Looking for a Raw Neck Wood Reccomendation

[hardtailaxe]

Hey everyone, I know this topic must have been brought up a thousand times by now, but I'm looking for a raw neck to put on my hardtail Alder strat with vintage 60s pickups for relatively clean tones.

I have a '59 roundback Indian Rosewood/Indian Rosewood neck I put on my last strat build and I absolutely love the way it feels and plays. I want to try a different neck wood that feels just as good and leans on the warmer side, but I'm open to anything that isn't brighter than a standard maple/rosewood neck.

My top considerations are wenge/wenge or pau ferro/pau ferro. I've also considered bubinga, canary and padauk but can't seem to find how the feel of these would stack up to my rosewood neck. Any thoughts? Thanks!

 

[TBurst Std]

Well having both Canary an Rosewood raw necks (fretboards the same): and both are burnished.
Canary is definitely what most is brighter. I’d say more fundamental toned. It’s also slicker.
Rosewood is warmer, I’d say has more harmonic tone. While feeling great, it’s not as slick as Canary.

 

[Rick]

You’re going to be hard pressed to find something warmer than Indian rosewood.  Try the wood descriptions on the warmoth  website, they are accurate. Love wenge.  Might I suggest one more for your consideration.  Goncalo alves.  Feels so nice.

 

[hardtailaxe]

Good to know about canary!

I've been constantly reading and re-reading the wood descriptions on the Warmoth site to help me make a decision! I agree I won't find anything warmer than my rosewood neck. The only other neck I really loved was a mahogany neck with rw fretboard, so clearly I favor the warmer neck woods.

I think I'm leaning more toward wenge/wenge as it is the most visually appealing to me.

When I was looking into Goncalo Alves, I kept seeing it described as "waxy" but can't quite register what that means. I've played raw roasted maple and rosewood, how would it compare to those?

 

[Rick]

Gonçalo ...
a more oily wood, closer to rosewood in feel than maple.  Sounds like Korina  but no finish.  And it can be beautiful.

 

[Wazatron]

I'd love to get some more thoughts on the communities thoughts between the roasted maple and the raw options being discussed here. The Gonçalo mentioned just above sounds pretty interesting... I got my first (raw) roasted maple neck for a tele build a couple years ago now from Warmoth and am still just blown away at how amazing it feels. Solid, smooth, fast, snappy, gorgeous... As I start to plan a couple new builds I have a hard time thinking of getting anything else but roasted maple, but after reading a bit more on raw canary, rosewood, wenge, etc. I'm starting to have second thoughts.

Has anyone else "gone from" roasted maple to a more exotic offering?

 

[ragamuffin]

I'd love to get some more thoughts on the communities thoughts between the roasted maple and the raw options being discussed here. The Gonçalo mentioned just above sounds pretty interesting... I got my first (raw) roasted maple neck for a tele build a couple years ago now from Warmoth and am still just blown away at how amazing it feels. Solid, smooth, fast, snappy, gorgeous... As I start to plan a couple new builds I have a hard time thinking of getting anything else but roasted maple, but after reading a bit more on raw canary, rosewood, wenge, etc. I'm starting to have second thoughts.

Has anyone else "gone from" roasted maple to a more exotic offering?

I've tried goncalo, roasted maple, wenge, bloodwood, bubinga, and canary from Warmoth: I love all of them, but my personal favorites are the bubinga, roasted maple, and canary. I've found I prefer the "dryer' feeling woods to the waxier ones, but I think it comes down to personal preference more than anything. I wouldn't say that the exotic options are any "better" than roasted maple, but they're all great options.

No matter which wood, I'd take a raw neck over finished any day!

 

[teleme01]

I snatched a ebony on ebony neck from the showcase a couple years back, i really like it, occasionally you can find something exotic on the showcase

 

[TBurst Std]

One of my raw necks is from their run of Brazilian Ebony. Quite nice. Had totally forgot about it as it isn’t part of a guitar at the moment. Also have Canary and Rosewood.