Hard / Soft Maple

[Nando Vallart]

Hi! How can I "see" the diferences between the hard and soft maple in a blank?
I almost buy a "really-really-flamed" neck blank on eBay, but in the description, the seller told it was "Acer macrophyllum"... So, like the Wood Description say this kind of Maple isn't Ok to build guitar necks, I decide to not try... =)
Not even in fingerboard could be used this kind of maple?
Thank you!
Fernando Esteves

 

[Jay Davidson]

You can't visually see the differences between these types of wood, we strickly use hard rock maple at the Warmoth plant.  Everything else, no matter how figured it is, is reserved for body laminates.  It's pointless to build a neck out of a soft wood that will only give you setup problems down the line.

Who made this neck that is for sale?

 

[Nando Vallart]

Hi! Thanks for the answer!
It wasn't a builted neck, it was a raw block, but in the description and the heading of the auction that is for guitar necks (but I don't know even if the measures is alright, I think it was to short)...

 

[SkuttleFunk]

FWIW - I have built two prototype 4-string bass necks from flatsawn Western Maple (soft Maple.) One neck included a pair of carbon fiber pulltrusion stiffening bars, and one did not. Both necks utilized an LMI dual action trussrod and a 1/4" Birdseye fretboard. Both necks are finished with a Tru Oil finish.

So far I cannot see any mechanical difference between these two prototype necks and other necks I have built and purchased (like several great necks from Warmoth.)  I will continue to evaluate how these necks hold up under regular playing.

And as a note of curiosity, the neck without stiffening bars has been to Seattle (it started here), Portland, Los Angeles, and Corpus Cristi during the last two months while logging many miles in the back of a UPS truck (it's a demo bass) ... in all of these various climates, it continues to remain tru and hold its set-up. Maybe this piece of flatsawn Maple is a freak and unique in its properties - I can't say - I just know that it's performing every bit as well as a hard Maple neck would be performing

all the best,

R

 

[boaty]

It's been about a year.  SkuttleFunk, have you noticed any change with the necks?

 

[Mor Paul]

Sorry, Boaty, but the topic you brought back to life had already died, rotted, and then some. Try about 2 years.