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Guitar chord forum - chordie → Electric → Neck bending on Strats...
It's awesome, try it.
just play a chord or something and bend the neck back 
and dont worry about breaking anythin, it will be fine
If that works, it's probably not a good sign.
If that works, it's probably not a good sign.
You're right, it isn't. If that happens the neck isn't connected properly. Either the thread's gone on the neck bolts or they haven't been tightened.
It's OK if you get a mini-whammy effect when you bend your neck all rock-star like. The neck is made from wood and wood bends. Too much of this poser stuff will eventually cause some big time problems with the neck-body connection. It does look and sound way cool though..................Save this show-off, heyy watch-me-abuse-my-guitar stuff for your low priced guitars or guitars that are in eminent need of quick repair.......
I can bend my thumb back to my forearm i do it to impress chicks
I can bend my thumb back to my forearm i do it to impress chicks
Hey Russ, does this have a mini-whammy effect on the chicks??
yes roger the ladies i date love mutants
SGinCYQX wrote:If that works, it's probably not a good sign.
You're right, it isn't. If that happens the neck isn't connected properly. Either the thread's gone on the neck bolts or they haven't been tightened.
why would i want to fix it if i can make a really good neck-bending noise?? 
haha
Because it's broken and is probably screwing up your intonation, possibly?
Some of the people on this site never cease to amaze me.
Tibernius is right: strat and tele necks shouldn't bend at all. They are strait necks with a low bridge at even height with respect to the machine head bridge and there should not be any flex. If you don't fix it, you probably have numerous dead spots on the fingerboard and trouble tuning it while experiencing pitch differences from the low end of the neck to the high end, not to mention action issues up high on the neck. You are stressing the neck in different places even while you play normally, causing these issues while you are playing. I advise you to fix the neck and use the tremolo bar.
Les Pauls, SGs, ES series are bow necks, meaning the neck is angled back from the body and the bridge (probably a tune-o-matic, bad-ass or Bigsby) is mounted higher on the body, which creates a crowning effect. You can see the difference if you look down the neck. an LP style looks like a violin while Strats and Teles are strait or flat. The bow necks will have a little flex in them that are not the result of an inherent problem.
Years ago, I used to bend my SG neck for effect, limiting the technique to a few particular songs, for example, Heart's "Barracuda". However, I would normally only decrease tension and bend the notes down and avoid increasing tension to bend the notes up, which felt like I was stressing the neck excessively. Bending the neck became a small performance highlight starting Barracuda. I also made a show of it at the end of the first guitar break in Sweet Home Alabama to bend the harmonic at the end.
As with anything in life, abuse will cause problems and moderation is the key. I think you can effectively apply that advice to women, booze and work.
I have known les paul head stocks to snap off during such abuse!!
Nah, a properly set up Strat or Telly will tolerate reasonable neck bending without breaking, warping, or screwing up intonation. Telly players (me) will often get a cool sounding bend or temelo by bending across belly or hip...just practice until it sounds right...don't need to muscle it or break anything to get the sound...
As tony dr stated you can bend you neck slightly to get a desired sound, it's done all the time. But you can also snap your neck out of the pocket if your high and hard when your playing (to aggressive). As far as snapping of head on les pauls it't because of where the scarf joint is cut when they glue the 13 deg head stock to the neck. I have fixed snapped of heads on epi lps because they leaned it on an amp and it slid off and snapped the head right off.
Bootlegger.
Bootlegger guitars.
jay, you really bend your telly neck? My strat has no flex in it at all.
Next time I'm in guitar Center or Sam Ash, I'm going to pull down a telly and bend the neck until they throw me out.
Yes...I bend my American Telly all the time...just hit a note or chord and then bend just enough to change the pitch...it takes very little actual flex to change the sound....you can also bend the strings (by pushing down on them) above the nut to get a similar effect.
Because it's broken and is probably screwing up your intonation, possibly?
Some of the people on this site never cease to amaze me.
nah, it's not broken, works fine, intonation works a treat.
and dont be amazed, people are aloud to disagree with you. (it really sucks, i know but it's true 
)
SGinCYQX wrote:Because it's broken and is probably screwing up your intonation, possibly?
Some of the people on this site never cease to amaze me.
nah, it's not broken, works fine, intonation works a treat.
and dont be amazed, people are aloud to disagree with you. (it really sucks, i know but it's true
Yup! I tried it, he's right it works, although I personally wouldn't make a habit of it; but I don't think this means there's something wrong with my guitar ,I think that the neck of a guitar has to have a degree of flexibility to allow for truss rod adjustment, so yes it works.
(0)==#paranormal guitar wrote:SGinCYQX wrote:Because it's broken and is probably screwing up your intonation, possibly?
Some of the people on this site never cease to amaze me.
nah, it's not broken, works fine, intonation works a treat.
and dont be amazed, people are aloud to disagree with you. (it really sucks, i know but it's trueYup! I tried it, he's right it works, although I personally wouldn't make a habit of it; but I don't think this means there's something wrong with my guitar ,I think that the neck of a guitar has to have a degree of flexibility to allow for truss rod adjustment, so yes it works.
You deserve a high 5. 
It's OK if you get a mini-whammy effect when you bend your neck all rock-star like. The neck is made from wood and wood bends. Too much of this poser stuff will eventually cause some big time problems with the neck-body connection. It does look and sound way cool though..................Save this show-off, heyy watch-me-abuse-my-guitar stuff for your low priced guitars or guitars that are in eminent need of quick repair.......
To previous posts; Isn't that paraphrasing what I said.........................
Listen up y'all; wood bends, steel does too, if it's thin enough. A guitar neck, on an electric guitar, is made up of 19 parts wood and 1 part steel (truss rod) think of it as a toothpick inserted into a carrott. It will bend repeatedly but eventually, after excessively abusing said guitar neck, it's gonna snap. Go on and do it, you know you want to. Place a toothpick into the middle of a 2" evenly cut crisp piece of carrott and bend away. My guess is you'll be at it for about 30-38 bends or so before it snaps. Any of you adventurous ones out there care to take my test of physics theory?.....................Get back to me if you do so and as I suggested earlier, save the guitar abuse for crappy guitars or guitars in need of eminent repair.................................
My bro in law has been doing this with his 1970 Kustom SG since he bought the thing in 1971.
The first time I saw him do it about twenty years ago , I just cringed . He does it at the end of a few rock songs that he does , and it does sound cool . Having said that,
I don't think you'll be seeing me do it . Although has'nt bothered that Kustom after thirty seven years ???!!!.......
SouthPaw41L wrote:It's OK if you get a mini-whammy effect when you bend your neck all rock-star like. The neck is made from wood and wood bends. Too much of this poser stuff will eventually cause some big time problems with the neck-body connection. It does look and sound way cool though..................Save this show-off, heyy watch-me-abuse-my-guitar stuff for your low priced guitars or guitars that are in eminent need of quick repair.......
To previous posts; Isn't that paraphrasing what I said.........................
Listen up y'all; wood bends, steel does too, if it's thin enough. A guitar neck, on an electric guitar, is made up of 19 parts wood and 1 part steel (truss rod) think of it as a toothpick inserted into a carrott. It will bend repeatedly but eventually, after excessively abusing said guitar neck, it's gonna snap. Go on and do it, you know you want to. Place a toothpick into the middle of a 2" evenly cut crisp piece of carrott and bend away. My guess is you'll be at it for about 30-38 bends or so before it snaps. Any of you adventurous ones out there care to take my test of physics theory?.....................Get back to me if you do so and as I suggested earlier, save the guitar abuse for crappy guitars or guitars in need of eminent repair.................................
Right heres where I have the problem, i get to the part where I evenly cut a 2" crisp carrot, then I go blank, and I cant remember how it gets in my mouth! I tried it 4 times, just ready to insert that toothpick, then bam; I'm crunching away, anyone else has this problem?
andros67 wrote:(0)==#paranormal guitar wrote:nah, it's not broken, works fine, intonation works a treat.
and dont be amazed, people are aloud to disagree with you. (it really sucks, i know but it's trueYup! I tried it, he's right it works, although I personally wouldn't make a habit of it; but I don't think this means there's something wrong with my guitar ,I think that the neck of a guitar has to have a degree of flexibility to allow for truss rod adjustment, so yes it works.
You deserve a high 5.
high 5 you back! us neck bending; guitar abusing philistines need to stick together! hehe.
My bro in law has been doing this with his 1970 Kustom SG since he bought the thing in 1971.
The first time I saw him do it about twenty years ago , I just cringed . He does it at the end of a few rock songs that he does , and it does sound cool . Having said that,
I don't think you'll be seeing me do it . Although has'nt bothered that Kustom after thirty seven years ???!!!.......
I think the SG really lends itself to the neck bend. The top cutaway gives you leverage. Never had a problem, but my strat is much stiffer and I rather just use the whammy bar.
G S E wrote:My bro in law has been doing this with his 1970 Kustom SG since he bought the thing in 1971.
The first time I saw him do it about twenty years ago , I just cringed . He does it at the end of a few rock songs that he does , and it does sound cool . Having said that,
I don't think you'll be seeing me do it . Although has'nt bothered that Kustom after thirty seven years ???!!!.......I think the SG really lends itself to the neck bend. The top cutaway gives you leverage. Never had a problem, but my strat is much stiffer and I rather just use the whammy bar.
Just reading about that makes me physically ill 
G S E wrote:My bro in law has been doing this with his 1970 Kustom SG since he bought the thing in 1971.
The first time I saw him do it about twenty years ago , I just cringed . He does it at the end of a few rock songs that he does , and it does sound cool . Having said that,
I don't think you'll be seeing me do it . Although has'nt bothered that Kustom after thirty seven years ???!!!.......I think the SG really lends itself to the neck bend. The top cutaway gives you leverage. Never had a problem, but my strat is much stiffer and I rather just use the whammy bar.
Because the neck joint is weak as there is hardly any wood supporting it. Do that enough and the neck will come off the guitar. 
A Strat neck will bend slightly, but since it damages the guitar and only has the same effect as a tremelo bar, it's not worth it.
I read about this in a book on guitar building. It's your guitar so feel free to bend the neck, just don't come running to us when it breaks...
Guitar chord forum - chordie → Electric → Neck bending on Strats...
