Decent set of calipers to measure a guitar neck.

[Pieman]

Anybody have a recommendation?   I bought some with 8000 Amazon likes. Would like to measure to hundredths?   ex 1.650 ay the nut. Is that 100ths?  The set I have does seem to have arms big enough to get to the center of the fret board.  Not a very precise readout.  Thoughts? Thanks.

[kizanski]

15 minutes ago, Pieman said:

Would like to measure to hundredths? 

 

[specialk]

57 minutes ago, Pieman said:

ex 1.650 ay the nut. Is that 100ths? 

No. That number takes it down to thousandths.

Is this the question? 

[Pieman]

Somebody has asked me to measure the depth of a neck which, according to the Hamer catalog, is a "soft '57 V".  With my calipers, I can measure the depth at the first fret to be 0.93 or 0.94.  I have seen other similar necks measured at the first fret to be 0.935.   This is accuracy is good enough for me, 

Of course, as you move up the neck, the fretboard is wider.  I think the "jaws" on my caliper are not wide enough to measure the center point of the fretboard. i.e., at the height of the radius. 

I have futzed with these caliper a couple of times over the last couple of days, as I recover from a mild case of Covid. but the readings I get at the 7th and 12th frets don't jive with other measurements on have found posted on the web, namely 1.000 at the 7th and 1.060 at the twelfth. 

[django49]

Because size DOES matter!

[Pieman]

1 minute ago, specialk said:

No. That number takes it down to thousandths.

Is this the question? 

Thanks    I think these calipers readout to 100ths, e.g., 1.65 (not 1,650) or 0.93 (not 0,935).  See other info above.  Thanks

[kizanski]

21 minutes ago, Pieman said:

Somebody has asked me to measure the depth of a neck...

Say no more.  This person will not be purchasing your guitar.

[hamerhead]

20 minutes ago, Pieman said:

Thanks    I think these calipers readout to 100ths, e.g., 1.65 (not 1,650) or 0.93 (not 0,935).  See other info above.  Thanks

It's still thousandths: 1.65 =  one inch, 650 thousandths. Because 65 hundredths is dumb.

Every caliper I've ever picked up - and it's a lot - measures to .001 (one thousandth) of an inch. Some of the cool ones do tenths of a thousandth.

And I'll pay anybody who can feel ±.005 in a neck.

[kizanski]

1 minute ago, hamerhead said:

It's still thousandths: 1.65 =  one inch, 650 thousandths. Because 65 hundredths is dumb.

Measuring necks is dumb.

[hamerhead]

Not necessarily. If you have a size you prefer, it can help find if you're in the ballpark. But needing to measure with that degree of accuracy is lutefisk.

[kizanski]

1 minute ago, hamerhead said:

Not necessarily. If you have a size you prefer, it can help find if you're in the ballpark. But needing to measure with that degree of accuracy is lutefisk.

 

[hamerhead]

What?

[kizanski]

2 minutes ago, hamerhead said:

What?

Click it!

[hamerhead]

To answer Pieman's question: any inexpensive caliper is going to be accurate enough for neck measuring. As Kiz said, whoever asks down to .005 ain't buying anyways.

 

ETA something useful from 31 years of doing this sh!t: I always used an 8" Mitutoyo, because a 6" was too small and a 12" to unwieldy for most everyday tasks. The 8" will reach beyond the center of the upper part of a neck.  Starrett, and Brown & Sharpe are also good higher-end units that are great for extreme accuracy and repeatabilty - neither of which are needed for measuring a neck.

My advice: get a cheap 8" or 12" and it'll cover probably everything you need.

[hamerhead]

Just now, kizanski said:

Click it!

I did. It took me back to your post.

What?

[kizanski]

Just now, hamerhead said:

I did. It took me back to your post.

What?

You literally just answered your own question.

[hamerhead]

Which question?? The accuracy part?

...I'm getting a headache....

[kizanski]

And you're giving me a headache!

I said, "Measuring necks is dumb."
You made some blahbiddyblahblah answer about measuring necks.
I redirected you to my prior comment, that being that measuring necks is dumb.

[hamerhead]

We agree measuring necks is dumb. But I was trying to be at least a little helpful.

[kizanski]

Just now, hamerhead said:

We agree measuring necks is dumb. But I was trying to be at least a little helpful.

 

33 minutes ago, kizanski said:

Say no more.  This person will not be purchasing your guitar.

 

[hamerhead]

Because a good caliper comes in handy for other stuff.

[kizanski]

1 minute ago, hamerhead said:

Because a good caliper comes in handy for other stuff.

Leave your fetishes out of this, please.

[hamerhead]

It'll leave a mark. I know.

[kizanski]

[hamerhead]

OK, let's say I sold you what I called a tiny-neck guitar. It arrives and the neck is huge. If I had taken a ballpark measurement first, you would have known beforehand the neck was way too big for your tiny girl hands. That's where the 'not necessarily' part comes in - measuring is fine, extreme accuracy isn't required.

[kizanski]

2 minutes ago, hamerhead said:

OK, let's say I sold you what I called a tiny-neck guitar. It arrives and the neck is huge. If I had taken a ballpark measurement first, you would have known beforehand the neck was way too big for your tiny girl hands. That's where the 'not necessarily' part comes in - measuring is fine, extreme accuracy isn't required.