Neck Woods

[smee]

hey all, i was wondering what woods would be strong enough to go on the list as neck woods? Im going to make a 5 laminent neck, and i was originally going to use maple and wenge, but im wondering what other options are good? And what kind of tone will it yeild?

also i was wondering if my body wood decision is ok. Im going to use Korina (blacklimba) but i was thinking about laminating a 1/4 inch peice of burled myrtlewood on the top and the back. then i would carve into that when rounding it out. i was hoping to get a effect similar to this guitar

http://www.galleryhardwoods.com/images/client/big/40.jpg

so you would be able to see the korina when the myrtlewood gets carved deep enough on the sides.

. so i would have a 1.5 inch peice of korina and .5 inch worth of the myrtlerood. will mixing the wood like that have any negative side effects on tone?

[RGGR]

Maple/Wenge laminated neck.....limba body.......hmmmmm!.....sounds so very familiar.......don't know why. ;-)

but im wondering what other options are good?

Take a pick. The possibilities are endless. And the only limit being your own imagination.

But with Limba type body wood I would go for something with brightness to it. Little snap....like maple, wenge, walnut......just do seach on tonewood on the site and read up for evening or two.....you will see much info coming up and you simply make pick based on what others say, do, whatever makes good sense to you, and what types of wood are available to you.

....so i would have a 1.5 inch peice of korina and .5 inch worth of the myrtlerood. will mixing the wood like that have any negative side effects on tone?

Using just 1/8" of top will have little effect on tone. Going for two 1/4" tops/backs will defintely have some effect on tone. This is not necessarily a bad thing. With top/back you can color (read: advance) the tonal properties of your body. Off set some of the warmth of Limba for instance.

If you pick top/back wood for cosmetic reasons......then you might wanna go for thinner top.

What type of guitar are we talking about....2" body wood???....I hear LP copy????

[smee]

Maple/Wenge laminated neck.....limba body.......hmmmmm!.....sounds so very familiar.......don't know why. ;-)

but im wondering what other options are good?

Take a pick. The possibilities are endless. And the only limit being your own imagination.

But with Limba type body wood I would go for something with brightness to it. Little snap....like maple, wenge, walnut......just do seach on tonewood on the site and read up for evening or two.....you will see much info coming up and you simply make pick based on what others say, do, whatever makes good sense to you, and what types of wood are available to you.

....so i would have a 1.5 inch peice of korina and .5 inch worth of the myrtlerood. will mixing the wood like that have any negative side effects on tone?

Using just 1/8" of top will have little effect on tone. Going for two 1/4" tops/backs will defintely have some effect on tone. This is not necessarily a bad thing. With top/back you can color (read: advance) the tonal properties of your body. Off set some of the warmth of Limba for instance.

If you pick top/back wood for cosmetic reasons......then you might wanna go for thinner top.

What type of guitar are we talking about....2" body wood???....I hear LP copy????

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thANKS for the reply.

im actrualy not going LP copy. Im doing a copy of steve via body, or joe satriani's. Damn i just cant make up my mind yet lolz! i might go with Steve via body and just kinda customize it a bit, so basically a soloist body as warmoth calls it. Im not exactly sure how thick those are but i wanted to go 2" cuase most people said that was standard and i wanted to go big so if i need i can plane it down.

Im still in the process of picking out hardware and such so nothing is final. Im still in the middle of reading a guitar building book and i wanna finish it before i make any final body desicions...I thought maple would probly be a good wood to go with since its bight to counter the wrmth of korina slightly, but i want the sustain of korina, they said its one of the best besides brazilian rosewood. I just cant find any info of the tone of myrtlewood.

[bugman96]

But with Limba type body wood I would go for something with brightness to it. Little snap....like maple, wenge, walnut......just do seach on tonewood on the site and read up for evening or two.....you will see much info coming up and you simply make pick based on what others say, do, whatever makes good sense to you, and what types of wood are available to you.

So would mahogony neck w/ limba body muddy it too much? (I gotta choose between maple and mahogany...most likely with ebony fretboard).

[Pr3Va1L]

well, if you wanna do something like satch or vai or whatever, then you're probably into shredding?

Go for a maple neck then

[bugman96]

nah, no shredding; more allman brothers type stuff, jazzy stuff,

[n8rofwyo]

For both smee and bugman: The "Tonal Properties" of any kind of wood are a bit subjective. It is widely accepted that maple has a lighter tone than mahogony, and so on and so forth. The thing is that we all have a slightly different take on "tone". One persons perfect tone is trash to another. If you are looking for the sound of a specific artist, then find out what they play, then find out what the instrument is comprised of. As far as substituting one wood for another based on similar tonal properties.... It's a crap shoot. Experiment and find what you like, not what someone else says you should like because it sounds close to what they percieve the original sound to be.

Good luck with the respective builds!

Nate Robinson

P.S. I'm a novice builder so take it for what it's worth.

[Stolysmaster]

well, if you wanna do something like satch or vai or whatever, then you're probably into shredding?

Go for a maple neck then

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[/quote

So, if you're a shredder you should play a maple neck? Tell that to "dur TONEMEISTER", Michael Schenker. He has always played guitars made of ALL mahogany! As for shredding, check out his last couple of albums with Davey Pattison, Schenker-Pattison Summit "Endless Jam" & "Endless Jam Continues". Absolutely amazing stuff; Schenker soloing at his best!!

[guitar2005]

[michaelbambridge]

I'm totally confused with all the pro's and con's of "tone" as obtained from different woods, but would like to throw this one in. I have access to some Beech. Nice straight grain and well known for it's strength when used for furniture,but can anyone advise me if it suitable for necks? I'm using mahogany (reclaimed table-top) for the body just because it was free!Cheers.

[GodBlessTexas]

I'm totally confused with all the pro's and con's of "tone" as obtained from different woods, but would like to throw this one in. I have access to some Beech. Nice straight grain and well known for it's strength when used for furniture,but can anyone advise me if it suitable for necks? I'm using mahogany (reclaimed table-top) for the body just because it was free!Cheers.

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From what I've read, Beech has many of the same tonal characteristics of Maple and is used in mandolins. Throw "Nothofagus cunninghamii" into google and you'll get more details.

Remember the Alamo, and God Bless Texas...