Rift Sawn - Fender CS?

IsambardKentucky

Fender CS is putting out quite a few guitars with rift sawn necks these days (may have been happening for a long while and I've only noticed in the last couple of years). Curious if anyone can shed some further light on Fenders rift sawn necks, as they don't provide any further information on the Fender site. They only discuss quarter sawn and flat sawn.

I'm interested to know if this is referring to how the raw lumber is actually cut - rift sawn - cut along the logs radials - lots of waste - hence expensive and used on costly models. Or if they're in fact referring to rift grain (grain on a slant, between 45/90 degrees)... I've seen this discussed by John Suhr amongst others as being two separate things.

Woodworking friends tell me it's usually used for things such as table legs if they want a straight grain showing on each face of the wood.

Do people seek out rift necked guitars? Anything to be aware of with 'rift sawn' necks? I've seen plenty of old guitars with rift grain on the butt of the necks that have gone through life without any issues.

Any insights appreciated.

Whitecat

Pretty sure it’s how the logs are cut. Riftsawn seems to be trendy at the moment, but you can indeed spec quarter or flat sawn if you prefer. Not sure if there are any longevity issues but I haven’t heard about anything personally so no comment from me.

WezV

Depends if you are talking as a sawyer or builder  .... process or product 

The rift sawing process  is good, but wasteful as a sawyer.   It gives planks you would call quartersawn.  Quartrsawing wood gives planks you would call rift sawn


A plank described as rift sawn is not as desirable...  it comes from slab or quartersawing wood, which produces a mix of rift, flat and quartered planks

Confused yet... have a diagram

WezV

Now you can get away with rift sawn grain in a maple neck, because maple is pretty well solid.   It is more likely to twist, but that doesn't mean it will

IsambardKentucky

Great stuff! That illustration is really helpful. I imagine a rift sawn neck on a high end guitar wouldn't be likely to twist - as seems crackers to be using necks that would? (or maybe I'm naive!).

The reason I ask is I tried out a guitar that just played great and felt right - so not looking to spec something out as I feel what looks good in theory on paper doesn't always translate to the real world - but I've never previously played/owned a guitar with a neck cut this way. I don't have a preference either way but wanted to find out more while I think it over.

Much appreciated.

WezV

Not sure,  I don't think it makes much sense to talk about the way it was sawn, just the way the grain is aligned in the actual neck.   

I know most CS stuff i have worked on has been properly flatsawn.     I know they do quartersawn too, but i don't see it as often.     

I wouldn't expect rift sawn grain at that price point... but it doesn't mean the neck will definitely twist.  Also, having it flat or quartersawn doesn't mean it won't.   Wood is wood, sometimes it just does what it wants

IsambardKentucky

Not sure,  I don't think it makes much sense to talk about the way it was sawn, just the way the grain is aligned in the actual neck.   

I know most CS stuff i have worked on has been properly flatsawn.     I know they do quartersawn too, but i don't see it as often.     

I wouldn't expect rift sawn grain at that price point... but it doesn't mean the neck will definitely twist.  Also, having it flat or quartersawn doesn't mean it won't.   Wood is wood, sometimes it just does what it wants

True - especially if flat sawn or quarter sawn make more sense in the function of the wood as a guitar neck. I wonder if buyers would specifically choose rift sawn over one of the others. I can't think of players mentioning this as a grain orientation they seek out. The cynic in me wonders if in reality, it's just the neck blanks that don't always get picked. Either way, the guitar sure played nice 

fretfinder

A fair few Fender CS Floor Travellers that I’ve seen say the guitar neck is 5/4 sawn. What does that mean?

WezV said:

Whitecat

fretfinder said:

A fair few Fender CS Floor Travellers that I’ve seen say the guitar neck is 5/4 sawn. What does that mean?

That’s an odd one. Usually in the wood world that’s a size measurement (in quarter inches - so 5/4 is rough sawn at 1.25”) - but tells you nothing of how it was cut. 

WezV

Yeah, its 5 quarters, which is a standard way of measuring lumber in the US

Not totally sure what it means in the Fender camp.. but often its rough sawn dimension, so a 5/4 plank will  easily give 1" once planed, usually just a little more.   1" planed planks are the starting point for a normal one piece neck, so maybe its stock for those.

fretfinder

Whitecat said:

fretfinder said:

A fair few Fender CS Floor Travellers that I’ve seen say the guitar neck is 5/4 sawn. What does that mean?

That’s an odd one. Usually in the wood world that’s a size measurement (in quarter inches - so 5/4 is rough sawn at 1.25”) - but tells you nothing of how it was cut. 

WezV said:

Yeah, its 5 quarters, which is a standard way of measuring lumber in the US

Not totally sure what it means in the Fender camp.. but often its rough sawn dimension, so a 5/4 plank will  easily give 1" once planed, usually just a little more.   1" planed planks are the starting point for a normal one piece neck, so maybe its stock for those.

Cheers guys. I’ve just looked at another floor traveller and that says ‘maple 5/4 qtr sawn’ so there’s the answer I guess. Some of them I’m sure just say 5/4.

ICBM

Purely anecdotal of course, but all the best-sounding Fender-type guitars I've played (where I've looked, at least) have had flatsawn necks.

GoldenEraGuitars

ICBM said:

Purely anecdotal of course, but all the best-sounding Fender-type guitars I've played (where I've looked, at least) have had flatsawn necks.

But were they specifically matched to their respective bodies in the magical mystery resonance machine?

TINMAN82

ICBM said:

Purely anecdotal of course, but all the best-sounding Fender-type guitars I've played (where I've looked, at least) have had flatsawn necks.

With loosened screws.

Alex2678

No please no not again