A raw neck wood that's heavy, can be drilled w/o issue, and sounds good?

[Learning]

Basically, I have a Deluxe MiM Strat with a Fender recessed heel and a resonance issue, and I'm looking for a replacement neck that;

a) won't crack or splinter when I drill the offset hole for the Fender recessed heel, and
b) adds enough weight that it'll move the resonance issue to a less noticeable frequency (it currently has a distinct WAAHHHNNN on any chord where the G is open)
c) if it adds a bit of punch (over the current one-piece maple) so much the better
d) resistance to temp/humidity changes also a plus - Melbourne is a four-seasons-in-one-day kind of town.

The woods I've been considering are:

Padouk - looks good, seems tough, might sound exactly like maple, no real weight difference?
Pau Ferro - apparently very slick, good for rock, heavier than maple
Goncalo Alves - heavy, tough, waxy feel (have yet to read a good description of what this means), not sure if it's any good tonally
Wenge - I hear a lot about great neck feel and snappy sound, but apparently it splinters if you work it and can easily cause infection (due to open grain housing bacteria)
Canary - not the most inspiring look, but ticks every other box?

Thoughts? Any other suggestions?

 

[bagman67]

I don't want to talk anyone out of buying a new neck, because Warmoth necks are awesome; but is it possible you might have an issue with your nut or the g-string tuning peg that is giving rise to the open-G phenomenon?  It is definitely not specifically correlated to the weight of the lumber involved.  If it's not a funky nut or tuning machine imparting the odd overtone or whatever it is, maybe you just have a weird neck or a poorly fitted truss rod.  So go with whatever lumber species looks pretty and rely on the tone chart Warmoth supplies to give you an idea what to expect.


http://www.warmoth.com/Guitar/Necks/NeckWoods.aspx



You'll want a vintage or vintage-modern construction part so you can drill the hole for the Fender contoured-heel recess.  Modern construction uses the Gotoh side-adjust truss rod thingy, which will interfere with the offset screw.  Of the vintage and vintage/modern, the vintage/modern is likely to be the more stable part.  In any event, if you have a sharp drill bit of the appropriate diameter and a drill press, none of the species Warmoth offers should give you any trouble with splintering or cracking.  If you want to be super-duper secure with the thing,  you can install (or have installed) threaded inserts that will never strip and will hold the neck heel more tightly in the pocket than wood screws can.


Wenge is not really that big a bugaboo for the minor amount of work you'd need to do with it to install tuning machines and neck mounting holes.  If you were building a neck or body from raw lumber, you might encounter enough sawdust to inspire an allergic reaction, but if you are not otherwise unusually sensitive, you should have no problem.  If you want to sand the neck with finer paper to burnish it up, wear nitrile gloves and a dust mask and you'll be fine.  It naturally feels very slick and dry.  While wenge does have deeper pores in its open grain, if you are in the habit of washing your hands before and wiping off your guitar after playing, you shouldn't have a problem.


Canary has the potential to be sexy as all get out.  My canary neck with an ebony fretboard is my favorite.  I think the red streaking is very nifty. 

Padouk is attractive but heavyish.  The intense red-orange will oxidize to a medium brown over time, which may or may not matter to you.


Goncalo alves is similar in feel to canary, in my opinion, maybe a little fuzzier initially  but it gets good and slick with prolonged playing or intentional burnishing.  I like the heavily striped stuff but that's purely a matter of aesthetic tastes.


Many board members who have installed pau ferro necks say they are their most pleasurable parts to play.  They are velvety slick and have a very pleasing middle-of-the-guitar-voice resonance.  I don't have one and haven't played one, but they sure are pretty to look at.


For information about burnishing a raw neck (one of the hardwoods that does not require a finish), see this thread.


http://www.unofficialwarmoth.com/index.php?topic=19901.0


Finally, do yourself a favor and have stainless steel frets installed.  They are so damn sweet to play on.  Bends are glassy smooth.  You'll never look back.

 

[Learning]

@Bagman67 That is an exceptionally helpful reply, thank you!

I've had a few issues with this neck. The string trees had burrs on them, the nut was cut poorly, the shop that replaced the nut for me took a chunk out of the neck above the nut when they took the old one out (and glued it back on and didn't tell me it happened), and I'm pretty sure there's a high fret somewhere in the middle of the fretboard. Also, on an aesthetic level, I'm not a huge fan of the CBS headstock or the double string tree arrangement. In short, I'm sick of looking at the thing. I appreciate trying to help save me money, though! The action has been adjusted a couple of times, so I don't think the resonance is a truss rod thing.

I've been looking specifically at Vintage/Modern because of the side adjust thing - unfortunately it severely limits the custom options, meaning I'm mostly looking at in stock necks. Hopefully the 3 other predrilled holes line up.

That Canary neck looks great! My strat is tobacco burst, so I'm looking for a touch of red like that.

Still unsure about the SS frets, in the Warmoth demo video I actually preferred the nickel sound, and I hear the SS can sizzle a bit?

 

[stratamania]

With regard to SS frets, as long as they are polished properly and have no marks in them from files or sandpaper they are very smooth and bends etc are a joy to do.

Most of what you read on the web about is just the same uninformed cliches being regurgitated by those who have not used them or folks who don't want to work with them because of better tools being needed.

Stainless steel frets in these guitars... sound good enough?

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUZK_QlY4VI
[/youtube]

 

[Learning]

@stratamania Certainly sounds good to me! I understand that, in the acoustic world, Tommy Emmanuel switched to SS also, but mainly because he wears through a guitar every 5 years or so and needed something a little tougher. Weirdly, he said he had finger pain for about a month after making the switch. Maybe that's just an acoustic problem.

With the help of the awful photo manipulation app that comes with Windows, some mockups have me thinking either Goncalo or Pau Ferro will look best with tobacco burst.

Hmmmm.

 

[Logrinn]

I’ll throw in another wood type in the discussion. Here’s my Warmoth Mustang neck made of Bloodwood (on the right next to a roasted maple neck in the first picture). Bloodwood is pretty heavy, has excellent sustain and tone, feels smooth as glass and looks great. And doesn’t need any finish.

 

[Learning]

@Logrinn

That is an outstanding looking neck - I'm a little envious.

Annoyingly for me, Warmoth only offer Bloodwood on Modern Construction Strat necks when not in the showcase, and as Bagman67 was saying, that construction is incompatible with the bolt pattern on my strat body. The story is the same for the other exotics listed here, except that for whatever reason, there are some Vintage/Modern showcase only necks in those woods in stock at the moment. Nothing at all in Bloodwood, currently. 

That recessed heel is fast becoming the least convenient convenience feature.

 

[Logrinn]

Right, sorry, didn’t think about that.
Somewhere in the back of my mind I guess I knew that, but forgot about it.
In that case I would voice my recommendation for a neck made of wenge. I’ve never seen a guitar neck made of wenge in real life, but I have seen several basses with necks made of this. I always found them beautiful to behold and the wood felt really nice to the touch.
I would consider such a neck myself but only with a body that wasn’t too light. I wouldn’t want a guitar with neck dive issues (as was the case with the red 7/8 Tele I got the bloodwood neck for in the first place).

 

[Learning]

@Logrinn I don't think neck dive will be an issue with this strat - it's not a light one!

I've certainly been giving the wenge options a look. I just wish it were a more common material so that I could feel it in person. Seems like it'd be love it or hate it.

 

[TBurst Std]

Head to your local wood shop (not big box).  They will have some.  Found Wenge at both Woodcrafters and Rockingers

 

[Learning]

@TBurst Std I'll have to look up the Australian equivalents to those stores and see if it's a wood that makes it over here for other applications, but it's a good idea.

 

[Logrinn]

Perhaps a store near you have some Warwick basses in stock. They usually come with wenge necks/fingerboards.
That would give you a chance to try them out before you decide to order a Warmoth neck.

 

[stratamania]

Logrinn, the bloodwood neck almost looks as though it has a finish. Did you "burnish" it or is it just from playing?

 

[Logrinn]

No, it's totally unfinished. It looked that way when I got it from Warmoth. Extremely smooth. It's like someone at Warmoth went through the trouble to burnish it for me. It's also not from playing. Although I've played it a fair bit, I haven't played it nearly as much as my other roasted maple necks.

 

[stratamania]

Looks very nice Logrinn.

/end of thread hijack... :rock-on:

 

[Learning]

@Logrinn So it turns out there something local, although I think they might chase me out of the store if I start fondling it. Don't know much about bass, but it sure looks nice:

https://www.basscentre.com.au/products/used-warwick-1989-thumb-6-neck-thru-w-case

 

[Logrinn]

Chase you out? You? A potential buyer? Never!
Just tell them that a friend recommended you check that particular bass out.  :icon_thumright:

Let us know what you thought of it when you’ve had a chance to fondle that wenge (and bubinga).

 

[TonyFlyingSquirrel]

Just thought I'd ask.

What's the break angle of the G string over the nut to the tuning post?

Is there enough downward pressure in the string as it goes over the nut as to properly seat the string in the nut so that it doesn't slightly float in the nut slot when played open? 

If so, you'll likely benefit from a tuner with a lower profile, or a string retainer to bring that angle downward ever so much to seat that string appropriately.

 

[Learning]

@TonyFlyingSquirrel This particular model has all short tuner posts AND two string trees - the angle looks reasonable to me (and waaaay steep for the wound strings).

Is this a flaw of the CBS headstock?  A wider headstock meant a shallower headstock to avoid lumber wastage, resulting in drastic measures to achieve the correct break angle? I don't have a standard strat headstock here to compare.

On the wood front, I'm still looking at Pau Ferro, Goncalo Alves (with a ziricote or similar board), and wenge. Looking over the neck profiles again I think the Roundback might be suitable, as the Standard Thin is actually .2" thinner than Fender's Modern C, whereas Roundback is .2 or so fatter, which I think I might like.

There are couple of Pau Ferro ($$$) and wenge Roundback options in the showcase right now, but no suitable Goncalo yet.

There's ebony. Any thoughts on ebony as a neck material? Looks very, very heavy.

 

[stratamania]

A wider CBS style headstock is no different to the narrower style headstock in terms of a break angle or construction method in that regard it is just a different shape.