Help a beginner out, will you?

[poppijoni]

Hey guys!

I've been saving money for more than a year or so and I think it's about time I finally got the guitar I've dreamed of. The problem is, though, that there are so many things I don't have experience about this being my very first customized guitar. I want to do it RIGHT the first time so I came here looking for help.

I think I have everything sorted out with the body and the pick-ups and tuners but I still have a couple of insecurities... The neck for example - whew! That's a hard one.

To the point: I'm going to build a LPS with a solid mahogany body, but I don't know about the neck. The neck, too, will be a standard 22-fretted Les Paul neck. I think a light fretboard like in maple would look cool with the body's paint but I'm not sure if the woods mix well together mahogany being very warm sounding. Then again, I have a very bright sounding telecaster and I DO want to get a different sound out of this guitar but I don't want to go adjust my amp settings every time I change between these two guitars - meaning that I don't want the difference to be too radical. Right now I'm thinking about a canary neck, do you think it's a good idea? In my opinion it looks, at least! Or should I get another warm sounding wood on my neck as well and just compensate it with bright pickups?

Oh, and do you know if it's possible to get black trapezoid inlays on the fretboard. That would be just "2 cewl !!!1!!"

And the other thing is about finish. Do you have good or bad experiences with non-finished necks? I know my tele only has a bit of oil on it and it works very well and if I'm correct, Warmoth oils the wood even if I chose no finish. Or should I get a satin gloss finish - it's not too sticky, is it? I've grown used to that oiled neck I'm afraid I'm making a mistake if a get a finish but then again I don't want my neck to get bad, either.

One last minor thing: is it possible to get a painted laminated top on the headstock? I'm not sure if I even want one but I'm thinkig about it.

Thank you guys in advance!

 

[swarfrat]

They do trapezoidal, and they do black. Give em a call, but I bet they'll do black trapezoidal inlay.
Max has an unfinished maple neck that he uses to clean out his gutters apparently.  That said, most people here say the neck makes the biggest difference tonally. I didn't see anything about scale length, but if you stick a 25.5" maple neck on there it'll probably sound more like a mahogany bodied fender with humbuckers. If you want a Gibson scale length, make sure you order a conversion neck.

Wenge or Goncalo Alves  might give you more of a mahogany sound without requiring a finish. However be aware some exotics are not available on angled headstocks (like Goncalo Alves - I suspect has to do with the wood characteristics and the glue joint). You might want to take a look at this thread which asks a similar question.

 

[Mor Paul]

Always making fun of me and me tele  :laughing7:

 

[poppijoni]

Thank's swarfrat!

What about the finish? Quote from the Warmoth webpage: "All our necks are dipped in an oil based penetrating sealer which is compatible with virtually all secondary finishes... Unfortunately, they are much more susceptible to moisture related warping and twisting. Our experience is that hard finished necks seldom warp. Less than 1 out of 200 (0.5%) are returned for warpage. Raw or oiled necks don't fare as well. About 10% are rendered useless from the torture. The more acidic your perspiration, the higher the odds are against you. "
Does anyone have any bad experiences with unfinished necks? Is it really that risky?

 

[swarfrat]

Exotic woods are cool anyway, but when you add in the cost benefit of not having to finish + cool looking / tonal properties its easy to see why the exotics are everywhere - at least in the gallery. I imagine Warmoth still sells more maple necks going by the showcase. There are some that tonally have similaritis to maple, but nothing as light in color as maple. 

I don't want to try to talk you out of anything, but I do wonder if a maple neck really fits what you're trying to accomplish though.

 

[lafromla1]

I would look through some of the finished guitars Warmoth has on their main page. 
http://www.warmoth.com/Pages/Gallery.aspx?type=LP_GUITAR

That will give you some ideas of looks and maybe a description of how it sounds.

Also, keep asking questions here, the more detailed the better, as there are lots of people here that can help.

 

[poppijoni]

Do you think that unfinished Canary neck & fretboard could work? I read the other thread you linked here and some people said thait it could sound pretty neat (and I think it's a very good looking wood, too). You said that they don't do angled headstocks with Goncalo Alves but I could do a Canary neck with a Goncalo Alves fretboard... Either ideas sound good to you (plain Canary or Canary/Goncalo Alves)?

 

[mayfly]

I have two canary / canary telecaster necks.  They are great- I love them.

That being said, I also have, er, 3 maple/rosewood necks, and 1 maple/maple neck.  These are also great.  But they have finishes on them 

 

[Mor Paul]

Canary is a brightish wood, I believe. I thought you wanted a darker sound, right?

 

[lafromla1]

Canary is a brightish wood, I believe. I thought you wanted a darker sound, right?

I thought so as well.  I have a white korina (with finish) / Brazilian rosewood neck on a chambered mahogany VIP with Gibson Burstbucker Pro's that sounds awesome.

I also have an all rosewood neck (tung oiled only) on a swamp ash strat (with DiMarzio Area pickups) that sounds great and definitely isn't too bright sounding.

Just some base ideas.  I'm sure others have their thoughts as well.

 

[poppijoni]

I'm looking something darkish but not too dark: I don't want it to be too bassy. The sound has to stand out when necessary and not just sound nice with the band / "blend in with the mix". Of course my amp and pickups and whatever have their part in the sound but still...
If we have a scale where 1 = "as dark as it gets" and 10 = "as bright as it gets" I'm looking something thats around 3. If I have a mahogany body and I get a couple of warm P-90's I believe getting a little brighter neck wouldn't be that bad... or? I'm sure you know better, tell me if I'm wrong.

And It would be great if the fingerboard wouldn't LOOK that dark. Then again if you believe that my sound is going to be significantly better with another kind of wood on the neck then I guess I can go with rosewood fingerboard, they're always very pleasant to play.

I'm sorry for not being more specific before.

 

[Mor Paul]

Warm pickups will do a ton, as will twiddling your amp's knobs. Canary should work well with p90s (most things do ), and keep some of the visual of maple.

I forgot... will Warmoth do a canary fingerboard? I think they won't, but that could be cool.

 

[poppijoni]

I forgot... will Warmoth do a canary fingerboard? I think they won't, but that could be cool.

At least it says they do on their website, in the neck woods section

 

[lafromla1]

I've one piece canary necks before. So they are available.

 

[bob7point7]

I have a Warmoth Pro neck that is canary/canary, so canary fretboards are definitely doable. I love the neck, but keep in mind the sound is bright like maple.

 

[dNA]

what finish is this thing going to have?

I totally relate to the fact that you want guitars with different sounds, but you don't want to have to go and change amp settings from one guitar to another. For what it's worth though, I have an Ibanez Artist which is a LP style guitar - mahogany body, maple top, mahogany neck, rosewood board, 24 3/4" scale. I put steel-wound strings on it and its a pretty bright sounding guitar. Maybe not Fender bright, but it's far from being very "fat" or "warm" in character.

I personally would say go for a warm-toned neck wood that will look good with the body. If you're used to playing a Fender, get a 25 1/2" scale - this does't inherently make your guitar brighter than a short scale, if you understand the factors at play. You'll be comfortable playing it and it'll be something like a PRS which tends to be right in the middle. Between string gauge/material and pickups, you will have a lot of versatility and you won't have to compromise much in terms of appearances.

canary/rosewood is a beautiful combo for an unfinished neck, but I think you're better off leaning to something warm. It seems like it's not always available, but a white korina neck (which would need a finish) is pretty beautiful too if you're looking for something light colored and warm sounding.

 

[poppijoni]

what finish is this thing going to have?

The body (Flat Top LPS) is going to have a sunburst painting. By the way, do you know how much lacquer they use to finish the guitar? Somehow I've grown to dislike the gloss and overall feeling of lacquer. I prefer how the plain wood feels like - but still I'm sure about the paint I want.

The neck I wish to leave unfinished if possible. Perhaps paint the headstock black, not quite sure about that yet.

I totally relate to the fact that you want guitars with different sounds, but you don't want to have to go and change amp settings from one guitar to another. For what it's worth though, I have an Ibanez Artist which is a LP style guitar - mahogany body, maple top, mahogany neck, rosewood board, 24 3/4" scale. I put steel-wound strings on it and its a pretty bright sounding guitar. Maybe not Fender bright, but it's far from being very "fat" or "warm" in character.

I personally would say go for a warm-toned neck wood that will look good with the body. If you're used to playing a Fender, get a 25 1/2" scale - this does't inherently make your guitar brighter than a short scale, if you understand the factors at play. You'll be comfortable playing it and it'll be something like a PRS which tends to be right in the middle. Between string gauge/material and pickups, you will have a lot of versatility and you won't have to compromise much in terms of appearances.

All I know I don't want the neck to be too thick and narrow. I have pretty small hands and that's why I dislike most Gibson Les Paul -necks AND Fender Telecaster necks I've tried. I guess Stratocaster necks are more often good than bad. Then again, I don't want my neck to be thin and wide either (read: a wizard neck).
To this point my very favourite neck I've played has been on an old Ibanez (pretty similar to this one), but then again only for the first octave since it gets very difficult playing notes beyond fret 14 or so.
EDIT: Of course, if the high frets are small they're hard to play: more room for fingers the better (I don't mean the "metal frets" like jumbo frets, I mean the fingerboard between the frets - you know, where you put your fingers).

So... I believe "standard thin" is the back contour I want but the truth is that I'm not sure about the scale length. Someone suggested I should get a conversion neck but I'm not sure. I believe I'm going to learn to play the guitar no matter which one I choose but if you can help me identify the difference between the two that would be nice!

I thought about rosewood fingerboard for A LONG time but right now I feel like that aesthetics are about to conquer good experiences. And who knows, perhaps I'll have even better experiences with Canary - I've had pretty good ones with maple, as well.

canary/rosewood is a beautiful combo for an unfinished neck, but I think you're better off leaning to something warm. It seems like it's not always available, but a white korina neck (which would need a finish) is pretty beautiful too if you're looking for something light colored and warm sounding.

I'm only afraid the sound will get too dark. White corina is not available for fretboards, either, and I specifically want the fretboard to be light coloured.
But then again I believe it's possible to get a white corina neck (or a mahogany neck if korina's not available) and just put a canary fingerboard on it... right?

 

[dNA]

yeah you could do that I believe. Dunno if i've seen any guitars that had a canary board and different color back. Just seems like it might look odd to me. But that's because you rarely see light color fretboards unless it's the same as the neck back.