Can we talk about Warmoth’s Purpleheart?

[ThisIsHuhWow404]

I have a build envisioned it would look good on but info about it is pretty scant.

To my understanding, Purpleheart is:
*Heavy af, even heavier than mahogany and rosewood
*Oxidizes when exposed to UV light, losing its purple color and turning a red to brown color, so it’s suggested you finish it with UV protecting oil.

So in order to avoid neck dive, the guitar would need a heavy body. If it’s a full Purpleheart neck, alder and ash are probably a no go. You would need mahogany. But what about a purpleheart board on a maple or roasted maple neck? Is it heavy enough that even that would still make the alder or ash body futile in compensating for neck dive?

And with the finishing, Warmoth has some confusing warranty policies with unfinished necks and exotic woods. If the neck is ordered unfinished, and I planned on giving it a UV protecting oil finish myself, but something was wrong with it that wasn’t my fault, am I SOL? What about if it’s a board on maple, and I ordered all of it unfinished?

Pictures of Purpleheart other people ordered from Warmoth is also pretty scant. Some of them look perfect but other pictures look like they’re already oxidizing. I’m not sure if they came that way, the customer let it oxidize like that, or if it’s just difficult to photograph.

How purple is the stock of wood in Warmoth’s warehouse? Would you need to worry about it oxidizing while in transit?

And finally, tone. Is it close to the brightness of maple or the darkness of rosewood?

Does anyone even know? Do people just buy it because "lol it’s purple!!!!" Would you be better off buying unfinished maple and DIYing it with aniline powder?

 

[ragamuffin]

-Purple heart is just slightly heavier on average than Indian rosewood, not enough that it will be noticeable IMO.

-Yes it will oxidize and eventually turn to more of a slightly-purple-dark-brown if not coated with a UV blocking finish. It wont't happen overnight though; I'd give it at least a couple years of nice purple color unless you're leaving it out in the sun

-Neck dive: what body shape? I wouldn't expect any neck dive on a strat or jazzmaster type shape, but maybe on a light weight tele

-Warmoth's finishing policy: from what I understand, (I've never had to deal with a warranty issue myself) if you apply a "hard" finish like nitro or polyurethane you're good. Regarding an oil finish that seems to be more of a grey area, and I would recommend contacting Warmoth directly. For instance I don't think they consider Tru-oil to be a warranty-worthy finish.

-Warmoth's stock: probably varies as wood tends to do

-Tone: No input as I haven't played a purple heart neck, and don't particularly find a predictable tonal difference between fretboard wood species

 

[ThisIsHuhWow404]

@ragamuffin Its a Tele Custom, most likely Alder. Not sure if Alder Body + Purpleheart neck would be too unbalanced weight wise. I’d prefer to just get a whole Purpleheart neck so I can just finish the whole thing with Osmo. With maple with the Purpleheart board, I’d need to worry about doing the board in Osmo and the neck in Tru Oil. Also the full Purpleheart neck would look cooler.

 

[Don O]

I’ve done 3 Purple Heart fretboard necks with one of them having Purple Heart as the base wood too. A 4th ph fretboard neck is on the shelf for a next build. The oldest is over 6 years old with no color fading, it never sees UV light. From a feel perspective I find the grain very tight, more so than rosewood but not quite an ebony.

 

[teleme01]

Them purple hearts are purty

 

[rockandroller]

Here's an unfinished ph neck they made me a while back... https://rockandroller.ca/pix/index.php?/category/19

 

[Spud]

Here is my maple neck with purple heart board, it's so smooth it feels like all maple in fact.