Skunk stripe or Not? - why the "stripe"?

[SilverSurferII]

I notice that some guitar necks have the skunk stripe in the back of the neck, and then some do not. Is there any advantage to installing the truss rod from the back side of the neck vs from the top of neck blank?? I never understood why one would route the neck so that the filler strip would be filled on the bottom of the neck instead of on top, especially if the adjustable hex nut is accessed through the headstock, hence the "skunk stripe". It would just make more sense to me to just route the truss rod channel on the top of the neck blank.

Anyone know the logic behind the stripe?

[Vaibanez]

The "stripe" is a piece of Bubinga. It is sandwiched between 2 maple boards comprising the neck blank. Then the scarf joint is made and the headstock blank glued into place. The truss rod cavity is then routed from the top. Then the fret board glued into place and the neck profile shaped.

The bubinga is used to eliminate twisting. Wood, no matter how long it's been since milling, tends to think it's still part of a tree and will move all over the place depending on temperature and humidity. The bubinga is denser than the maple and helps to steady it.

J>

[darren wilson]

The stripe on the newer Ibanez necks (as Jimm described with the tilted headstock) is different from the stripe on a neck like an older Strat or a JS model.

Strat-style necks have a channel routed in the back where the truss rod is installed and is then filled with walnut or some other wood. Slight differences.

I believe this originated with some early Fender neck designs where there wasn't a separate piece of maple used for the fretboard. It was necessary to install the truss rod from the back. Once they started making necks this way, i suppose it was easier just to make them all this way, even if they had separate fretboards.

[Christopher Chen]

But one thing that I don't like about the newer Ibanez guitars and the skunk stripe, is the fact that it doesn't go all the way to the end of the headstock. And I never understood why they had to make the neck a seperate entity from the headstock, wouldn't this promote even more instability...I mean the string tension starts from the headstock afterall.

[SilverSurferII]

Thanks for the info, but will installing a bubinga filler strip or skunk stripe on top of a maple neck have the same effect as it would when filled on the bottom of the neck??
overall I just find routing the truss channel on top a lot easier when you are installing a truss with the adjust hex at the peghead. And if the stripe is on the bottom....then routing for a truss rod with the adjust hex at the butt of the neck would be easier.....but what about something like a Js neck with a stripe where the adjust hex is at the peghead, but the routed channel doesnt extend all the way to the peghead?? The stripe stops at the 2nd fret. I imagine you would have to drill a hole from the peghead to the 2nd fret to complete the channel so that the truss adjust can fit through and be accessible. Just seems like more work though.

[jemsite]

I never understood why they had to make the neck a seperate entity from the headstock, wouldn't this promote even more instability...I mean the string tension starts from the headstock afterall.

As Jimm explained the multiple pieces of wood is much stronger and less prone to warp than one solid piece. The bubinga strip helps more, especially given the thin Wizard-type necks from Ibanez... glen

[Vaibanez]

Silver.....your missing the point. Funder fills from the bottom by routing a channel and the truss rod adjustment is at the heel. Ibanez glues a piece of bubbinga between two pieces of maple, then completes the neck contruction. Before the fret board goes on they route a channel from the top for the truss rod. The reason the stripe doesn't continue through the headstock is because the headstock is a seperate piece glued onto the neck slab.

Hope this helps...

J>

(Edited by Jimm VeuCasovic at 8:23 pm on Dec. 21, 2000)

[jemsite]

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