No more Birdseye Maple Necks?

[shankyboy]

Hey folks. It's been a while. I picked up a pristine Comanche in Fiesta Red with the Birdseye Maple neck and the orange-ish gloss tint. Fantastic guitar with one caveat. The neck is a 1-3/4" instead of the 1-5/8" that I am used to. I reached out to G&L about making a new neck for me and, while they can make one, they no longer offer the Birdseye Maple and they don't tint them as dark as mine. What's the deal? The Birdseye Maple necks are, in my opinion, the sexiest looking neck on any guitar. Is there a shortage or something? Just curious.

[Tooslowhand]

I have an S-500 with a birdseye maple neck and love it. However, even back then G&L wouldn't warrant the birdseye maple necks as they had a tendency to be unstable. I guess they decided to stop offering them altogether. I am a bit surprised though that with the custom shop doing many "off label" things that they won't make one for you. The neck on my S-500 was also "gun oil" tinted which gives that orangish color. They don't tint with gun oil anymore. Currently the closest finish is vintage tint.

[Craig]

Hey folks. It's been a while. I picked up a pristine Comanche in Fiesta Red with the Birdseye Maple neck and the orange-ish gloss tint. Fantastic guitar with one caveat. The neck is a 1-3/4" instead of the 1-5/8" that I am used to. I reached out to G&L about making a new neck for me and, while they can make one, they no longer offer the Birdseye Maple and they don't tint them as dark as mine. What's the deal? The Birdseye Maple necks are, in my opinion, the sexiest looking neck on any guitar. Is there a shortage or something? Just curious.

Birdseye Maple Necks for guitars and Birdseye Maple fretboards (fretted bass only) were last offered as an option with the August 1, 2014 U.S. Dealer Price List..
G&L Custom Shop does offer Birdseye Maple fretboards option for all instruments.

Gun-oil tinted necks (TGN) were first introduced in the July 1, 1997 Dealer Price List:

It stands for Tinted Gun-oil Neck, which is a neck finishing option. It gives the neck an aged vintage yellow look.

Here is some information about how this finish was applied and how it is now applied at the G&L Factory:

Note: I had been sent some pictures of a Legacy which had what appeared to be reddish blotches on parts of the neck and was asked if
this neck had a factory finish. I sent this email with these pictures to Steve Grom (Director of Manufacturing) and here is his reply:

When G&L first started the “TGN” (tinted gun oil) finish option on the necks, the finishing process began with a rub-on (applied by hand) gun oil to provide the darker tint and then a clear coat on top of the tint. In the world of wood finishing, one of the more difficult finishes to apply evenly is an oil-based stain or tint. Depending on the wood grain (flat grain, open end-grain, soft grain lines, etc) the rub-on finished is absorbed differently into the wood. The more open or soft the gain, the more finish that gets absorbed and the darker the tint will be in that area. It is also much more difficult for the person applying the rub-on tint to make sure they are putting the exact same amount of finish evenly on the entire wood surface. The end result with many of the original TGN finishes is exactly what is seen in the pictures of this instrument. In just my short time here at the factory, I’m seen a number of older necks that look just like this Legacy neck.

In an effort to obtain a more consistent finish, we switched to a tinted additive that is mixed in with the clear finish and then sprayed onto each neck. The painter can now apply the finish in very even coats and have much greater control of the final color/tint. In addition, by mixing the color additive into the clear coat, this material does not penetrate the wood to the same degree as the original gun oil did, due to different levels of consistency. This process eliminates the “blotchy” or darker spots found on the earlier necks. (Sorry, none of the guys here today could remember when we made this switch).

I hope this helps shed some light on the how and why of the early TGN finishes.

For the new SC-2 guitars, the necks came with Gun Oil Tint finished with satin on the back and tinted gloss on the headstock face until 2012,
when neck options were made available for this model.

In 2012 and 2013 they expanded the tint finish options for both Gloss and Satin finished necks. See the current Guitar Options and Bass Options pages on the G&L website.

Reference posts in our G&L Knowledgebase Forum:
What is TGN?.
Comparison of Neck Finishes

Hope this helps.

[shankyboy]

Thanks for the info. Interesting about the instability of Birdseye Maple. I have 3 guitars with the TGN Birdseye necks and they are solid as a rock. Bottom line, I'll have to either get used to the 1-3/4" neck width or bite the bullet and have a different looking neck made. Nice problem to have, huh?

[DanDoulogos]

I've read that the stability issue is significantly countered by roasting the Birdseye Maple.

Anecdotally, Suhr guitars only uses Birdseye Maple for necks if the neck is roasted. Might not be a coincidence.

[Tooslowhand]

The birdseye maple neck on my S-500 has been rock solid for well over a decade. Never had to touch the truss rod. It was probably hit and miss on whether they had issues.