Ancient Kauri Strat body, Lace Chrome Domes - bubinga or wenge for the neck?

[shan564]

I'll soon be putting together a Strat with a chambered ancient Kauri (40,000 years old) body that I'm getting from a builder in New Zealand.  I have a pretty good idea of the sound I'm looking for - powerful, projecting, punchy, but still Strat-ish.  I'm using Lace Chrome Domes because their sound is described as a "Strat on Steroids", but still a bit rounded.  I'm hoping for a bit of an Eric Clapton sort of thing (a Strat for a guy who normally likes humbuckers), but with a bit higher output, and a bit of depth.  This piece of ancient Kauri is supposed to be a bit darker and richer than alder/ash but brighter than mahogany, plus the resonance of a hollow body.

Did that make sense?  It's impossible to really describe tone in words...

Anyway, I was hoping for recommendations for what to use on the neck.  There's always the classic maple, but that sounds a bit spankier than what I was hoping for.  I'm tempted by wenge because I'm hoping that it'll provide that howling midrange depth, but I'm not sure how well that would match tonally with a Strat body... might be a bit too heavy-sounding.  I've been reading around here that bubinga might be a good alternative - a bit brighter (so it might fit better with a Strat), but the midranges are still accentuated enough (so I'd get that creamy sound).  Any suggestions as to how the two might compare in a Strat-ish setting?  Has anybody tried comparing either to a maple Strat neck?

Whichever way I decide to go, I'll definitely post some clips on Youtube where I compare this neck (bubinga or wenge) to a maple neck that I'll swap in from another guitar.

 

[Super Turbo Deluxe Custom]

Sound clips and YouTube stuff is all good, but pics of this are must.  Can't wait.

 

[Nando Vallart]

Pics? I love the look of Kauri... Bought one that I asked "figured at extreme" and it came without any figuring ¬¬  :sad:

I think both woods would work great, as they've great definition with nice bass...

 

[crash]

Need pics!

Based on the specs of the chrome domes, they look very similar to the hot golds I have in my strat.  I have a koa body which is about middle of the road tonally.  I have a wenge neck which REALLY boosts the mids.  Based on you post, I would go with a brighter neck like bubinga.  With the lace pickups, you are not going to get that real bright sound you would get out of a set of nice vintage pups.  So the brighter neck would help.

If I were to build my guitar again (assuming I kept my hot golds), I would have gone with a brighter neck like buninga.  But that wenge is sooooo beautiful.  Either way, they both sound good.

 

[shan564]

Need pics!

Based on the specs of the chrome domes, they look very similar to the hot golds I have in my strat.  I have a koa body which is about middle of the road tonally.  I have a wenge neck which REALLY boosts the mids.  Based on you post, I would go with a brighter neck like bubinga.  With the lace pickups, you are not going to get that real bright sound you would get out of a set of nice vintage pups.  So the brighter neck would help.

If I were to build my guitar again (assuming I kept my hot golds), I would have gone with a brighter neck like buninga.  But that wenge is sooooo beautiful.  Either way, they both sound good.

Thanks for the feedback... I was thinking the same thing; I'm just always seriously tempted every time I read the description of wenge as a tonewood (the idea of powerful howling mids sounds awesome, but probably not right for this project).  I think I'll resist the temptation for now, and then maybe build a p90 guitar with a wenge neck sometime down the road.

I'll definitely put up some pics once the ball gets rolling.  The body isn't finished yet, but the builder is supposed to be sending me some pics of the progress on Sunday... hopefully, it'll be finished within the next couple of weeks so that I can get to applying a finish and bolting on one of the maple necks that I have sitting around.  Maybe I should wait to see how it sounds with maple, and use that to decide which tonewood to choose for the final neck (who knows, I might even decide that I want something bright like ebony).