Mahogany For Electric Necks?

[pariah223]

Hey everyone.

I am new to this forum, i stumbled upon it while looking for this very question, so i will ask it here.

I know mahogany is what is used mostly on acoustic guitar necks. But is there a reason i have not seen it used on electric guitars or basses? does it have anything to do with the neck joint not being strong enough if its not like its done on an acoustic? I am making a custom bolt on neck bass guitar and i wanna know what my options are. I would also imagine that mahogany possibly isnt strong enough to hold the bolts tight like maple is. My other option is laminating maple and mahogany. Let me know

[fookgub]

Well, Gibson's been making this thing called a 'Les Paul' for a little while. It's got a mahogany neck, but doesn't really seem to be taking off.

Seriously, though, mahogany is a fine neck wood.

[pariah223]

Well, Gibson's been making this thing called a 'Les Paul' for a little while. It's got a mahogany neck, but doesn't really seem to be taking off.

Seriously, though, mahogany is a fine neck wood.

hehe, i knew the bodies were mahogony but i didnt know the necks were. Kinda hard to see through the paint on the les pauls i have played. Les pauls are also glued on necks, not bolt on, so im not sure if that makes a difference or not. Has anyone bulit a bolt on neck instrument and used mahogany as your neck wood?

[Mickguard]

They're all over the place. Not just for set necks....I have a neck from an old Morris (Japanese) guitar here...it's mahogany and it's a bolt-on.

Personally I love the way the grain of mahogany looks in a neck, all those speckles.

[eddiewarlock]

haha, that's funny, mahogany it's the second most popular wood for necks!!, in fact ALL my guitars have mahogany thru body necks, i can;t stand maple!!

[Mattia]

Mahogany's probably the most popular wood for necks, I'd wager, if you combine electric and acoustic instruments. It's my standard neck wood.

[verhoevenc]

mahogany's on my MeuX E-series. Granted it's a set-neck as well, but it's a fine wood for bolting too. Yeah it IS softer than maple, but it's still pretty strong stuff. And nice for shaping too

Chris

[mikhailgtrski]

My new build is a maple carved top/chambered mahogany body with a bolt-on mahogany neck. Still in progress... but I played it unplugged for an hour while I checked the bridge clearance and it sounded incredible. Very warm and resonant. All my previous guitars have had maple necks, but I really prefer the sound of this one.

Mike

[Southpa]

I'll be working on something that nobody, to my knowledge, has ever tried yet. I'll be building a one piece replacement neck for my telecaster out of a solid block of perfectly quartersawn HOLLY. Here's a pic.

This wood is unbelievable! I sanded one face down to 2000 grit. I've never seen bare wood actually shine like this and it feels silky smooth! I'll probably just leave it natural. Gonna be hard on the blades tho.

Edited March 2, 2006 by Southpa

[johnsilver]

Are those mahogany bolt on necks folks are talking about flatsawn or quartersawn?

[Mattia]

Are those mahogany bolt on necks folks are talking about flatsawn or quartersawn?

Where possible, quartersawn, for stability. I've seen flatsawn necks hold up just fine (mahogany's interlocking grain helps, and most tropical woods have less difference between flat and quarter cuts than most temperate climate woods, although I'm not positive if Mahogany is one of them)

[Guitarfrenzy]

Mahogany, like everyone else has said, is one of the most used tonewoods for guitarbuilding, not only for acoustics but equally for electrics. It's a proven wood for electric guitars too. If your worried about neck stability, and don't want to use Carbon Fiber Rods, then definitely make sure it's quartersawn. I always use CF rods though, since it adds so much more stability to the neck without any extra weight.

[pariah223]

well, after some more thinking, ive decided to stick with a maple neck, but have 2 mahogany strips running down the length of it. My only concern is that it wont look good with the type of wood im using, but im hoping that the thin strips (a little over 1/8 in) will work for what im doing as i only want two darker then maple strips down the neck to match the bodys look. The body is a walnut laminat with two strips of maple down the center. I dont have enough walnut the length i need so thats why i wanna see how mahogany works. Here is a picture of the body blank to give an idea of what the body is going to look like. Does anyone think that this would look odd? mahogany is a little redder then walnut is, but i think that at that thickness, it really wont matter. not to mention that i need to lose weight anywhere i can on this puppy!

[deadmike]

i was talking to the young gentry in the guitar shop a few weeks back and he was saying a lot of the accoustic guitars coming in are made intirely of mahogany. the body, the neck and even the fret board. also theyre becoming a lot cheaper. he said it was something to do with some massive mahogany forrest that has been cut down somewhere and now mahogany is cheap is chips.

the story sounds bogus, but ive yet to see if mahogany prices have been slashed or not.

the day when mahogany becomes as cheap as pine... i can dream

[Mattia]

i was talking to the young gentry in the guitar shop a few weeks back and he was saying a lot of the accoustic guitars coming in are made intirely of mahogany. the body, the neck and even the fret board. also theyre becoming a lot cheaper. he said it was something to do with some massive mahogany forrest that has been cut down somewhere and now mahogany is cheap is chips.

the story sounds bogus, but ive yet to see if mahogany prices have been slashed or not.

the day when mahogany becomes as cheap as pine... i can dream

Yep, bogusness. Mahogany topped guitars do exist, and have their own charm (old 'budget' martins fall into this category, and are kinda nice for blues; gonna build me some soon). Mahogany fretboards? Nothing I've seen anywhere. Stuff's soft as hell. Nato, Phillipine Mahogany type stuff, is used on cheap imports, but true mahogany is doing nothing but get more and more expensive, particualrly since the the stuff from South America is either banned from export (I believe Brazil has export restrictions), and certainly all the South American material requires CITES permits (category III, IIRC, not the full-on ban like for brazilian rosewood) to cross any national borders. Heck, east indian rosewood can be had (in acoustic guitar sets) for only a tiny bit more than good Honduran. Sometimes less, even. There's good quality plantation wood coming out of places like Sri Lanka, but still.

[deadmike]

bummer!

i never buy anything from him anyway, i just go in to muck about on the good SG's

[guitar2005]

Has anyone bulit a bolt on neck instrument and used mahogany as your neck wood?

Godin makes bolt on guitars with mahogany necks: The LG and LGX. I have an LGX, its an awesome guitar and the neck has been great so far.

[eddiewarlock]

Mahogany is banned in my country, Venezuela also Purpleheart is banned, seems like the only thing left for me to build a guitar is spanish cedar and it's becoming hard to find and they are all native woods

[pariah223]

why are they banned??

[Mattia]

There are only restrictions on logging, surely? And on export? Might also mean less available timber, mind you, but a lot of this stuff (tropical hardwood) is in short supply, and not all loggers and sellers are even remotely scrupulous about how they get at the wood.

[Marzocchi705]

I'll be working on something that nobody, to my knowledge, has ever tried yet. I'll be building a one piece replacement neck for my telecaster out of a solid block of perfectly quartersawn HOLLY. Here's a pic.

http://img164.imageshack.us/img164/8535/holly0268ps.jpg

This wood is unbelievable! I sanded one face down to 2000 grit. I've never seen bare wood actually shine like this and it feels silky smooth! I'll probably just leave it natural. Gonna be hard on the blades tho.

I really want to give holly a try, but i cant find it anywhere in the uk (in the size i need 2"x7-8"x20") i wanted to use it for my LP top. Do you know anyplace i can get some from? (sorry for the off topic, just thoght i better ask befor i forget)

Mahogany neck, pretty standard stuff really. Nice to work with, alot kinder to the blades than my maple was anyway.

[bassman]

He was asking about using mahogany on a bass neck, which is not only much longer than a guitar neck but can have about 50 pounds per string pulling back on it. I am not saying it wont work, because I am sure it will. However I like using wood for a bass neck that I know is strong enough, bubinga, purpleheart, maple.

[pariah223]

He was asking about using mahogany on a bass neck, which is not only much longer than a guitar neck but can have about 50 pounds per string pulling back on it. I am not saying it wont work, because I am sure it will. However I like using wood for a bass neck that I know is strong enough, bubinga, purpleheart, maple.

yea, i have decided not to make the neck out of solid mahogany, and instead, i am going to use maple, with two 8th inch walnut stripes in between to kinda tie the neck and the body together. 50 pounds per string??? i had no idea.. i got alot to learn!