Lacewood & Purpleheart

[egdeltar]

I plan on building a 3 piece neck from 2 lace wood planks on the outsides and 1 purple heart plank down the middle w/ a wenge fretboard. (I have all the wood)

My question is this, is Lace wood a suitable wood for a neck? I don’t think I have ever seen a neck with lace wood so I decided to do some investigating. I found this little blurb on the Jem Site;

“Lace wood is a true multi-density wood. The rum colored skeleton is hard like Koa or Walnut, and the fleshy, grayish tan interior portions like Alder. The dual densities will augment different tones, while combing others out. It’s brighter than Alder, and richer than solid maple.

Production notes: It can be difficult to finish, because the sections absorb finish differently. Oil finishes and heavy poly finishes work better than a softer nitrocellulose or acrylic lacquer. The lacquer finishes will sink over time telegraphing the grain.

Extended Range notes: Another wood well suited for extended lows. Its dual density provides a good skeleton for keeping the lows tight. There’s less of a tradeoff to the higher strings because of the warmth of the softer sections.”

I’ve read a few comments on her about it and some seem to think that it is a softer wood, yet the 2 planks that I have feel ROCK HARD and are pretty heavy and dense feeling. I can take a picture of all the woods when I get home if need be.

And yes I did a search on the forum and did not find the answer….

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Edited June 8, 2005 by egdeltar

[!!METAL MATT!!]

I was thinking of useing lacewood for a fretboard A while back

hear's A link to the thread http://projectguitar.ibforums.com/index.ph...topic=13213&hl=

!!METAL MATT!!

[westhemann]

i think that you can...with that purpleheart middle laminate...but i would make sure the middle laminate is at least 3/4" wide.

but i would have to actually touch the wood myself before using it.hard to give a definative answer

[egdeltar]

Maybe I will switch it around and do lacewood for the middle laminates and purple heart for the 2 outer ones. Maybe that will stiffin it up a bit.

[westhemann]

Maybe I will switch it around and do lacewood for the middle laminates and purple heart for the 2 outer ones. Maybe that will stiffin it up a bit.

←

no...keep the stronger wood in the center to couch the truss rod.

[egdeltar]

Maybe I will switch it around and do lacewood for the middle laminates and purple heart for the 2 outer ones. Maybe that will stiffin it up a bit.

←

no...keep the stronger wood in the center to couch the truss rod.

←

I started thinking that ater that last reply.....

If the neck is no good than it will only be a good learning experience so I figured I might as well just go for it and see if the Lacewood holds up.

Thanks Wes and Matt.

Edited June 8, 2005 by egdeltar

[frank falbo]

If you're choosing Lacewood for looks alone, then it's not really worth it. I believe the laminates (whichever order they're in) will help greatly. If you put it in the middle, it's the thickest part of the neck. If you put it on the outsides, there's more width of it, but it's tapered.

No matter how hard it is, just remember that it's really comprised of a skeleton and fleshy part. So in a neck, no matter how hard the hard sections are, they're interwined with softer sections. Regardless of the overall density of both sections, you have an inconsistency in the flex pattern, making it more random and unpredictable. If you had to use it for looks, this would be one time where I'd recommend installing graphite rods on each side. Use the Lacewood on the outsides. Then a good bulk of the Lacewood will have graphite reinforcement. Again, not for strength, but for stability.

Otherwise I would say do laminates no wider than 3/16" as accents within the neck. You don't want too much of your neck to be lacewood IMO. A dual acting truss rod wouldn't hurt either, in case this thing "goes both ways"