Favorite neck woods?

cromulent

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About to pull the trigger on a new strat neck but wondering if I should consider alternatives to typical maple. I'm not really into the idea of roasted woods, and also don't want to spend $ on AAA figuring. But I've seen some beautiful off-the-beaten-path choices on here that look fantastic.

I'm also planning to go full scallop on this one. Is there any point in getting separate fretboard wood aside from aesthetics?

Thanks in advance for your thoughts!
 
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To answer your question, my favorite is roasted maple with any fretboard wood of choice. Sorry to hear you don't like roasted woods. I have a couple Warmoth necks that are bare roasted maple with Indian rosewood fretboards, and they're now my favorite neck material. The very smooth bare wood has an excellent feel that polishes with use, and the stability of the wood is excellent.

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My only concern with roasted wood is that I’ve heard it can become brittle. But I’ve never actually tried it. Maybe I should, especially with all the time and $ saved by skipping the finishing dept.
 
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I am personally skeptical of their relative longevity, however, I have zero personal experience.
 
I'm also planning to go full scallop on this one. Is there any point in getting separate fretboard wood aside from aesthetics?

Warmoth only do scallops on modern construction necks, so the fretboard wood will be a separate piece, but if referring to which type of wood is used for the fretboard it is worth getting a different wood. For example, you might like mahogany for the neck shaft, but that is no good as a fret board wood, so for that you might choose ebony or rosewood.
 
My only concern with roasted wood is that I’ve heard it can become brittle. But I’ve never actually tried it. Maybe I should, especially with all the time and $ saved by skipping the finishing dept.
The only concern I know of is you have to be more careful installing the tuners and mounting screws because roasted maple is more susceptible to splitting if the proper care isn't taken. The instructions say that the tuner bushing holes must be enlarged by sanding, reaming, etc. so that the tuner bushings press in with a finger. Also the tuner screws and main mounting screws need pilot holes of the proper diameter. I've had the necks for a couple years and have had nothing unusual happen.
 
But does fretboard wood matter on a scalloped neck? My finger pads wouldn’t actually touch the mahogany, right?

Of course, it does, the frets need to be held in place by it.

If you want to use the same type of wood for both shaft and board, you need one that can be used for both purposes. Link below and you can also see the options in the neck builders.

 
I have a one-piece roasted maple neck that started as the paddle and I shaped/drilled everything myself. I didn't find it to be any more fragile than "raw" wood. I mean, certainly, I wasn't attacking it like a drunk barbarian on a meth bender but with the proper care and attention that one would use with any material where you don't want to end up with a $400 mistake, I think it'd be fine.

What Triple Jim mentioned about sanding or reaming the tuner holes for final fit and drilling pilot holes for the alignment screws is what I do normally for my necks regardless of material.
 
Or maybe it's prone to chipping out during the sanding process?
This is pretty much correct. RM failed during scalloping far too often to be viable.

Looks like you also can't scallop a padouk fretboard (or actually even get a padouk fretboard, period)? @The Aaron ?

Contact customer service, they can check with the shop to see if we have Padouk fretboards at this time.
 
Got it. I saw padouk description says it can be used for boards, so assume it was a stock issue.
 
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