school lifestyle couldn't support the expense. They eventually discontinued the SG, prices went up, and wait times went up too, so I abandoned the dream. Then this one popped up for a great price and I couldn't resist.

It's a total gamble because I've never laid hands on the neck, and I may not get along with the shape at all, but I had to at least give it a whirl.


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## Lemonbaby (Sep 18, 2019)

What's the weight of the neck?


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## broj15 (Sep 18, 2019)

Lemonbaby said:


> What's the weight of the neck?


A solid 4.5 pounds when I weighed it on a luggage scale.


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## secretpizza (Sep 19, 2019)

Got my Dunable with RGI neck yesterday; re-strung it for Drop C this morning, and I have to say I'm really enjoying the aluminum neck. Mine is polished rather than flat, so it definitely shows fingerprints, and it's certainly odd that the guitar starts out pretty cold in the morning, but the neck feels great. String spacing is nice, frets (as mentioned above) are absolutely perfect, and the sustain that everyone raves about with aluminum necks is definitely real.

It's also accurate that the backs of the necks are incredibly flat, but I'm not bothered by it - it's very similar to how it feels playing a Strandberg, if you play with "correct" thumb placement. Not sure that this will be a keeper for me because I would like a flatter fretboard radius, but it's a pretty awesome experience. Can't wait to see OP's build when it's complete.


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## Bearitone (Sep 19, 2019)

There are guitar straps that distribute the weight of the guitar across both your shoulders. I forgot what they’re called but, if weight is an issue i bet something like that would help a lot


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## secretpizza (Sep 19, 2019)

I actually didn't find the weight to be too bad. I guess it would depend on what you're used to, but it's not too bad if you're comparing it a LP-style guitar.


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## spudmunkey (Sep 19, 2019)

Bearitone said:


> There are guitar straps that distribute the weight of the guitar across both your shoulders. I forgot what they’re called but, if weight is an issue i bet something like that would help a lot



Even just getting a wider strap can make all the difference. many moons ago I had one that must have been 4" wide. It looked kind of dopey because it was black, but had huge oversized white lettering on it, but it was more comfortable than any of my padded straps i've had since.


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## broj15 (Sep 19, 2019)

secretpizza said:


> Got my Dunable with RGI neck yesterday; re-strung it for Drop C this morning, and I have to say I'm really enjoying the aluminum neck. Mine is polished rather than flat, so it definitely shows fingerprints, and it's certainly odd that the guitar starts out pretty cold in the morning, but the neck feels great. String spacing is nice, frets (as mentioned above) are absolutely perfect, and the sustain that everyone raves about with aluminum necks is definitely real.
> 
> It's also accurate that the backs of the necks are incredibly flat, but I'm not bothered by it - it's very similar to how it feels playing a Strandberg, if you play with "correct" thumb placement. Not sure that this will be a keeper for me because I would like a flatter fretboard radius, but it's a pretty awesome experience. Can't wait to see OP's build when it's complete.




Really glad to hear that you're enjoying it. I feel like the weight won't be much of an issue for me as here lately I've been playing my t60 (and loving it). The main issue me and Erik (the person building the body) were worried about was neck dive, especially since I'm going with an SG shape and they're prone to being neck heavy already. In order to avoid that we made a few tweaks - gonna be 1.75" thick instead of the usual 1 5/8" that they normally are, and then make the body ever so slightly bigger. Basically since the scale of this neck is 25.5" and a normal SG is 24.75" we thought why not just scale everything up to reflect the longer scale length of the guitar.


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## broj15 (Oct 1, 2019)

Progress being made:










So the Ash top has been resawn and planed to the proper thickness, and he's modifying his existing SG template to be a little bigger like I already mentioned (said he just added 3/16" around the perimeter, except inside the cutaways to not restrict upper fret access).

So I went to Erik's house Saturday afternoon to drop off the neck and hand over money for the deposit. Speaking of, overall cost on the body is on par or just slightly under what I would be paying if I decided to go with Warmoth, plus he's doing some things that Warmoth simply wouldn't do, such as a custom 2ply black over aluminum pickguard, control layout, "bookmatched" Ash top, and custom finish, so that's pretty sick. He said he could get Honduran or African mahogany and asked which I prefer, so I told him I was fine with either, but if possible I'd like him to find a piece wide enough so he wouldn't have to glue multiple pieces together. He messaged me last night saying he was able tof a piece wide enough which is great, and that he'd be getting it planed to the proper thickness sometime this week, and he expects to have everything glued up and have the body shape cut down by this weekend. I mentioned I was playing a show on November 16th and that ideally I'd have the guitar ready to play for the show and he said he doesn't see a reason why that wouldn't be doable. That's just over a month and a half away and I'm interested to see if he can deliver. So far his communication and motivation has been great and he seems just as excited to finish the project as I am to get my guitar.

So just a small update for now, but things should start coming together more in the next couple weeks. He said he likes to get his customers in his shop working on thier own builds as well, even if it's just using them to bounce ideas off of or to just have a second set of eyes on the project in case he overlooks something. I personally think that's a great idea, especially considering the horror stories we've all seen with small luthiers over the past few years (makes me trust someone alot more when they invite into thier home & workspace). Honestly I'm already making plans for a second build from him: 5 string ironbird/warrior inspired bass maybe B^)....


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## broj15 (Oct 18, 2019)

More pics & progress:

A very stout piece of mahogany




The Ash cap resawn and getting glued up


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## broj15 (Oct 20, 2019)

Well, I had known I'd have a much more meaningful and interesting update tonight I probably woulda skipped the last one. This think is actually starting to look like a real guitar now!:































Welp, as you can see the body is partially cut, and the cap and mahogany are glued together. Erik has to get some new sanding sleeves for his spindle sander tomorrow so he can finish shaping the body, and he's planning on routing the neck pocket sometime this week. He's got the bridge and electronics ordered and should be here middle of the week, and I'll go over to his place and we can get the control layout squared away (super important factor for me since I find myself always bumping my controls on every other guitar I own). I am unbelievably stoked about how this is coming together and can't wait until it's finally finished.


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## broj15 (Oct 23, 2019)




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## spudmunkey (Oct 23, 2019)

Is there such a thing as brushed chrome (not nickel...nickle's too warm/gold-toned) bridge?


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## MaxOfMetal (Oct 24, 2019)

spudmunkey said:


> Is there such a thing as brushed chrome (not nickel...nickle's too warm/gold-toned) bridge?



Schaller offers "Satin Chrome" on their wares.






The "Ruthenium" looks cool too, it's a darker, but not yellow, chrome:


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## Lemonbaby (Oct 24, 2019)

I highly recommend to stay away from the Schaller 3D. Slapped it on two early builds and it's actually the worst hard tail bridge I've used so far...


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## xwmucradiox (Oct 24, 2019)

Any bridge with roller saddles is a terrible idea. Those bridges also don't handle heavy string gauges well. Last time I had a guitar with one the biggest string it would fit was a .052.


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## broj15 (Oct 24, 2019)

Yeah we just ended up going with the kluson equivalent of the fender MIA hardtail. Erik gets dealer prices through WD music and that was a pretty cheap option. I got to handle the bridge tonight and the baseplate is actually thicker than a gotoh and it seems pretty heavy for its size. We also weighed the guitar and neck (clamped together) with an old luggage scale and before routing for electronics or carving the bevels the whole thing weighs around 13 pounds, which honestly isn't that bad imo. And surprisingly it's not really neck heavy as it sits right now, but of courses that's subject to change after all the carving and routing. Should still be okay once we figure out the strap button placement though.


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## jtm45 (Nov 2, 2019)

Slightly OT but still relevant............slightly!
I've got a Tele with a hollow aluminium body and a hard flame maple neck/ ebony fretboard and it sounds incredible.
I bought the body from a guy called Peter Kellet in the US who made a number of aluminium Tele and Strat bodies for the Fender Custom Shop. It's very well made and came with a matching aluminium pickguard and control plate.
I custom ordered a neck to my specs from USACG which is just beautifully made and plays like a dream. I've got one of the LSR roller nuts on it and a set of Schaller locking tuners.
It's got one of the very early BKP Warpig open-coil pickups in the bridge position and although there's a hole for a single-coil at the neck position i've never gotten around to fitting one. I've got an SD here somewhere that i keep thinking about fitting but it has yet to get done. The Warpig sounds so great i've just always stuck with that.

Your guitar looks great so far. I'm sure it'll sounds fantastic too!


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## broj15 (Feb 24, 2020)

Got some real progress over the past few weeks. Not much longer now....


























Decided to take the heel down just a bit so it wasn't quite so chunky. We were gonna taper it down on both axes, but decided against it as things might get funky with the neck pocket, and since I'm not much of a lead player it's not a huge deal for me anyway. I'm told that all it needs now is final sanding and then the finish.


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## Kyle-Vick (Mar 3, 2020)

Excuse my ignorance, as I know nothing about aluminum necks on guitars, but is there any kind of neck relief adjustment, or does it just not need any?


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## broj15 (Mar 3, 2020)

Kyle-Vick said:


> Excuse my ignorance, as I know nothing about aluminum necks on guitars, but is there any kind of neck relief adjustment, or does it just not need any?



Apparently EGC machines thier necks with .005" of neck relief, and Travis bean used to actually bend the relief into thier necks after they were machined. 

However the neck I'm using doesn't have any. Here's a quote from Alex Paul (the brain behind RGI) on why he does it differently:



> Ok, so here is the issue I have with relief discussions. All luthiers I've watched use straight beams for fret leveling. There is no relief in those beams, you won't see anyone mentioning anything about that (as far as I can find on it). Even crimson uses one 3 foot straight beam for fret leveling.
> 
> So why put a 5 thousandths relief over the length of the neck when you'll eliminate it during fret leveling?
> 
> ...


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## MaxOfMetal (Mar 4, 2020)

Aluminum will bend a little with string tension, and that tiny amount of relief is likely enough for most players to get reasonable action.

As for fretwork during construction, you use a straight sanding beam on the frets to get them level with zero relief. That way, when relief is applied you get a nice ellipse that matches the shape in which the strings vibrate. You then add a little bit of drop off around the 15th/17th fret an above as there is usually a more pronounced curve of the vibrating string at that point. 

Using a neck jig (which I do) is for something else, mainly correction of fret issues on an already built guitar, or at least one that's already been fretted.


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## broj15 (Mar 5, 2020)

That makes perfect sense. Everything I've ready has said that aluminum necks tend to play better with extra tension from heavier strings, and most people with fret buzz issues typically have no problems once they move up a size or 2. Actually my main reasons for going for an alu neck build was the lack of truss rod (one less thing to mess with when doing a set up, and one less thing that can go wrong/wear out) and that I love using heavy guage strings with lots of tension. I plan on running a .013-.065 set for drop A, but depending on how that feels I might move up to a .014-.072.


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## budda (Mar 5, 2020)

That's gonna be cool.


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## spudmunkey (Mar 5, 2020)

With the stainless frets embedded into the aluminum, is there any risk of galvanic corrosion?


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## broj15 (Mar 5, 2020)

I think I remember someone inquiring about this, but I can't find that particular thread anywhere. From what I remember though, the consensus is that most people who own these won't be around anymore by the time galvanic corrosion actually becomes a problem.

Edit: but your comment made me google galvanic corrosion so I learned something new today lol.


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## MaxOfMetal (Mar 5, 2020)

spudmunkey said:


> With the stainless frets embedded into the aluminum, is there any risk of galvanic corrosion?



It'll depend on the specific alloys used, as well as the environment. If the frets are nice and tight, and the instrument isn't subjected to high humidity on a permanent basis, it shouldn't be much of a problem.


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## Bearitone (Apr 18, 2020)

@broj15 Any update on this build?


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## broj15 (Apr 18, 2020)

Last I heard it just needed final sanding, finish and assembly, and that was only a couple weeks ago. Erik's just taking it slow with the finish and doing alot of tests and experiments on scrap wood to make sure he nails it. He's never done a finish like what we're talking about before, so he wants to do some trial runs before he goes for the real thing.


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## Bearitone (Apr 18, 2020)

broj15 said:


> Last I heard it just needed final sanding, finish and assembly, and that was only a couple weeks ago. Erik's just taking it slow with the finish and doing alot of tests and experiments on scrap wood to make sure he nails it. He's never done a finish like what we're talking about before, so he wants to do some trial runs before he goes for the real thing.


Right on! Stoked to see the final product.


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