Modeling a complex shape/transition on a guitar neck

[Anonymous]

Hi!

I'm in the process of creating a 3D model of a Stratocaster Telecaster guitar neck which will be used for CNC routing later on. I've managed to get all the 2D dimensions correct and I've extruded the body to the proper thickness.

The next step is to start shaping the back of the neck. I've created a classic C-profile on the back, and now I'm trying to work on this portion of the neck right here:

I'm currently stuck here trying to figure out what to do:

It is not immediately obvious to me how I´m going to acheive this in the 'Model' environment. I've looked into using the 'Patch' environment but I've found that although it provides great freedom to manipulate objects it is difficult to acheive the sketch-based precision I get in the Model envionment. I also noticed that the workflow seems to be pretty different in the Patch vs Model env. A lot of my struggles with this is obviously due to my inexperience with working in Patch, but I'm also frustrated with the fact that bodies from Model env can not be easily imported to the Patch env. 

I'd appreciate any ideas/input on how you would approximately go about shaping that area of the neck while also acheiving good precision and not simply relying on visual approximations. I don't expect a complete solution or walkthrough, just a helpful nudge in the right direction 🙂

Thanks!

[TrippyLighting]

Can you share your model ? (export ad .f3d and attach to your next post).

There are a great number of threads already that discuss exactly this topic.

[TrippyLighting]

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@Anonymous wrote:

but I've found that although it provides great freedom to manipulate objects it is difficult to achieve the sketch-based precision I get in the Model environment.

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It works exactly the same way. You can extrude, revolve, loft etc. in the patch environment.

For this sort of work you need to move away from solid modeling.

When I say away I don't necessarily mean work with surfaces only. You can box you main shapes in using the Model workspace. In the patch workspace you can delete individual faces from your solid more and then have a surface model.

Then you can create a patch and stitch it back together into a solid body.

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[jeff_strater]

because this is an area I've spent a ton of time trying to get right (not completely successfully, either), I thought I'd offer a sampling of some of the threads where this has been discussed in the past.  Who knew that this tiny area of wood could be so hard to get right in a CAD tool?

• guitar-neck-transition-some-advice-please
• guitar-neck-amp-heel-contour-help
• guitar-neck-help
• patch-environment-design-help-guitar-neck
• using-extrude-in-sculpt-mode-and-trim-in-patch-mode-guitar-neck
• electric-guitar-neck-tutorial
• guitar-neck-transitions-advice-2

There is also the Fusion 360 Luthiers facebook group, if you are interested:  Fusion360Luthiers

[cekuhnen]

@Anonymous @jeff_strater 

Is this what you are looking for?

[cekuhnen]

@Anonymous @jeff_strater 

and here is a more simplified version with the same height

[BradAndersonJr]

Hey!

A few weeks back I recorded a few videos that I hope can be some help to you.  The 3rd video covers my approach to an asymmetrical headstock transition commonly found in Fender style necks.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMOaaqkxV1g

Thanks!

[Anonymous]

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@TrippyLighting wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

but I've found that although it provides great freedom to manipulate objects it is difficult to achieve the sketch-based precision I get in the Model environment.

---

It works exactly the same way. You can extrude, revolve, loft etc. in the patch environment.

For this sort of work you need to move away from solid modeling.

When I say away I don't necessarily mean work with surfaces only. You can box you main shapes in using the Model workspace. In the patch workspace you can delete individual faces from your solid more and then have a surface model.

Then you can create a patch and stitch it back together into a solid body.

---

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Thanks for your reply!

You are most definitely right, it's 99% a matter of me having to familiarize myself with Patch. I'm in a bit of a hurry, but I'll try to post the file here tomorrow. 

[Anonymous]

What you just posted is a gold mine. It's interesting to see that many others have struggled with the exact same thing.

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@jeff_strater wrote:

because this is an area I've spent a ton of time trying to get right (not completely successfully, either), I thought I'd offer a sampling of some of the threads where this has been discussed in the past.  Who knew that this tiny area of wood could be so hard to get right in a CAD tool?

• guitar-neck-transition-some-advice-please
• guitar-neck-amp-heel-contour-help
• guitar-neck-help
• patch-environment-design-help-guitar-neck
• using-extrude-in-sculpt-mode-and-trim-in-patch-mode-guitar-neck
• electric-guitar-neck-tutorial
• guitar-neck-transitions-advice-2

There is also the Fusion 360 Luthiers facebook group, if you are interested:  Fusion360Luthiers

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[Anonymous]

Yes something like that. Did you do that in the Patch or Model environment?

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@cekuhnen wrote:

@Anonymous @jeff_strater 

Is this what you are looking for?

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[Anonymous]

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@BradAndersonJr wrote:

Hey!

A few weeks back I recorded a few videos that I hope can be some help to you.  The 3rd video covers my approach to an asymmetrical headstock transition commonly found in Fender style necks.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMOaaqkxV1g

Thanks!

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Awesome, I'll check it out! You guys have been surprisingly helpful with this. Much appreciated!

[Anonymous]

Brad. Thank you much for the amazing tool. I see that there is an addition, from the time you made this video, to the "General" setup tab which adds "Twelfth Fret Height" and "First Fret Height." Your defaults are .8" and .85". Where are you measuring from to get these defaults? My understanding is that these measurements are from the bottom of the string to the fret board, in industry measures, but I want to make certain I am interpreting your new inputs correctly.

[Anonymous]

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