what kinda wood for a neck?

[Elton]

my shop teachers got cedar, cherry, poplar, and other things i forgot,

but what kinda wood is suitable for a guitar neck? wide grain or narrow grain? can anybody suggest any alternate woods i can use to make a neck?

i doubt he will let me use the maple, he siad its not the hard maple u find in baseball bats so i dont even know if u can use that for necks.....

[MzI]

eastern rock maple and mahogany work good theres others check out the warmoth site they have a whole list of woods that they use for necks and such

MzI

[Curtis P]

I would use cherry, its VERY VERY nice to work with, I mean EXTREMELY, i am lovin it!

maybe cherry with a mahogany strip down the centre, or maybe take some beach, with cherry centre, beach is a very nice wood, i dont know its tonal properites though..

Curtis

[mullmuzzler]

Personaly, I would opt for maple or ebony. But, if you're looking for something different, here's qoute from Tom Anderson Guitars:

Tone Reference Library: Neck Woods

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Neck wood lends color to the guitars tonal character which is primarily defined by the body wood.

The most frequent topic in the neck wood debate is Solid Maple vs. Maple with a rosewood fingerboard : Most people who are interested in the sonic influences of wood have heard it said, a maple neck produces a brighter sound than that of maple with a rosewood fingerboard. However, allow us to elaborate. Solid maple doesn't seem to chop off the bottom end of the sound as much as it seems to tighten and control that bottom. So, a maple neck does have a good bottom end but with clarity, definition and control. Rosewood on the other hand has a looser, louder bottom end sound to it. As far as the high end is concerned, maple does the same thing up here. It tightens and controls the high end so you don't really hear the sparkling upper end that the rosewood makes. (Something like the sizzle of the drummer's high hat cymbals) In the midrange, solid maple is clear and present without sounding hard, while rosewood is breathy and scooped in the mid to upper mid range area.

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Hard Rock Maple

Maple produces a wide, clear mid-range tone that has a tight bottom end with not a lot of very high highs.

Hard Rock Maple, African Rosewood Fretboard

A bit more clear and pronounced. Medium to lighter brown in color. The sound is still full and rich but a bit more clear and pronounced. This is the rosewood primarily used on Cobras. It also sounds great with many woods, including swamp ash.

Hard Rock Maple, Madagascar Rosewood Fretboard

Rich full sound with a dark reddish brown color which turns very dark with time. The sound is rich and full as well, with perhaps a bit less sparkle.

Hard Rock Maple, Palisander Fretboard

Hard Rock Maple, Pau Ferro Fretboard

The color of this board is from medium to lighter brown. It has very tight, small pores. The sound is a wide mid-range tone which is pronounced in the upper mid-range area.

Hard Rock Maple, Rosewood Fretboard

A Maple neck with Rosewood fingerboard has a full sounding tone wih a bigger, looser bottom end, a softer breathy middle and a sparkling high end. Indian Rosewood is medium to dark brown in color. The sound is full and rich.

Mahogany, Madagascar Rosewood Fretboard

Mahogany, Rosewood Fretboard

This is the Cobra's neck wood combination. The sound is full and thick but is offered only on the shorter scale Cobras.

_________________________________________________________________

mullmuzzler | OSSMT

[JohnJohn]

If you had to chose what he's got in stock I'd go with the Cherry.Good solid wood and it looks nice.Just get your grain direction down.Cherry can really chatter if you're not careful.

[westhemann]

yeah cherry is nice.i find my cherry neck to be quite stiff but it is a 3 piece laminate and is a rather thick neck.

but i think if you want a wizard thin one piece neck the only choice is rock maple(or bocote or similar)with a tough fingerboard such as ebony.

[JohnJohn]

You can add support pieces beside the truss rod cavity for added strength.