jay5 Posted May 4, 2004 Report Share Posted May 4, 2004 I am just starting out building so I figure I should try and stock up on woods. I have been working with hard maple for necks and have liked it but I am curious as to what else is available for making one piece necks. By one piece I mean neck with seperate fingerboard. I may try a laminate neck down the road but I have very few tools at this point and cutting the neck out of a single piece works best for me at this point. Anyway, Warmoth has a whole list of woods used for necks, which of these have you guys had experience with and what do you like to use? Bocote Bubinga Canary Cocobolo Goncalo Alves Koa Limba Padouk Pau Ferro Walnut Ziricote Wenge Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skibum5545 Posted May 4, 2004 Report Share Posted May 4, 2004 Wenge is nice, it's what Warwick uses on old Thumb basses, very strong, has a WONDERFUL tone for basses, dunno bout guitars though, and sounds good with ebony fb. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guitar_ed Posted May 4, 2004 Report Share Posted May 4, 2004 Hi Jay, Another question that you need to ask is: What type of guitar/what kind of sound are you looking for? Also, do you want 1/4 sawn necks? If the wood is not 1/4 sawn, are you going to worry about stability, and if so what are going to do about it? Never thought there were so many things to think about, did you? Take care, and take pictures. Guitar Ed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jay5 Posted May 4, 2004 Author Report Share Posted May 4, 2004 Well, ideally I would look for 1/4 sawn. If I had a piece that was flatsawn I would probably use some carbon fiber rods. Im bassically building bolt on neck guitars. I will try glued in necks soon. I play mainly punk/rock so a gritty bridge pickup sound is what Im going for overall but I by no way want to limit my options for building. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guitarfrenzy Posted May 4, 2004 Report Share Posted May 4, 2004 Well, ideally I would look for 1/4 sawn. If I had a piece that was flatsawn I would probably use some carbon fiber rods. I put carbon fiber rods in every neck, even quatersawn ones. It just helps the neck out alot and relieves most of the truss rods work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted May 4, 2004 Report Share Posted May 4, 2004 which of these have you guys had experience with and what do you like to use? Bocote Walnut these 2 woods imo are nice...bocote especially...needs no finish Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Rosenberger Posted May 4, 2004 Report Share Posted May 4, 2004 Bloodwood (satine) and Rosewood need no finish either Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guitarfrenzy Posted May 4, 2004 Report Share Posted May 4, 2004 The reason I prefer maple over alot of the other woods is because you don't have to do the dreaded grain filling. I love Mahogany just as well as the next person, but you have an extra step finishing the wood that I'd rather not have. What are some other woods mentioned that doesn't need a grain filler? That's what I'd be more interested in.. lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krazyderek Posted May 4, 2004 Report Share Posted May 4, 2004 Bloodwood (satine) and Rosewood need no finish either mmmmmmm blood... oh ya, wood.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bassman Posted May 4, 2004 Report Share Posted May 4, 2004 cocobolo should be a good choice, it is very attractive and very strong- yet it is waxy so use naptha before glueing it. I am going to use it for the f board of a fretless bass. I imagine the tone will be pretty close to a ebony board, maybe a bit less bright. due to its waxiness finishing it may be tricky- as sanding it is- use a sraper for final smoothing- but I prefer natural finishes anways- good ol' boiled linseed oil, tung oil, and polyeurathane mixed together.- oh yeah watch out it is rather toxic (its dust at least), so take necessary precautions. Peace, RYan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Primal Posted May 4, 2004 Report Share Posted May 4, 2004 I used walnut for the neck on my bass (1/4" stripe of maple down the center). Walnut does have pores but since I like the look and feel of wood with pores it doesn't bother me. Not sure about what type of walnut mine is, but I think it is either Black Walnut or Peruvian walnut. Bass can be viewed here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted May 4, 2004 Report Share Posted May 4, 2004 The reason I prefer maple over alot of the other woods is because you don't have to do the dreaded grain filling. I love Mahogany just as well as the next person, but you have an extra step finishing the wood that I'd rather not have. What are some other woods mentioned that doesn't need a grain filler? That's what I'd be more interested in.. lol no grainfiller is needed on bocote...it does have small pores but they are shallow and the finish stops them up quick....but like i said it really needs no finish,so no filler either...and it actually feels pretty slick naturally Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devon Headen Posted May 5, 2004 Report Share Posted May 5, 2004 I can get some bocote neck blanks if you want them. It's 7/8" after S2S (it's rough sawn now). Quartersawn and kiln dried. StewMac's bolt on blanks are 13/16" x 4" x 27". I guess that'll make mine 7/8" x 27" x ?. Not sure how wide to make it. 3" should cut it easily for the neck, but the headstock will have to have ears added. With 3" I can get two blanks with my width, but at 4 inches, I can only get one, so the price would be significantly higher. I can get up to about 3.5" and still get two blanks out of the width (7"). Do you think 3.5 will be wide enough? If you're interested just reply and I'll try to get a price quote for you. I'll try to get a pic of this wood up. Very high quality stuff. Like I said quartersawn, and straight grain with no knots. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jay5 Posted May 6, 2004 Author Report Share Posted May 6, 2004 Ok, I have been looking around at wood and I have few questions. How would a neck out of only bloodwood be? Would it be a better to laminate it with something? How about paduak? I am hoping that I can get away without having to fork out $20 a neck for carbon rods as Im still kind of in the learning stage. I guess you get what you pay for though. Anyway, any comments are appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
asm Posted May 6, 2004 Report Share Posted May 6, 2004 question, how important is it that neck wood is quarter sawn compared to flat sawn? as you probably know, finding a nice piece of exotic wood in a big enough piece for a neck-thru is hard enough. now finding that same thing in quarter sawn is either rare or its gonna cost some serious $$$. could you just laminate a hard piece of wood in, and use Carbon fiber rods and be safe? thx t Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jay5 Posted May 7, 2004 Author Report Share Posted May 7, 2004 How would this piece work? http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...4300828680&rd=1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Litchfield Custom Gutars Posted May 7, 2004 Report Share Posted May 7, 2004 Bubinga and purpleheart rock! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Litchfield Custom Gutars Posted May 7, 2004 Report Share Posted May 7, 2004 And that is some nicely flamed wood there. Do it I says Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
urbansmurf Posted May 7, 2004 Report Share Posted May 7, 2004 i just kinda skimmed through this, so i dont know if someones already mentioned it, but cocobolo is very dangerous- the dust is like poison ivy, and if you inhale it, its bye bye luthier not to mention that its pretty heavy too, but it is very beautiful i made my first neck out of honduran mahogony, i love the color and feel of it, its also very light let me look for some pics... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
urbansmurf Posted May 7, 2004 Report Share Posted May 7, 2004 its a little bit darker in real life than these pics, oh well ill update pics when i get my fretboard on (yes, cocobolo, but i have a resperator) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devon Headen Posted May 9, 2004 Report Share Posted May 9, 2004 Is it just my eyes, or is that neck bending to the right in those pictures? Probably just my eyes buggin out on me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snork Posted May 9, 2004 Report Share Posted May 9, 2004 i think bubinga is wonderful... a little bright. but i certainly would not make a neck out of a flamed piece of maple unless it was heavily reinforced. or maybe had a laminate in the middle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
urbansmurf Posted May 9, 2004 Report Share Posted May 9, 2004 no, the neck isnt bent heh never heard of bubinga... google go! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.