Lightest neck wood?

[Ace Flibble]

I'm going for a mahogany-bodied Tele Deluxe build and I can't decide what neck wood to go with. I'm going to be going for all thee contour options on the body so that'll be shaving some weight off and I definitely want Planet Waves tuners and an ebony fretboard on the neck, which adds a fair amount of weight on - and I really can't stand necks being heavier than the body of a guitar. I'm really paranoid that I'm going to end up with another guitar I'll have to sell because of the body/neck imbalance (my count so far is two Gibson SGs, one Warmoth Tele and an ES-335, all gotten rid of because the neck was as heavy as or heavier than the body which I absolutely can not get on with). I love a heavy body, absolutely can't stand a heavy neck.
So, I'm wondering if there's any neck wood that is light enough that even with an ebony fretboard and the PW tuners (standard thin back contour), won't be as heavy as a contoured mahogany Tele body. I'm not fussed about tone as I've found the neck shaft wood seems to have a minimal impact on tone and the guitar is going to have active pickups anyway. Not concerned about look or feel either as I'll most likely be having it painted gloss black. It will be a 24.75" conversion angled Strat neck, if that makes any difference. 'S just the weight I'm concerned about. Am I right in thinking mahogany or white korina are probably the lightest options?

 

[tfarny]

1. ditch the planet waves tuners - they are the heaviest tuner and are not really better at tuning than any other. You can save 5 oz or so by checking the specs on tuners at stew mac and picking accordingly. 5 oz at the end of your neck = difference between balanced and unbalanced.
2. A vintage modern truss rod will be lighter than a warmoth pro truss rod
3. both 1) and 2) will probably save a lot more weight than you could ever save by picking a light neck wood. FWIW, canary, maple, and maybe mahogany are all maybe candidates for lighter woods. Just avoid all-ebony, all-rosewood, or wenge I guess.
4. if your guitar is still neck heavy after you get lightweight tuners (the #1 way to avoid a neck heavy guitar), epoxy or just glue some lead fishing weights or something into the back of the control cavity. But light tuners are preferable.

I know these are not the answers you are fishing for, but they are the way to ensure a balanced guitar.

 

[tfarny]

Oh yeah, and since you like heavy bodies, call W and ask them to pick out a heavy piece for you. Problem solved.  :hello2:

 

[JaySwear]

good tip about just asking warmoth for a heavy piece... i plan to do that with my next build. i'm definitely a fan of heavy-ish bodied guitars. and i would say maple is the lightest neck wood. there may be a few raw exotic necks that would be very close though. i've never held one, but i wouldn't imagine canary would be too heavy. hopefully somebody who knows will respond.

 

[Dan025]

maybe white korina  :dontknow:

and why not go with a tele headstock, every ounce counts or some kind of 3x3, it'd make it shorter and move the mass of three tuners inboard a little bit.

 

[tubby.twins]

...but i wouldn't imagine canary would be too heavy. hopefully somebody who knows will respond.

My lightest Gecko neck is all-Canary.  Everything else is heavier.

 

[Ace Flibble]

Vintage modern isn't an option as far as I'm concerned, I'm after the 24.75" scale. S'pose I can do the rest though. In terms of tuners, which are the lightest tuners around then? I'm guessing the really basic Gotoh SG38s?

 

[JaySwear]

i think the SG38s are the best option for light guitar tuners. i put those on my tele deluxe build and they were substantially lighter than the schaller mini locking tuners i used on my last build. i mean much lighter. obviously locking tuners have lots mass that regular tuners don't, though.

 

[tfarny]

Stew mac has a huge selection of tuners, and under the specs they list the weights and the required tuner hole size. I personally like these - the set weighs like 5.5 oz and the look is vintage - http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Tuners/Guitar,_solid_peghead_tuners/Gotoh_Tuners/Gotoh_Locking_Vintage_Oval_Knob_Tuners.html?tab=Specs#details But there are a ton of other choices.

 

[Schlieren]

Do not trust Stew-Mac's tuner hole size specifications, or so says Spike at Warmoth

 

[tfarny]

worked for me so far.

 

[Schlieren]

If I had gone by Stew-Mac's recommended size, the Schaller locking tuners I used would have been wobbling in their holes, but Spike caught it for me; luckily I just happened to mention to him how odd it was that S-M recommended different size reams than Warmoth

 

[ByteFrenzy]

Are these the ones that come in two different sizes?

 

[JaySwear]

Are these the ones that come in two different sizes?

if you mean warmoth's 25/64" and the 11/32" basically the tuners have a shelf inside thats larger than the threads at the bottom. not sure how to explain it well enough, but you can see in the picture below what i mean. i like it. might make it tough to replace tuners in the future, but it really keeps the schallers in place and secure in the neck.

 

[AutoBat]

Those Schaller locking tuners fit perfectly (and Very snugly) with W's ream of 25/64", 11/32"