Bilaminate neck - what year did they stop making them

Tue Feb 18, 2020 9:20 am

About to buy a 1997 G&L Legacy and the seller says it's a solid piece neck.
The pictures don't show a seem. No break in the grain that would make it apparent that it's a bilaminate neck.
Also it's a 4 bolt.
Anyone know?

Re: Bilaminate neck - what year did they stop making them

Tue Feb 18, 2020 11:09 am

I think the change was made with the neck plate change(3 to 4 bolt), mid 90's.

Pretty sure your looking at a one piece neck.


edit : please defer to Craig's post, my guess was wrong :oops:
Last edited by Elwood on Tue Feb 18, 2020 4:29 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Re: Bilaminate neck - what year did they stop making them

Tue Feb 18, 2020 11:33 am

From what I found doing searches, the Bi-Cut was produced into 2006, going out of production during the year. From 2007 on, the truss rod cavity is routed from the top and covered by the fingerboard slab. Some claim the bi-cut is superior, but I'm not sure engineering principles can support that. I found that wood glue shear strength is about double of tension strength. The bi-cut has less area for the bond, probably less than half (primarily in shear), so I would expect the current construction to be stronger.

Cheers, Dan

edited... hope my answer is clearer now why I believe the new construction would be stronger.
Last edited by WitSok on Wed Feb 19, 2020 8:02 am, edited 1 time in total.

Re: Bilaminate neck - what year did they stop making them

Tue Feb 18, 2020 1:18 pm

WitSok wrote:From what I found doing searches, the Bi-Cut was produced into 2006, going out of production during the year. From 2007 on, the truss rod top will be from the top and covered by the fingerboard slab. Some claim the bi-cut is superior, but I'm not sure engineering principles can support that. I found that wood glue shear strength is about double of tension strength, the bi-cut would have less area for the bond, so I would expect the current construction to be overall stronger.

Cheers, Dan


Dan is correct, see: About non-compression truss rod and Plek.

Re: Bilaminate neck - what year did they stop making them

Thu Feb 20, 2020 8:36 am

Thank you gentlemen. Appreciate the answer.