dont use ash;
i personnally beleive that will kill the ''instrument''
even a multi-lam neck; stick to your hardwoods; straight quartered pieces
you need your neck to be as solid as possible ;woods with crazy grain are gonna pull every which way
my favs are hard maple, purpleheart lyptus and ebony
and please dont make a 2 laminate neck; it defeats the extra work even with straight grain hardwoods they could pull at certain spots that are joined with a weak grain and its not enuff to hold it back
and even just for looks stay with uneven # of laminates 1,3,5,7,9 etc.
hope that helps, but it problly means you have to spend mo' money
i read your msg again and i get why you wanted to use the ash in the neck ;so it looks all funky cathedrals and what not in the neck; but theres no excuse to use 'soft' maple; that would be a waste of your time;
but died ash would be a cool idea for the neck, if it was show piece you dont plan on playing