GuitarMaestro Posted December 11, 2003 Report Share Posted December 11, 2003 Hi! I am going to build a neck from quatersawn curly maple. As I am not too convinced that this is stable enough, I decided to insert a 5/16" centerpiece in the neck. Which wood is the best choice as a centerpiece if I want the best possible stiffness/stability? Walnut? Bubinga? It should be dark wood, for getting a nice contrast between the maple and the centerpiece.... Thanks in advance, Marcel Knapp! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john Posted December 11, 2003 Report Share Posted December 11, 2003 any should do really, once the grain of all the laminates is arranged as to oppose any twist that may occur. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hotrock Posted December 11, 2003 Report Share Posted December 11, 2003 any should do really, once the grain of all the laminates is arranged as to oppose any twist that may occur. That'll make it a bit of an arse to plane though. Carbon fibre strengthening rods seem to have a bit of a following, although I've never used them myself.. I'm sure this has been talked about a few times, might be a good idea to check some of the past threads. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted December 11, 2003 Report Share Posted December 11, 2003 walnut is a fine wood Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Litchfield Custom Gutars Posted December 12, 2003 Report Share Posted December 12, 2003 I reccomend purpleheart. Its inexpesive, beautiful, and STRONG! Wenge is good, too, but quite a bit more expensive. Purpleheart is $4.95/bf wenge is $19.95/bf here in my area. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted December 12, 2003 Report Share Posted December 12, 2003 I reccomend purpleheart. Its inexpesive, beautiful, and STRONG! Wenge is good, too, but quite a bit more expensive. Purpleheart is $4.95/bf wenge is $19.95/bf here in my area. yes...but it's PURPLE!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snork Posted December 12, 2003 Report Share Posted December 12, 2003 try bubinga. its an incredibly hard and dense wood with a tight grain. its dark and it stains well. check it out! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GuitarMaestro Posted December 12, 2003 Author Report Share Posted December 12, 2003 Hmmm....I am just not sure. I have this quatersawn curly hardmaple neck blank here. It is a very special 39" long piece, I want to use for a neckthrough guitar. Do you think I need to insert the centerpiece to get it stable enough or will it be stiff enough if I just use the blank as it is? It would be sad to cut this special blank. It was not easy to get a neck blank which is 39" long and 2" high. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Litchfield Custom Gutars Posted December 12, 2003 Report Share Posted December 12, 2003 I reccomend purpleheart. Its inexpesive, beautiful, and STRONG! Wenge is good, too, but quite a bit more expensive. Purpleheart is $4.95/bf wenge is $19.95/bf here in my area. yes...but it's PURPLE!!!!! So? Whats wrong with purple? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snork Posted December 12, 2003 Report Share Posted December 12, 2003 (edited) by the way.... Edited December 12, 2003 by Brian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Rosenberger Posted December 12, 2003 Report Share Posted December 12, 2003 Hmmm....I am just not sure. I have this quatersawn curly hardmaple neck blank here. It is a very special 39" long piece, I want to use for a neckthrough guitar. Do you think I need to insert the centerpiece to get it stable enough or will it be stiff enough if I just use the blank as it is? It would be sad to cut this special blank. It was not easy to get a neck blank which is 39" long and 2" high. Use a two way truss rod and Carbon Fiber Rods. no need to laminate the neck, unless you really want to Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canuckguitarist Posted December 12, 2003 Report Share Posted December 12, 2003 I reccomend purpleheart. Its inexpesive, beautiful, and STRONG! Wenge is good, too, but quite a bit more expensive. Purpleheart is $4.95/bf wenge is $19.95/bf here in my area. yes...but it's PURPLE!!!!! don't say that near derek and isn't wenge poisonous? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted December 12, 2003 Report Share Posted December 12, 2003 by the way.... screw you wes.. keep it in the slam topic...brian already warned about that Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snork Posted December 12, 2003 Report Share Posted December 12, 2003 see you there....... champ............. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted December 12, 2003 Report Share Posted December 12, 2003 see you there....... champ............. that's more like it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snork Posted December 12, 2003 Report Share Posted December 12, 2003 .grrrrrrrrr............ anyway bubinga is a great wood...........grrrrrrrrrrrrr.......wes................must...........kill............. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krazyderek Posted December 12, 2003 Report Share Posted December 12, 2003 I reccomend purpleheart. Its inexpesive, beautiful, and STRONG! Wenge is good, too, but quite a bit more expensive. Purpleheart is $4.95/bf wenge is $19.95/bf here in my area. yes...but it's PURPLE!!!!! don't say that near derek and isn't wenge poisonous? carefully wes *takes out his people to thwart very badly list* Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted December 12, 2003 Report Share Posted December 12, 2003 hehe.now now derek....you just play your purple guitars and forget i said anything Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted December 12, 2003 Report Share Posted December 12, 2003 i still prefer bubinga...just as hard and better color Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krazyderek Posted December 12, 2003 Report Share Posted December 12, 2003 seriously though, a good peice of bubinga is a good choice, scott also has a good point with the carbon and a double rod, that's actualy and easier rout too if it's your first neck. But if you really want to laminate the best wood would be ebony, very very very hard wood, again bubinga, wenge, but also take into consideration stability (the tendencay NOT to warp) ebony being very stable and VERY expensive, purple heart and some of the other heart woods are also great foor stability, and cost 12 times LESS then ebony oh and if you leave purple heart raw ( no finish, cause it doesn't neet to be sealed) it'll eventually turn a nice brown Wes , i'm not sure if you want speed with up though, it's just the natural oxidation cycle of the wood that changes that results in a colour change. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Posted December 12, 2003 Report Share Posted December 12, 2003 Why not a clear Maple? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GuitarMaestro Posted December 12, 2003 Author Report Share Posted December 12, 2003 Thank you very much for all your answers! I think I'll go with Ebony, Bubinga or Wenge. Price doesnt matter, as I want to build the best guitar for myself and not an affordable one. I often heard that Purpleheart is a very solid wood. But the Purple color is really not my taste. Greets, Marcel Knapp! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Setch Posted December 12, 2003 Report Share Posted December 12, 2003 Marcel, observing your postings on both the mimf and on here it is obvious you want to build a very special guitar. I don't doubt you are capable of building one, but your first instrument is unlikely to be it. Save the fancy blank. Build the best guitar you can with homely but functional woods, solid but inexpensive hardware and the like. Your first guitar will not be a POS, but it will not be the flawless dream-machine you imagine. Once you've racked up some experience and woodworking chops you'll be ready to tackle that fancy flame maple. I know you've made a pratice neck, but there is no substitute for building a whole instrument (or 2) before moving to the high end materials and pricey hardware. I'm in the last stages of instrument #3, and I'm still making the occasional boo-boo which would be heart breaking on more expensive materials. Maybe on the next one I'll be ready to pull out all the chocks on a fancy top and primo korina body, maybe not... Just my 2 pennies/cents/pfennigs/euros Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daveq Posted December 12, 2003 Report Share Posted December 12, 2003 Marcel does appear to be doing lots of homework on his project but I agree with Setch. I learned a ton from my first guitar and boy am I glad I didn't use expensive materials. Most of my mistakes are not visible and the guitar plays great. In fact, I don't play my store-bought guitars anymore. I'm still learning and adding in the more expensive materials as I go. If you're only planning on building one guitar - then by all means do it up. If not, then save the good stuff for when you really know what to watch out for. Good luck - looking forward to seeing it. I need to get a digital camera some day and post some of mine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G_urr_A Posted December 12, 2003 Report Share Posted December 12, 2003 yes...but it's PURPLE!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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