lunchbox Posted July 20, 2010 Report Share Posted July 20, 2010 How is Black Walnut as a solid body wood, and possibly a neck wood? I don't know if any of the wood is suitable for a neck as I don't believe any of it is quartersawn. What is the tone like? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattia Posted July 20, 2010 Report Share Posted July 20, 2010 Yes to both, and you can always flip and laminate if it's flatsawn. As for tone, I'd call it warm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NotYou Posted July 20, 2010 Report Share Posted July 20, 2010 (edited) Personally, I think walnut is one the best neck woods there is. The sound is just a little on the bright side (not nearly as much as maple) very woody. Saying it's bright is misleading, though. You could maybe call it warm sometimes. Its somewhere in the middle I guess. The best part of it is the timbre. Like I said before, it's very "woody" and organic sounding. It's also a pretty stable wood and extremely easy to carve. It's like mahogany in that its sound varies from piece to piece. Some will sound amazing and other might just sound okay, even from the same tree. Even the sapwood (it's whitish) has it's own sound. Edited July 20, 2010 by NotYou Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IPA or death Posted July 20, 2010 Report Share Posted July 20, 2010 I love it too. I have a mahogany bodied guitar with a black walnut neck and it's really nice. The look alone is reason enough to use it in guitars but it also sounds great. I agree that it's going to vary from piece to piece but I don't really think anyone would dislike the tone. Nice to work with. I'm making a neck-through mini guitar with black walnut in the neck now. Got a good stash of this stuff to use for more to come. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Narcissism Posted July 21, 2010 Report Share Posted July 21, 2010 I'm making two necks out of it right now. Its pleasant to work with, doesn't smell too bad when cut, and mine has a nice high pitched tap tone to it. The tap doesn't sustain too long, but it still sounds nice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WezV Posted July 21, 2010 Report Share Posted July 21, 2010 i love the sound of walnut guitars in isolation - but i do have concerns about there ability to cut through in the mix. Obviously its a problem that can be sorted with EQ so it wouldnt stop me making more walnut guitars Gibson did do some walnut guitars in the late 70's - like 'the paul'. and most i have played or repaired had a pleasantly different tone/timbre to the average gibson. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lunchbox Posted July 21, 2010 Author Report Share Posted July 21, 2010 Thanks for the replies! Someone had told me it wouldn't be a good wood to use because it is generally too heavy and dense. I thought I'd ask here for 2nd (3rd, 4th, whatever) opinions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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