The Most Misunderstood Guitar Neck Feature & Why Gibson Refuses To Use Them

[@JustinThunderLiger]

i wont lie, i like the volute, simply because i like the way it feels.

[@jimbucket2996]

That diamond volute on the back originated from a birds mouth joint. Kind of a double scarf joint. It looks really cool if you use two different woods. The tone is effing amazing when you do that. Just Googled it. Called a birds beak.

[@alexaguado4854]

You nailed it at the end. Gibson sells that 1950s magic, and guitars back then didn't have them.

[@wlb-85]

I imagine the volute will become more popular when some guitar players get famous playing vintage 80's Gibsons. People gravitate toward the gear of their heroes.

[@Delmarevans]

Best way would not cut that big ass truss pocket on the headstock !

[@HarryK-HK]

I was thinking the same thing. A spoke style wheel at the other end would make more sense.

[@SolaChristus]

@@HarryK-HKthat’s one option but it has aesthetic compromises. But my vote is using a truss rod with an Allen Key adjustment at the nut…the amount of wood that needs to be removed is Much less compared to a Standard hex nut

[@wesdunn4416]

I know someone who has a 1992 Les Paul Standard with a neck broken at the headstock. I remember that night in horror.

[@peachmelba1000]

When you think about it, a volute on a tilt back headstock only has to be as pronounced as the headstock to neck transition on a neck with a flat, Fender style headstock. It also helps if the headstock angle is as shallow as it can be. A big chunky flowing volute certainly looks cool or interesting, but it's just extra work.

[@48mastadon]

I have a 79 Les Paul Custom and I love the way the volute looks and feels. It just seems right. They really should bring them back.

[@Satchmoeddie]

The C.F. Martin dart volute was originally a weird triangular mortise & tennon joint that was kind of sketchy. The raised diamond alligned the tennon and helped to strengthen the joint. I have worked on ONE in 44 years, so not very many survived, and I am 100% fine if I never work on another one.

[@willchug]

You can get a bit more wood and then possibly strength at the nut / headstock by putting the truss rod at the heel of the neck for adjustment. 😉

[@Dalegribble03]

Don't think that works on a set neck

[@814Taylor]

My Gibson Hummingbird currently has a broken headstock. Not completely broken off and I saw a used Gibson Hummingbird on Reverb this weekend with the same break. My Martin GPCPA4R headstock doesn't have a Volute but I feel it would take more to break a Martin headstock over a Gibson

[@thomasrogers4534]

Is is not adding mass under the truss rod rout out? As with my 1985 Ibanez Super Edition Artist? In one of my songs I play a Fm7 all on the 1st fret and my thumb tucks nicely under the volute. The tip of the volute is just behind the nut, so the transition of neck to headstock is just behind the nut.

[@PierceThirlen2]

I had a 1971 ES-335 and I have 1972 ES-335 with a volute and I actually like them. The volute lets me feel where the end of the neck is without looking and it doesn't get in the way. My 1966 Melody Maker feels weird without the volute. The only person I know that had a broken Gibson had an SG Junior that someone SAT ON in the car! That was back in the day when he was so broke he couldn't afford a guitar case.

[@vinniesworld459]

I like the way you do yours - its the style I'm most used to seeing and looks very comfortable to the eye! Can't wait to finally get my hands on a challenger!!!

[@huffmancocustomguitars4465]

What mic do you have clipped on ?

[@brian770]

have you seen the gibson AXIS volute that makes sense, as it runs up the back of the headstock.

[@philliplee1193]

Your end-of-sanding drum volute , next to the photo you provided of the Gibsun vivisection , and your admiration for the diamond shaped volute , are just you’re saying “easier” imo . From the cross - section photo it’s obvious that a mid strengthening lengthy diamond into the headstock simply provides wood where there was none around the truss rod cavity and continues the line of the neck somewhat deeply into the middle underside of the 15 to 25 degree headstock tilt = exactly what is necessary and , out of the way of the playing hand as well . That rib of a diamond or of an other shape could go even further for all I care it’s underneath the head stock and like you say , looks good looks like someone cared ! Re : mahogany there’s mahogany and then there’s mahogany - some examples have ample ripply cross grain inter structure ; others are splits waiting to happen and for Gibsun to pretend not to know this is uh , better left unsaid .

[@frankiechan9651]

I think the guts of it is what you said at the end - Gibson don't do volutes because their golden era guitars did not. I do believe it adds some extra strength, but certainly doesn't make them indestructible. I do tend to believe the 70's laminated maple necks are much stronger. Agree 100% on the pitch angle (but not classic Gibson, so they won't do it) - but if they went laminated mahogany on the neck it could go a long way to reducing headstock breakages. Not sold on scarf joints though - might help, might not as I've seen failure at the joints too. Having said all that - I do like volutes as an aesthetic choice.

[@picksalot1]

I don't like volutes, and have removed them from two non-Gibson guitars, as they got in the way of playing. If the neck to headstock needs strengthening, use carbon rods, change the headstock angle,, put the truss rod access towards the other end of the neck, etc. But, don't make the guitar harder to play by adding a volute.

[@Relayer6a]

Gibson used them in the 70's. Their customers don't want them.

[@rickfinsta2951]

My main electric is a '79 Les Paul Artist (all the gross Moog electronics have been pulled out and I've got Rio Grandes in there instead) which has basically a Super 400 5-ply neck with a nice volute. Good luck breaking that thing! I also have the only Robin Avalon that Dave Wintz ever built with a multi-ply maple/walnut neck. RIP Dave. I just don't like mahogany necks on electric guitars. Only on my Martins!

[@henrygvidonas9573]

It makes no difference whatsoever if you put a volute on a Gibson neck, when the headstock and neck are the same single piece of wood, cut at that 1950s angle. As you said, the old-style headstock angle is too big, which leads to extremely short cut-off wood fibres in that area. Just take a look at pictures of broken Les Paul necks. Pay close attention to the break pattern and how short the wood fibres in the broken area are. You could put a two-inch volute there and the breaks would still occur, because it still wouldnt address the problem that way too few longer wood fibres run from the actual neck through into the headstock - if any at all. The tiny number of those is then even more reduced because Gibson puts that big trussrod access channel right into an already structurally weak area. You literally couldn't come up with a worse design for mechanical/structural stability. As you said, 1970s Gibson necks are less prone to breaking because the headstock isn't tilted back at such an extreme angle and more and longer wood fibres are shared by the neck and the headstock. And it's three parts, instead of one, for the whole neck. That's always more stable, mechanically. It's not because they have that little extra hump there, that's way too short to do anything mechanically, to begin with. The wood fibres in most of that volute are just a few millimetres long and don't run through into the headstock _or_ the actual neck. They're practically completely useless, mechanically. You might as well stick chewing gum there, it makes no difference. Volutes that actually add mechanical stability to the neck, like the ones on a lot of older archtop guitars, are much longer and bigger than the ones on 1970s Gibsons. For some reason it tickles me to no end, that those beloved and supposedly "perfect" 1950s Les Pauls were designed by people who apparently were completely clueless about wood structure as it relates to mechanical stability. No actual luthier with a basic understanding of how trees grow would have ever designed them that way.

[@leedoss6905]

Use a neck with the grain of the wood following the bend. Problem solved. They did it on ships for hundreds of years.

[@godtoHrD]

I like a volute for resting my thumb on while I'm chugging away like a caveman lol

[@6Strng]

my personal preference is the neck is more comfortable without one to me it's more for looks then anything. I use to know a guy that worked a Gibson I asked him why they don't use one he said "because they are stupid looking"

[@BigMike1138]

I don't give a hoot for no big volute!

[@PaisleyPatchouli]

-Popeye! ;)

[@mikeriley305]

Balut,,, the egg with legs!

[@bluglass7819]

I built one neck with a volute. It reminded me that I don’t like volutes 😂

[@Rolli6669]

The volute comes from the first luthiers. Because the first luthiers were violin makers and violins have volutes. I've had a Gibson SG that I snapped the headstock off playing while drunk.

[@rebeccaabraham8652]

So - your chosen placement for the valute coincidentally puts maximum material at the point where it's likely to break, if the neck is abused...? Guess it's not all that cosmetic after all...? Personally - I'd always want a valute and especially a zero fret on a custom guitar.

[@stridersmythe8860]

yes, its both an aesthetic and strengthening feature.

[@BigEdWo]

you can step on the neck with your feet and it won't break. i have done that.

[@rebilacx]

I don't like the way volutes look, but if they help strengthen the neck I'm all for it. I have a Schecter guitar and it has a volute too.

[@chrisquinn9104]

All of my 70s Gibson’s with mahogany necks and a volute have headstock repairs, my others do not. Not actually saying the votive makes them weaker, just maybe not stronger, or maybe just an unhappy coincidence

[@shauncollins5029]

Volute is a French word for thick soup.

[@GreenpointRemembers]

I’ve only heard of these volutes, I think only 2 of my guitars have them, doesn’t make a difference to me.

[@solarismoon3046]

Um, you keep muting yourself Matt, buddy! Your mic keeps getting under your chin and muffles the sound. Maybe use your cell phone with a different style boom mic or bluetooth style mic above you? Either way I don't mind volutes. And YES - you are saying it correctly. Ignore all these fools that keep talking trash about how you say things like tenon and such. You do a great job! Thank you for sharing this with us.

[@leftyo9589]

cobb dogs, now with balute!

[@ricswensen4755]

Ive known svrl Gtr players that broke their Gibson headstock & in each and every case it was cos they laid their Gtr on a barstool & Oops_ if my Gtr is not in my hands its in a Gtr stand or its case _ i would Never take that chance _!!

[@ksharpe10]

Oh this video will be up on Sunday the 2nd??

[@brooklynsoundgarage]

“Break Angle” perfectly named

[@PatrickGeneLeBlancHardy]

Thanks For Sharing 🧠🎸🎶🎶✌️

[@TiagoMorbusSa]

What Gibson needs to use is a freaking scarf joint.

[@GeetarRenovations-u5z]

You're not wrong...

[@mcvideo5909]

You might want to consider the second moment of area, which will explain why a small dimensional change via a volute could make a proportionally greater increase in strength.

[@stevenbodo965]

So you think more material doesn't mean more strength?

[@SolaChristus]

Odd and incorrect thinking in my opinion as well. Obviously any amount of extra wood HAS to increase the amount of resistance to breakage. The truth is multiple approaches need to be taken into account to maximize the strength of the sensitive neck/headstock area. 1- less headstock angle. 18 is far too much. I’ve built as low as 8 degrees and it works just fine 2- a volute. 3- possibly a scarf joint if you can’t achieve #4 4- only use a piece of wood where the Grain of the wood TURNS to follow the angle of the headstock. For a factory this presents the problem of large wood rejection and waste, but us custom luthiers can achieve it by hand sorting at the source. 5-multi piece neck laminations. 6- careful selection of wood species. Obviously Not all pieces are equal in terms of strength 7- use Allen key adj truss rod. Less wood removal behind the nut. The more of these options that are implemented, the stronger the neck to headstock area will be. If less are implemented, the risks rise.

[@BigMike1138]

I don't give a hoot for no big volute!

[@PaisleyPatchouli]

-Popeye! ;)