a black korina jazzmaster. which neck woods?

[jorri]

Can anyone recommend some woods that would work well for a korina jazzmaster i am building. i tend to like bassier tones, but with more detail growl and resonance rather than round or fat sounding woods. I'm completely new to this, but see no reason not to try out wood combinations i cant buy.

my ideas were- padouk n, purpleheart fb

                    - or goncalo or wenge n, pau ferro fb

it seems like descriptions of purpleheart best fit the kind of sound i want, 'thick bass' 'piano tone' 'rickenbackers'...
and i also want it unfinished, which is partly a playability/look thing and partly cost. (i'm doing the body myself in Oil finish too.)

but the part i'm confused about is how woods fit together tonally. like the effect of the type of body would compared to neck wood; what would be the tonal difference in having a dark sounding neck with a bright fretboard, and a bright sounding neck with a dark fretboard.
for example, I know on an acoustic guitar, the wood of the top, and the wood of the back very much effect different aspects of the sound, and wonder if this translates to electrics in the choice of neck and fingerbords.

 

[Mor Paul]

Let's see if I remember how we generally rank in tone-affecting:
Amp, pickups, strings, neck wood, body wood, nut, fretboard, bridge, frets, unobtanium knobs.
I think that's about it, right?

 

[rockskate4x]

the winning combination that I've observed multiple times is wenge with an ebony board for korina bodies, but I imagine that you could just get what looks and feels and suits your wallet best and not have to worry about the sound too much.

 

[jorri]

thanks for the advice. i suppose the main thing i will notice is that it will be a jazzmaster with flats into an ac30 and whatever effects i'm using..

i've gone with purpleheart neck and pau ferro board, which seems close enough to wenge/ebony like suggested. got the purpleheart on the actual neck if it actually affects everything moe that way. and slight rolloff of highs on the board- i like rosewood, usually dislike maple and pau ferro is apparently rosewood with more brightness.

few other questions and i'll be ordering.. do you know if they can route a strat style middle pickup with two jms, or should i get a universal route.?
                                                          getting stock (probabyl AVRI fender) hardware, and want to know if the bridge will fi a 9" radius aswell.
                                                          other than that i'm all set to go for the moment!

 

[m4rk0]

Let's see if I remember how we generally rank in tone-affecting:
Amp, pickups, strings, neck wood, body wood, nut, fretboard, bridge, frets, unobtanium knobs.
I think that's about it, right?

and you should know.... having tried all those different tonewood combinations......

Go for Wenge / Ebony!!

 

[NonsenseTele]

Rosewood
But Wenge will work too

 

[jorri]

ok, but why wenge/ebony?

sustain? balance? resonance? complexity? bright? bassy?

are there just certain woods that just blend well together?

just asking, because apart from the subjectivity of it all, a JM sounds quite different, and flatwound strings sound quite different. but at the end i dont want a jazz sound out of it.

if its not going to sound like a shoebox and elastic bands (ok overaggeration) i'll probably get what i selected...

 

[Mor Paul]

Well, wenge is a fast feeling, open-pored neckback, while ebony is a tight-grained, smooth, hard fretboard.

~I think.

 

[dbw]

We honestly can't help you.  You obviously know exactly what sound you're looking for and words like "complexity" and "resonance" are way too vague.  You really can't describe tone in words... that's why 3/4 of all gear marketing is necessarily BS.  Just get wenge/ebony or bubinga/ebony... those are in the ballpark and they feel and sound great.  Purpleheart is very... purple.  Make sure you can live with that.  I think bubinga is pretty similar except in color.

As for fretboards... well, what's in a fretboard?  Would a neck with any other fretboard sound as sweet?  Probably.  I always say go with ebony... I have two ebony fretboards, the feel is just superior.  If there's any difference in the tone, I don't notice... I just set my tone knob by ear.

I think you just gotta pick one and see if it's right for you  :guitarplayer2:  You can always build more

 

[m4rk0]

if you want extreme sustain, piano tone, strong bass and nice bright tones,  you may want to try bloodwood w/ebony fretboard, or all ebony.
it will be heavy, but worth it!

 

[DocNrock]

I'll put my 2 cents in here.  Wenge/ebony.  I have two black korina guitars with wenge/ebony.  They go very well together. 

 

[tfarny]

It's going to sound like your pickups, strings, playing style, and rig. You are NOT 'setting the EQ' on your sound by picking wood species - pick a wood mainly for looks, feel, and price. Ever noticed that, unplugged, electric guitars all sound fairly similar? Some may be more resonant than other but there are many factors besides wood species that come into play, that you haven't even gotten into - like the Jazzmaster bridge, made famous as Leo's worst invention, sustain / tuning killer, that you still want to put on this custom axe.
Ebony and wenge are awesome, btw. So is all-rosewood. But lots of other combos that I haven't tried are also awesome, I'm sure. Just pick one and love it, it's really that simple. And make sure you get a first-class setup if you can't do it yourself, and fretwork if it needs it. That stuff matters hugely.

 

[jorri]

well i was asking what made certain woods the best in your opinions. i know some people want endless sustai and thats about it. me i'm not too bothered about sustain and want the tonality. i'm not sure what excact sound i'm looking for but i know probably all the woods from warmoth are 'awesome' or 'winners'.

I've never noticed two unplugged electrics that sound the same, that is why i'm asking. i definately notice the difference between a guitar with a maple fretboard and one with rosewood, a plastic vs tortex plectrum, whether the fretboard and frets are clean, so why wouldnt i notice a difference with neck wood?

and have carefully selected other features, yes the bridge was my descision, but i'm settled things like that. (which i like, and most people dont like because its not obvious to set up, and play with low tension strings). to be honest some of the appalling setups i've come across, the JM bridge may well have more sustain, set up properly, by myself.

and i cant build more after this, cannot afford it!

 

[DocNrock]

well i was asking what made certain woods the best in your opinions. i know some people want endless sustai and thats about it. me i'm not too bothered about sustain and want the tonality. i'm not sure what excact sound i'm looking for but i know probably all the woods from warmoth are 'awesome' or 'winners'.

I've never noticed two unplugged electrics that sound the same, that is why i'm asking. i definately notice the difference between a guitar with a maple fretboard and one with rosewood, a plastic vs tortex plectrum, whether the fretboard and frets are clean, so why wouldnt i notice a difference with neck wood?

and have carefully selected other features, yes the bridge was my descision, but i'm settled things like that. (which i like, and most people dont like because its not obvious to set up, and play with low tension strings). to be honest some of the appalling setups i've come across, the JM bridge may well have more sustain, set up properly, by myself.

and i cant build more after this, cannot afford it!

And I will say, the "howling mids" from a wenge neck is a very accurate description.  :icon_thumright:

 

[jorri]

thanks. i've done a bit more research now, and played a couple of different guitars(be them not JMs), and you're right, i will probably get wenge/ebony now!. the explanations of bass and low-mids are excactly what i want!
ebony makes sense too being v. bright as the other woods are not, and i'm choosing a graphite nut too which is warm.
another thing i''ll mention is through an ac30, you very much can hear in detail what you put in it, all the nuances, and the EQ is not a normal EQ. it'll very much sound in voicing like the guitar you put in it, while still being unmistakeably an ac30. needs to be close enough to perfect as what i want, an EQ wont change that afterwards, as someone previously said..

cant wait. ordering the body and neck over the next few days, though will have too wait a while for everything else(which will be from uk, where i am). in the mean-time oil-finishing it, and praying i dont screw it up!
i'm waiting for a reply at the moment from warmoth about some other specific things like dimensions and then i'm set to go!