Best guitar neck rest?

Grampa

SteveRobinson said:

I use a gun barrel rest I bought on eBay.

I think it's supposed to be filled with lead shot but I have PA speaker ballast in mine.

Filled mine with kitty litter.

PeteC

Plastic bag filled with a few pounds of builders sand, then wrapped inside a couple of soft fabric carrier bags - work wonders and the sand provides enough resistance to use as a base when hammering frets, with the bag confirming exactly to the neck shape for support. 

Benm39

Grampa said:

SteveRobinson said:

I use a gun barrel rest I bought on eBay.

I think it's supposed to be filled with lead shot but I have PA speaker ballast in mine.

Filled mine with kitty litter.

Hopefully fresh...

mark123

i use a neck warmer thats filled with wheat about £6 from argos / wilkos etc.
I suppose a bag of rice with a thick welly sock over it would work ?

Roland

PeteC said:

Plastic bag filled with a few pounds of builders sand, then wrapped inside a couple of soft fabric carrier bags - …. 

I like that idea. We use them for door stops. I’ll borrow one next time I do a neck.

RichAC

I’ve got a D’addario cleaning kit, and that came with a collapsible tripod-style headstock stand. Seems to do the job OK. 

SteveRobinson

RichAC said:

I’ve got a D’addario cleaning kit, and that came with a collapsible tripod-style headstock stand. Seems to do the job OK. 

Do you not find it a bit precarious? The base isn't very wide on those.

randella

mark123 said:

i use a neck warmer thats filled with wheat about £6 from argos / wilkos etc.
I suppose a bag of rice with a thick welly sock over it would work ?

Funnily enough, I use a bag of rice with a microfibre over it. 

Top tip - use a bag of rice that hasn't been opened. The variety of rice is unimportant (I think last time I used Basmati), but the 'not opened' bit is crucial. 

ICBM

RichAC said:

I’ve got a D’addario cleaning kit, and that came with a collapsible tripod-style headstock stand. Seems to do the job OK. 

I have to say that the word "collapsible" in the context of a neck stand does not inspire confidence .








(But I know what you really mean . Although perhaps I was right the first time, going by SteveRobinson's comment!)

BillDL

One thing that surprises me, and perhaps I am different from other people, is when I see a neck cradle/support that bears all the weight of the guitar neck and a lot of the body weight.  When I'm working on a guitar I like to have the body as flat as possible on the bench and a neck support that's just high enough to stop the neck from being lower or higher than where it would normally sit in line with the body if it was being held vertically (i.e. on a strap).  I frequently see luthiers and technicians with the neck propped up much higher at the nut end whereby the whole guitar is only being supported at the back of the body where it lies on the bench, and the cradle at the end of the neck.  The whole weight is bearing down on the neck joint and potentially putting the neck into a forced forward bow.  I accept that on a Fender style guitar, with a bolt-on neck that is pretty rigid, there probably won't be a lot of appreciable dipping down at the unsupported neck to body joint, but when doing tasks like checking for high frets I can't see that this is an optimum arrangement.  I prefer the body and the body to neck joint to be fully supported on the bench and a cradle that stops upward or downward movement of the otherwise unsupported neck.

Dave_Mc

ICBM said:

RichAC said:

I’ve got a D’addario cleaning kit, and that came with a collapsible tripod-style headstock stand. Seems to do the job OK. 

I have to say that the word "collapsible" in the context of a neck stand does not inspire confidence .








(But I know what you really mean . Although perhaps I was right the first time, going by SteveRobinson's comment!)

I think I've got the same stand (I got it separately) and it worked pretty well... until it didn't! One day it just kind of collapsed on me. To be fair, I'd had it a good while and luckily no damage was done, but I bought the Fender one which comes with a little case and rubber holder for screws etc. as it's not collapsible. Seems to work a fair bit better and feels more secure, but I still often have the thing try its best to fall off the end of the table... 

Sarge

BillDL said:

One thing that surprises me, and perhaps I am different from other people, is when I see a neck cradle/support that bears all the weight of the guitar neck and a lot of the body weight.  When I'm working on a guitar I like to have the body as flat as possible on the bench and a neck support that's just high enough to stop the neck from being lower or higher than where it would normally sit in line with the body if it was being held vertically (i.e. on a strap).  I frequently see luthiers and technicians with the neck propped up much higher at the nut end whereby the whole guitar is only being supported at the back of the body where it lies on the bench, and the cradle at the end of the neck.  The whole weight is bearing down on the neck joint and potentially putting the neck into a forced forward bow.  I accept that on a Fender style guitar, with a bolt-on neck that is pretty rigid, there probably won't be a lot of appreciable dipping down at the unsupported neck to body joint, but when doing tasks like checking for high frets I can't see that this is an optimum arrangement.  I prefer the body and the body to neck joint to be fully supported on the bench and a cradle that stops upward or downward movement of the otherwise unsupported neck.

This! 
I see so many "luthier" videos where there's a refret or fret levelling job being undertaken while the neck is jacked up near the headstock end, I could be wrong but it doesn't inspire confidence in a good job being done. 
I never "rest" my neck, always "support" it.