Neck/Fretboard Combinations

[rgand]

I'm not an expert on tone woods by any means. From experience, I know the tonal difference between a maple neck with a maple fretboard and a maple neck with a rosewood fretboard. I can get a good idea about the others reading the Warmoth descriptions on them.

The question comes to mind, though, is how much does the fretboard contribute to the overall tone and how much does the neck itself? For example, I know how a maple neck with a rosewood fretboard will affect the tone of a guitar but what would a rosewood neck with a maple fretboard sound like? Any insights here?

 

[Cagey]

It's tough to quantify as there's no objective data to work with and there's no good way to do side-by-side comparisons. Even if you took two identical Maple necks and put Rosewood on one and Ebony on the other, if you heard a difference it's impossible to say whether it was due to the species of the fretboard wood or differences in the Maple the two necks were made of. Wood just isn't that predictable or stable, and the way its cut, its age, etc. will all have an effect on how it responds to stress/stimulus.

Myself, I credit the neck meat and its thickness/profile/scale length much more than the fretboard wood for the overall character of the neck. Not that the fretboard doesn't matter - setting frets in something as hard as Ebony has got to sound different than something softer like Rosewood - I just don't think it's dramatic enough to be concerned about. But, something else to keep in mind is that while many things may only have minor influences, when you add them up they can have a greater effect. 

 

[ChristopherG]

What Cagey said.

For me, playability trumps just about everything and that mostly comes down to fretting, finish and setup. I like raw necks so that is what I base my wood choices on these days.

 

[rgand]

Thanks for the replies. I may have to try something different for my next one just to see what happens. Maybe rosewood on wenge or something. I'm new to raw wood necks but sure like my roasted maple for feel and playability. I can only assume other raw woods will be as nice in their own way.

 

[Cagey]

For unfinished parts, one of the best necks I've ever played has been an Ebony over Pau Ferro part with SS frets. Just... sex on a stick. I also have an Ebony over Bloodwood (Satine) part with SS frets that feels the same way, but is of course a different color and is a tad heavier.

 

[musicispeace]

I agree with Cagey. As a returning player after years away I am solely a partscaster player now. (all strats) So far neck wise I have Quartersawn maple with Rosewood (.87 soft v) and SS frets, raw all Bubinga with Clapton profile with SS frets, maple boatneck with Cocobollo and nickel frets and a yet to be utilized maple boatneck with ebony and nickel frets. All my pickup choices fall into the general category of vintage style and output. The only thing I may be willing to say so far is the Bubinga may be a little rounder sounding than maple but it sounds great. I can't discern an appreciable difference between the neck with Rosewood on front and the one with Cocobollo. This has to be taken with the fact that no two guitars could be exactly alike for comparison anyway regarding any one component. But I will say over the past two years I have learned not to lie awake at night agonizing over things like a possible difference between fretboards or alder vs swamp ash. In the end you have tone knobs on your amp and the thing sounds like an electric guitar. I got the neck with an ebony fret board because I want to experience that.

 

[rgand]

Interesting selection of necks, Musicispeace. Maybe trying a variety is the only way to come to any useful conclusion. So then, it looks like I have to build a handful of new guitars. I knew this thread would pay off. Now all I have to do is think of a way to justify it. :icon_biggrin:

 

[Cagey]

A handful? No. You need a whole stable of guitars. A herd. A flock. A murder. A shitload. It's the only way to be sure  :laughing7:

 

[jmcecil]

A handful? No. You need a whole stable of guitars. A herd. A flock. A murder. A shitload. It's the only way to be sure  :laughing7:

There is a mathematical function to determine the optimal number of guitars.

x = current number of guitars
optimum number = f(x) = x + 1

 

[rgand]

I suppose you're right, Cagey. A shitload it is, then.

Good math, jmcecil. There's always room for another one.

:icon_biggrin:

 

[musicispeace]

A handful? No. You need a whole stable of guitars. A herd. A flock. A murder. A shitload. It's the only way to be sure  :laughing7:

Ah, I am already on the slippery slope! Necks and pickups get me. Warmoth forum members keep referring to a herd of guitars.....

 

[musicispeace]

Interesting selection of necks, Musicispeace. Maybe trying a variety is the only way to come to any useful conclusion. So then, it looks like I have to build a handful of new guitars. I knew this thread would pay off. Now all I have to do is think of a way to justify it. :icon_biggrin:

In my case it evolved from realizing I wanted a chunkier neck after having a standard thin on my first Warmoth strat. It went from there. I got the Bubinga because I wanted to try a raw neck and the pickups I wanted to use referred me to a youtube video where someone played their stuff on a custom tele with a Bubinga neck and I liked how it seemed to sound. I have a roasted maple with pau ferro and a maple boatneck with ebony on front sitting around waiting for me to shake more change out of my couch or something because I wanted to experience those combinations also. For me I tend to go with vintage type strat pickups but have been interested in variations regarding the neck. I only play blues and a tiny bit of old country so the style of music I like works with pretty much whatever you want to throw at it as single coils based guitars. In another year or so I hope to draw some sort of conclusion or non conclusion about the end result of all this. But for a small collection I'll have what I want to choose from. But if someone say, knows they love mahogany necks and only has those that works too of course.

 

[zebra]

A handful? No. You need a whole stable of guitars. A herd. A flock. A murder. A shitload. It's the only way to be sure  :laughing7:

There is a mathematical function to determine the optimal number of guitars.

x = current number of guitars
optimum number = f(x) = x + 1

This is the sort of posting we would have more of if the author of xkcd was a guitar geek as well...

 

[Cagey]

Hehe! Yeah.

 

[rgand]

A handful? No. You need a whole stable of guitars. A herd. A flock. A murder. A shitload. It's the only way to be sure  :laughing7:

Ah, I am already on the slippery slope! Necks and pickups get me. Warmoth forum members keep referring to a herd of guitars.....

It has a lot to do with the degree of your addiction and whether you have gone through Cagey's 12-step cure.

 

[jmcecil]

A handful? No. You need a whole stable of guitars. A herd. A flock. A murder. A shitload. It's the only way to be sure  :laughing7:

There is a mathematical function to determine the optimal number of guitars.

x = current number of guitars
optimum number = f(x) = x + 1

This is the sort of posting we would have more of if the author of xkcd was a guitar geek as well...

xkcd and dilbert are pretty much autobiographical for me.  Can't tell you how many times I've had the "I was in that meeting yesterday" feeling.