Stable Neck Woods?

[Hunter]

Would ash or alder be stable enough to make a neck out of? Made with some carbon rods and laminates it would be strong enough to make a neck out of? I love the tone of ash and want to have as much as possible on my next guitar. Is there a wood that's got similar tone to ash, but is stronger?

[westhemann]

i find bocote to be fairly similar in tone to ash...but with a deeper bottom end.

that's the closest one i can think of.

[Hunter]

Is Bocote stable enough for a neck? Would I need to support it with laminates/rods?

[Pr3Va1L]

bocote should be. It's often used for necks and i BELIEVE it dosen't need a finish (or am I wrong??)

[westhemann]

Is Bocote stable enough for a neck? 

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i give that a big fat YES..bocote is incredibly strong and stable....more so than maple...closer to the rosewood types.no laminates or rods are necessary

i BELIEVE it dosen't need a finish (or am I wrong??)

umm...well...i have heard of people(including warmoth) leaving bocote unfinished...but it takes a finish so well(no grainfilling necessary..it is so tight grained that it won't even sink in to the pores)that there is no reason not to...and finishing the wood makes it easier to keep clean.

i would finish it in satin...nice thin coat.

[Jester700]

Carvin uses alder on their Holdsworth neck, and offers it as an option on other guitars. But they use graphite rods as well.

Parker uses basswood.

[Pr3Va1L]

complete with a layer of carbon glass composite... That's like a neck that's a full of carbon rods.......

A basswood neck wouldn't last more than 5 minutes without reinforcement loll

[frank falbo]

Remember, loving the tone of Ash doesn't have diddly squat to do with the sound it will make as a neck. The neck bears a big load, and is undersized for that load, hence the truss rod. It's making the tone under 100+lbs. of tension. You might do better to understand that since you like the tone of Ash so much, you should find a neck wood that will give you as much "body" tone as possible. In other words, a neck that will take the least amount of frequencies away. That could be an Ebony board with Bocote, or a multilaminate neck. Not necessarily a neck made from Ash. If you have to install carbon rods, you've diminished the natural tone of the neck wood in the process. That may be good or bad depending on what you want out of the body.

[gwm]

I can't speak about swamp ash, but northern, hard ash is very stable (more so than most maples I've encountered) and plenty strong. The only drawback using ash for a neck (that I can see) is the open grain.

[Jester700]

complete with a layer of carbon glass composite... That's like a neck that's a full of carbon rods.......

A basswood neck wouldn't last more than 5 minutes without reinforcement loll

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Ken has said in an interview that the skin protects the basswood from dings since it's soft, but is not for structural support. According to him, basswood is strong and stiff and needs no reinforcement. Like you, I don't find it intuitive that basswood, being softer than alder, could be stronger & stiffer. But then I'm not a knowledgeable wood guy.

[fryovanni]

You can compair different types of wood in terms of their properties at this site. Lots of info.

USFS INFO

[jamesj]

How can I tell if my "mahogany" is neck quality wood? I'm not sure what "kind" it is It is nice looking to me. It was given to me by a Door company, It looks like a few peices glued together, I will have to cut it a little and "re-glue" it so its wide enough and not so thick. Its 2X2 (exact) with a 5/8 square cut out on 1 edge kinda like a Huge corner moulding. I'll try to post a pic later if needed, When I cut and glue it should come out approx 3 3/8 X 1 3x8. They gave me a big enough peice to make 3 necks or so. Im just not sure if its "Neck Wood"....

[28if]

Mahoghany is most defenitly an acceptable neck wood. Many guitrar brands use mahoghany for necks. Better if it's quartersawn, though.

Edited August 27, 2005 by 28if

[jamesj]

Mahoghany is most defenitly an acceptable neck wood.  Many guitrar brands use mahoghany for necks.  Better if it's quartersawn, though.

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I'm pretty sure its not, But hey its 109 3/4" long and it was free!

I'm trying to get my Camera batteries charged up for a couple pics, I'm going to do a Neck through hollow body, Rickenbacker "inspired" maybe in black.

[DannoG]

Just throwing this out there, Luan Mahogany is often used to make doors and it is not considered the best mahogany as a tonewood. Not saying it is bad, just below the South American and African variants.

[Mattia]

Just throwing this out there, Luan Mahogany is often used to make doors and it is not considered the best mahogany as a tonewood. Not saying it is bad, just below the South American and African variants.

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Luan is luan, and other than vaguely resembling mahogany in coloration and grain, has pretty much nothing in common with the African and American mahoganies, which are generally members of the same family (Meliceae) but different genuses (Swetinia for 'real' mahoganies, Khaya and Entandrophragma for the African mahoganies. Spanish Cedar, Cederella Odorata, is also in the same family). The Afr and Am mahoganies all work pretty similarly, are similar in density, some slightly coarser grained than others, etc. Luan, Meranti, often used for plywood, are significantly heavier, and seem to be quite a bit more splinter prone.

Me? I'd avoid Luan and Meranti (which I *think* are two names for the same thing..most all 'tropical wood' ply over here is labeled as meranti) if any of the african mahoganies were available, since they're generally in the same price bracket, ish.

[jamesj]

I have always heard and experinced this statement :

"Plywood and luan are “layered” wood products".

I have used luan in 1/4" sheets for backing on furniture I have built.

This is not a layered wood that I have. Nor has any of the luan I have seen been "dark reddish brown" in color, always a light tannish looking. I am not saying anyone is wrong, I am saying thats a whole new ....... Board to whack me with if you are correct. I will check into it tommorow after work, now I have to crash (gotta be up in 3 hrs.)

night!

[Mattia]

I have always heard and experinced this statement :

"Plywood and luan are “layered” wood products".

I have used luan in 1/4" sheets for backing on furniture I have built.

This is not a layered wood that I have. Nor has any of the luan I have seen been "dark reddish brown" in color, always a light tannish looking. I am not saying anyone is wrong, I am saying thats a whole new ....... Board to whack me with if you are correct. I will check into it tommorow after work, now I have to crash (gotta be up in 3 hrs.)

night!

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Luan's a species of Asian wood, like Meranti (and might be the same thing). It's most often seen in plywood (ie, Luan outer skin ply), but saying it is plywood is like saying Birch is a layered wood product, because a lot of the birch you see is in plywood.

[westhemann]

I have always heard and experinced this statement :

"Plywood and luan are “layered” wood products".

I have used luan in 1/4" sheets for backing on furniture I have built.

This is not a layered wood that I have. Nor has any of the luan I have seen been "dark reddish brown" in color, always a light tannish looking. I am not saying anyone is wrong, I am saying thats a whole new ....... Board to whack me with if you are correct. I will check into it tommorow after work, now I have to crash (gotta be up in 3 hrs.)

night!

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you are correct..luan is an actual wood just like you describe..i tried to use some once because the hardwood guy told me it was similar to mahogany...it is not...do not use this wood.

see the middle wood on the body of this guitar?

that is luan..i tried to make the neck out of it when this guitar was a neck through desighn...the wood is totally unsuitable.it is grained like a saltine cracker.so i cut off the "neck" and replaced it with honduran mahogany and walnut.

[jamesj]

After a "lunchtime" MSN search... I'm just as Ignorant about luan as I was before. My first search "luan" came back with peoples names. My second "luan wood" came back with layerd type woods and things like doors made from the luan I see daily (layerd like plywood). Now a search for "Meranti" got some wood that looked similar to mine.

I did find one site that said luan was a mahogany veneer.

Do you have any links so I can compare mine, and make sure I dont have junk wood? I would hate to waste a week or two working on a neck thats made from junk.

Thanks

JJ

[Mattia]

After a "lunchtime" MSN search... I'm just as Ignorant about luan as I was before. My first search "luan" came back with peoples names. My second "luan wood" came back with layerd type woods and things like doors made from the luan I see daily (layerd like plywood). Now a search for "Meranti" got some wood that looked similar to mine.

I did find one site that said luan was a mahogany veneer.

Do you have any links so I can compare mine, and make sure I dont have junk wood? I would hate to waste a week or two working on a neck thats made from junk.

Thanks

JJ

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You be the judge of your particular chunk of wood; blind, I wouldn't use it, but that's me. Mahogany, whether genuine or 'African Mahogany', is tried and tested, and a neck-sized piece isn't going to set you back loads.

Luan, Meranti and Phillipine Mahogany all seem to be names describing the same vague collection of Asian hardwoods. Most are of the Shorea Genus, which contains a boatload of different species, and colours ranging from very pale to deep, dark red. Trees from a couple of other genuses are also used. Found this quote on one wood seller's website re: Meranti/Luaun/Phillipine Mahogany: "We consider it the second cousin of Honduras mahogany (twice removed)." African (Khaya) they describe as honduran's "Boergeois cousin", which I found quite amusing.

[jamesj]

ahh man...

I had an ex who built me up like this....... going to show me something new, and it didnt happen then eithier ... Lol!

foreal though, I cut and glued it today, it had a nice vibe all the way up the 110 inch piece when I tapped it on the end, so I'm going to give it a shot. Its a freebie so why not. If nothing else its good practice.

[komodo]

<quote>You be the judge of your particular chunk of wood</quote>

Right. Even two pieces of the same wood can be very different.

My experience is that those "lesser" grade mahoganies are that they are splintery and coarse grained. If you compared a piece of that with a piece of Royal mahogany for instance, it would be VERY different. But that doesn't necessarily mean it would be bad in application. Considering the work involved in making a guitar, most people tend to gravitate towards much nicer woods or tried and true woods.

KOMODO