Ash As A Neck Material ?

[pauliemc]

Was asked to make a replacement neck for a friends JEM7.

He wants it slightly thicker than the standard ibanez. Ash with a rosewood board, & no scarf joint, Something similar to a standard fender neck as opposed to the standard ibanez jem unit.

It will be northern hard ash, im fairly sure the wood will be more than strong enough for a neck ,but never having tried it I am wondering about tone.

Has anybody here ever tried an ash neck ??

[avengers63]

Not yet. I've been giving it some serious consideration though. My only real worry is tearout in the carving stage.

[Bmth Builder]

I asked a while ago, no one seemed to say no dont do it it will explode, but there dont seem to be many accounts of good ash necks either.

http://projectguitar.ibforums.com/index.ph...c=38690&hl=

I plan on doing one myself this summer, but with many laminates and CF rods just to be sure.

[killemall8]

I wouldnt use it just because of the HUGE grain lines and massive amount of runout ash always has.

[pauliemc]

I wouldnt use it just because of the HUGE grain lines and massive amount of runout ash always has.

I duno. Im thinking i might just try it & see what happens. They use it for hurls over here & those things can take a serious hammering. I have an old one that is still pin straight after about 15 years.

If nothing else it will answer the question of wether its a useable neck material or not.

[orgmorg]

Ash is a very strong wood, and is easy to find with straight grain. Only real problem is the open grain, and that can be filled or ignored.

[ScottR]

It is prized for its resistence to shock; often used for axe handles and and baseball bats over here. We already know it sounds good. Grain shouldn't be much more difficult than wenge.

Go for it!

SR

[RestorationAD]

Maybe you could stamp "Lighting Boy" in the back...

You will have to work it with rasps and files as I think it would be hard to keep the spoke shave sharp enough. Also watch the soft grain as it will cut faster. If I was going to do it (I would use a Louisville Slugger ala John Fogerty) I would laminate it and try to get it as close to quartersawn as I could.

[pauliemc]

Maybe you could stamp "Lighting Boy" in the back...

You will have to work it with rasps and files as I think it would be hard to keep the spoke shave sharp enough. Also watch the soft grain as it will cut faster. If I was going to do it (I would use a Louisville Slugger ala John Fogerty) I would laminate it and try to get it as close to quartersawn as I could.

I dont use a spoke shave for necks. I only use rasps. The router is used for the front profile (fret board taper, headstock shape) but then its rasps all the way.

Guy wants flat sawn so im kinda stuck there. Its started anyway. But ill be doing a laminated version aswell. could make a nice experiment to see how they fare.

The back profile will be 22mm at the first fret up to 25mm at the 17th. so its gona be fairly beefy. I rekon there will be no problems.

I had a piece in the vice earlier to see just how strong it realy is. at 50x22mm thick 300mm long - it started moving the bench before it snapped. (bench is mabe up of 3 9x4 inch pine boards 6 foot long, bolted together for a top with 6 more 850mm long for legs) so its strong.

[ihocky2]

My main concern would be the weight. Ash is VERY heavy, so a thick ash neck is going to want to neck dive pretty badly.

[redb]

My main concern would be the weight. Ash is VERY heavy, so a thick ash neck is going to want to neck dive pretty badly.

get em to take an ash body aswell !!!

[jaycee]

I have had a Ash neck (2 piece horizontal laminate) for 3 years on my strat with no issues

[pauliemc]

I have had a Ash neck (2 piece horizontal laminate) for 3 years on my strat with no issues

Cool. What fret board are you using ?

Any taughts on the tone aspect of it ?

As for the weight. I may just be lucky but the 2 blanks i have cut are realy light. Not quite as light as my walnut necks but almost as light as maple. But I will see when they are finished i suppose.

Oddly enough they both have a very diferent tap tone. despite being basicaly the same billet just split down the middle. One is very hollow sounding & loud.

The other is kind of quiet & very high pitched.

[RestorationAD]

Oddly enough they both have a very diferent tap tone. despite being basicaly the same billet just split down the middle. One is very hollow sounding & loud.

The other is kind of quiet & very high pitched.

Guessing that is do to the radically different grain patterns...

I would suspect the hollow sound comes from more soft grain content. If I was gambling I would say the higher pitched is heavier? I could have it backwards though...

Northern ash is strong. I have used for several bodies over the years. I would watch for movement... like after shaping the back of the neck. It also sucks up glue. I usually use the wet, wipe, let sit a minute, wet, clamp method even on regular joints. Since you are not doing a scarf it should not be an issue.

[sleen]

quote]

Guessing that is do to the radically different grain patterns...

I would suspect the hollow sound comes from more soft grain content. If I was gambling I would say the higher pitched is heavier? I could have it backwards though...

Northern ash is strong. I have used for several bodies over the years. I would watch for movement... like after shaping the back of the neck. It also sucks up glue. I usually use the wet, wipe, let sit a minute, wet, clamp method even on regular joints. Since you are not doing a scarf it should not be an issue.

Edited May 26, 2010 by sleen

[jaycee]

I have had a Ash neck (2 piece horizontal laminate) for 3 years on my strat with no issues

Cool. What fret board are you using ?

Any taughts on the tone aspect of it ?

I'd say it gives has a brighter tone than Sapele, and the fretboard wood is American Oak so I was told. To be honest I used the Ash as it was left over from a previous job and had been sitting for 10 years, and the Oak was a piece reclaimed from a bank re-fit.

What Sleen said about movement is the same I experienced in pieces from 10mm thick down, it does have a tendancey to move at those thicknesses.

I wouldn't hesitate in using again.

[pauliemc]

OK, Well the blanks are cut to thickness & rough shaped a few days now. No movement so thats a good sign.

will be making 2 necks together. 01 with no inlay, & 01 inlayed with a cartoon space ship. I will throw up piks if anyone is interested.

[ScottR]

OK, Well the blanks are cut to thickness & rough shaped a few days now. No movement so thats a good sign.

will be making 2 necks together. 01 with no inlay, & 01 inlayed with a cartoon space ship. I will throw up piks if anyone is interested.

Of course we're interested. Your work is top notch and an inspiration to all of us.

And you owe us some pics from projects begun.....and only nearly finished.

SR

[pauliemc]

OK, Well the blanks are cut to thickness & rough shaped a few days now. No movement so thats a good sign.

will be making 2 necks together. 01 with no inlay, & 01 inlayed with a cartoon space ship. I will throw up piks if anyone is interested.

Of course we're interested. Your work is top notch and an inspiration to all of us.

And you owe us some pics from projects begun.....and only nearly finished.

SR

HA HA HA, yea i suk for takin piks. even worse for up loading them. Promise ill be good for a while & put a few up.

[cainy]

Was asked to make a replacement neck for a friends JEM7.

He wants it slightly thicker than the standard ibanez. Ash with a rosewood board, & no scarf joint, Something similar to a standard fender neck as opposed to the standard ibanez jem unit.

It will be northern hard ash, im fairly sure the wood will be more than strong enough for a neck ,but never having tried it I am wondering about tone.

Has anybody here ever tried an ash neck ??

i have made two ash necks, a 5 piece out of alpine ash(australian native possibly) what came out rather great i thought rather sharp tonal effects

and then a European single piece carbon coated neck(think parker on steroids) which in comparison to my other carbon coated necks is really dull and lifeless so on the tonal side of things aussie alpine ash is a feasible tone wood although very heavy!

but euro on the other hand i will not bother touching again.

[pauliemc]

Was asked to make a replacement neck for a friends JEM7.

He wants it slightly thicker than the standard ibanez. Ash with a rosewood board, & no scarf joint, Something similar to a standard fender neck as opposed to the standard ibanez jem unit.

It will be northern hard ash, im fairly sure the wood will be more than strong enough for a neck ,but never having tried it I am wondering about tone.

Has anybody here ever tried an ash neck ??

i have made two ash necks, a 5 piece out of alpine ash(australian native possibly) what came out rather great i thought rather sharp tonal effects

and then a European single piece carbon coated neck(think parker on steroids) which in comparison to my other carbon coated necks is really dull and lifeless so on the tonal side of things aussie alpine ash is a feasible tone wood although very heavy!

but euro on the other hand i will not bother touching again.

This is American Ash. It is fairly bright on the tap tone. I will let you know what I think when they are done.