Black Korina Strat - Neck Wood / Fretboard Suggestions

manxmart

Newbie
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Hi all,

I'm shortly going to be trying my hand at a first build (Black Korina Strat - probably solid construction).

I'm looking for a neck and fretboard combination that compliments the black korina, which is going to be finished in clear gloss.

Was thinking wenge neck with ebony fretboard; goncalo Alves neck and pao ferro fretboard, or indian rosewood neck with either rosewood or ebony fretboard? I'd prefer to do a raw neck wood with no finish.

I really like the look of the all pao ferro neck and fb, but don't know if this would work as possibly too bright?

Any advice you have would be appreciated.
Cheers
 
If it was me, I'd be looking for an Ebony 'board regardless of the neck meat, simply to keep from detracting or distracting from the appearance of the Korina. You don't want the thing to get too busy-looking, or the overall goodness is diminished. As for the neck meat, I don't know what to tell you. The different woods will absorb/transmit different frequencies, but it's usually subtle. On a Korina body, I think maybe the Wenge would work well. The Rosewood may be too mushy in combination with the Korina. The Pau Ferro would probably have the best feel and all-around tone, but it might look strange contrasted with the Korina. Of course, you're not really going to see it as it's behind the guitar, and you can always put a laminate on the headstock to make any neck match or complement the body from a face-on view.
 
Thanks very much for your help.

Think I'm going to go with wenge / ebony on that basis - well for the first build anyhow!
 
I think you'll be very happy with that combination. And don't mess around, get the black Ebony. Otherwise, you'll defeat the purpose of going that route, appearance-wise. Macassar or variegated Ebony can be very attractive, but again, you don't want any competition for that body.

If you've never played around with a professionally done bit of Wenge, you're in for a surprise there. It looks rough, but it doesn't feel that way and it's actually a very fast neck. The stuff is hard and slick, almost like polystyrene or (not wood).

Exotic woods are fun. Most players don't even know about them, let alone get to play them. I'm constantly surprised that nobody else really offers them. Most of them beat the snot out of the traditional woods. But, that's ok. If they knew, the market would be huge, and there'd be less of it available in fairly short order.
 
I agree with Cagey on this topic in all respects, but would suggest a quarter-sawn wenge neck with a matching board can be very subtle as well, and will not distract from a fancy body.  I agree in particular that a highly figured fingerboard is not optimal with a heavily streaked or multicolored black limba/korina body.


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manxmart said:
I really like the look of the all pao ferro neck and fb, but don't know if this would work as possibly too bright?

If Black Korina is similar to mahogany in tone, with a full pauferro neck... absolutely no problem.
I have a Warmoth, 1piece mahogany body with flame koa top and pauferro warmoth pro neck.
One of the most balanced guitars I have played.
However, if you then install two Gibson '57 for example, I would not doubt for a neck in Goncalo or Indian Rose.
The choice depends on many factors
 
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