Uploaded April 2026 | Updated September 2026, 3 days ago
In this video, which is the first one of a series, I guide you through my method of assembling and finishing a neck for a Brian May Red Special guitar. I first attempted this in July 2018 and since then my experience and understanding of CAD, CNC machining and luthiery techniques have all improved so I have refined both my designs and process to exploit the accuracy, repeatability and convenience of CNC cutting.
You can see edited highlights of the CNC cutting sequences for my Brian May Red Special guitar neck in a YouTube video that I published in August 2021 which is thirteen minutes in duration:
youtube.com/watch?v=Lh7k_uW-A3c
This later neck has further design changes including a revised main section profile, shallower pickup rebates and a 5 degree headstock angle. I talk through how I designed my interpretation of the Red Special neck in this YouTube video published in July 2023:
youtube.com/watch?v=LnjUcQiWFgo
To make the truss rod, I used a section of 3/16" (5 mm) diameter steel rod, bent one end into a loop around a 5/16" (8 mm) bolt then brazed the joint closed with silver solder. I cut a short section of thread at the opposite end to accommodate a castellated sleeve nut for tension adjustment. The sleeve nut butts against a rectangular piece of 1/16" (1.6 mm) thick brass sheet which locates in a slot milled at the back of an access rebate. I cover this in the following video:
youtube.com/watch?v=OWz1LIaczP0
Check out this video which illustrates my CNC method for making the fretboard:
youtube.com/watch?v=XzWk-s1ILy8
Chapter Time Index
00:00 - Introduction.
00:58 - dsgb YouTube video thumbnails.
01:20 - Inspection of the CNC cut neck (2023).
02:19 - Truss rod assembly and dry installation.
03:21 - Truss rod fillet strip installation and levelling.
04:25 - Fretboard timber & blank cutting.
05:39 - Inspection of the CNC cut fretboard.
06:24 - Fretboard mounting template.
07:12 - Ebonizing the oak fretboard.
09:01 - Filling and flatting the mahogany surface flush.
10:21 - Test mount using a fretboard offcut.
11:27 - Clamping support blocks.
12:13 - Masking, assembly, gluing and disassembly.
14:27 - Inspection and presentation of the final assembly.
15:00 - Outro.
Please check out my other YouTube videos and my website, dsgb.net for other content related to Brian May's guitars and musical equipment.
#BrianMay #RedSpecial #guitar
In this video, which is the first one of a series, I guide you through my method of assembling and finishing a neck for a Brian May Red Special guitar. I first attempted this in July 2018 and since then my experience and understanding of CAD, CNC machining and luthiery techniques have all improved so I have refined both my designs and process to exploit the accuracy, repeatability and convenience of CNC cutting.
You can see edited highlights of the CNC cutting sequences for my Brian May Red Special guitar neck in a YouTube video that I published in August 2021 which is thirteen minutes in duration:
youtube.com/watch?v=Lh7k_uW-A3c
This later neck has further design changes including a revised main section profile, shallower pickup rebates and a 5 degree headstock angle. I talk through how I designed my interpretation of the Red Special neck in this YouTube video published in July 2023:
youtube.com/watch?v=LnjUcQiWFgo
To make the truss rod, I used a section of 3/16" (5 mm) diameter steel rod, bent one end into a loop around a 5/16" (8 mm) bolt then brazed the joint closed with silver solder. I cut a short section of thread at the opposite end to accommodate a castellated sleeve nut for tension adjustment. The sleeve nut butts against a rectangular piece of 1/16" (1.6 mm) thick brass sheet which locates in a slot milled at the back of an access rebate. I cover this in the following video:
youtube.com/watch?v=OWz1LIaczP0
Check out this video which illustrates my CNC method for making the fretboard:
youtube.com/watch?v=XzWk-s1ILy8
Chapter Time Index
00:00 - Introduction.
00:58 - dsgb YouTube video thumbnails.
01:20 - Inspection of the CNC cut neck (2023).
02:19 - Truss rod assembly and dry installation.
03:21 - Truss rod fillet strip installation and levelling.
04:25 - Fretboard timber & blank cutting.
05:39 - Inspection of the CNC cut fretboard.
06:24 - Fretboard mounting template.
07:12 - Ebonizing the oak fretboard.
09:01 - Filling and flatting the mahogany surface flush.
10:21 - Test mount using a fretboard offcut.
11:27 - Clamping support blocks.
12:13 - Masking, assembly, gluing and disassembly.
14:27 - Inspection and presentation of the final assembly.
15:00 - Outro.
Please check out my other YouTube videos and my website, dsgb.net for other content related to Brian May's guitars and musical equipment.
#BrianMay #RedSpecial #guitar
