Need help choosing wood for 7-string

[Mokujin]

Hello everyone, I'm new here. This looks like a cool forum, unfortunately there isn't many Warmoth 7-stringers here but hopefully that will change, atleast there will be one more in the near future, me.

I'm thinking of putting together a baritone 7-string. I'm going to tune it to drop G, my dilemma is which woods to use. I have pretty much settled for Alder since I always liked it, I think it has a perfect balance between, lows, mids and treble. But then I'm lost, I've seen alot of people prefer Wenge for necks in combination with Alder, they seem to work well together? But I also see that Bubinga is used for necks and at the "tone-meter" at Warmoth Bubinga and Wenge are almost the same, so how would Bubinga be with Alder? Weight is of course also a concern, I don't want a neck heavy guitar, thats not pleasant. How do they feel compared to each other? I've decided to have a neck that don't need finishing because I like the raw feel of wood but also because I don't feel like spending $100+ extra on finishing. I really want something else than Maple for neck this time since I only had guitars with Maple necks, so Maple is out of the question, Mahogany also since I think it's too dark, it also requires finishing. I was thinking of having a maple top on the body anyway so that would brighten up the sound a bit, right? As for the fretboard I'm also lost, Ebony seems popular with Wenge necks but Ebony tends to be very bright, I've had many bright necks for sure so I'm more interested in something a bit less bright this time, but I still want it to be bright enough since I'm going drop G. Which one of Wenge and Bubinga is most stable as neck? There is of course other woods that Warmoth offer also but I'm really lost. Any suggestions? Anything that works well with Alder and looks good.

 

[tubby.twins]

Wenge and Bubinga are both very stable woods, with similar density and hardness.  Wenge is supposed to have a bit more "scoop" in the midrange, while Bubinga should be a bit more present in this area.

But that's just what people have told me.  I honestly can't hear a difference between the two, when used as a neck shaft.  I've got at least one of each as a fretless Gecko, and the tonal differences are masked by the differences in the fingerboard woods and the pickups.

I guess the biggest difference is in the look and feel.  Wenge is a relatively dull, dry, open-pore wood, which feels nice to play for most people, but others may find the open pores to be a bit too rough for their taste.  Bubinga on the other hand is a tight-grained wood which has a smooth surface and a lot of luster.  It really shines when it's polished with a gentle coat of oil, such as pure lemon oil.

Of course Warmoth does an excellent job with both woods, and the fine sanding work leaves both as smooth as possible.

If you are looking for something really special, consider a Bubinga neck with a Bloodwood or Purpleheart fretboard.  It would look (and sound) good with a body of Black Korina as well as Alder.

If you prefer Wenge, you can't go wrong with Ebony or Ziricote on the fretboard, paired with a Mahogany or Alder body.

The laminate top wood isn't going to affect the sound nearly as much as the neck and fretboard woods, since most of the vibrating mass of the body is the core wood anyway.

Hope this helps!

 

[Patrick from Davis]

Wenge has no drop in mids, not scooped.  It is very popular for bass necks, due to the unfinished, very resonant, and full mid nature of the neck.  It is very nice for leads when you wish to be heard in the mix.  The board on the neck will color it, but to varying degrees.  Most on the forum cannot decide if it is that big of a deal or not.  The grain of wenge is open and it has an oily feel to it.  Wenge is a very fast wood to play on.  If you are making a baritone guitar, the extra string length will give the strings more tension and this will lead to a guitar that has more snap to the sound.  This means, Mahogany and Korina will not sound muddy.  While all factors in the build will affect the overall sound, the pickups will probably have the most dramatic input on it.  The guys over at the Bare Knuckles Pickup forum had a large discussion on which pickup factors were important for baritones and bari sevens, and the outcome of that was a lower output pickup would perform better due to the larger strings.  Oops, the maple laminate will have no real effect on the sound, almost forgot that one.

For avoiding the neck heavy guitar, the tuners you get will be a large factor in this.  Some, the locking ones, are quite a bit heavier than tuners designed to be light.  If you are putting a floyd on it, there is no real reason for locking tuners, I don't know if you mentioned that.

I have a bass with a wenge neck and a guitar with a wenge neck.  I have several other guitars and basses, and I keep coming back to wenge because of the way it plays.  That is a personal thing with my playing, but it is very easy to play.  The bubinga, I do not have one of those, so I don't have much input.  I am always impressed by the snap that wenge neck has.  You have to try it to figure out what that means.  Good luck
Patrick

 

[AprioriMark]

Bloodwood is an amazing neck wood as well.  I'm not sure why more people don't use this.  I have a bass and a strat with Bloodwood necks.  It's such a dense grained wood, and combined with ebony fretboards, those necks sound very piano-esque with a bit of warmth that I don't find in maple.  I wish I had some pictures handy... over the years, the Bloodwood becomes shiny like it has a glass-like finish on it.

-Mark

 

[tubby.twins]

From what I've been told, Bloodwood doesn't take the scarf joint very well, which means that it isn't usually made into 7-string necks which have the angled headstock.  P/J bass and Strat necks can be made from a single piece, since no scarf joint is required.

If Bloodwood were available for necks with scarf joints, then I would have bought a Bloodwood Gecko neck already. 

But yes, Bloodwood does age well, and it's very beautiful.

 

[Mokujin]

Thanks for the replies, appreciate it, really useful information. I think Bubinga is more my kind of wood if it's smoother and tighter than Wenge, I really like smooth necks. I also think Wenge is a bit too dark (the headstock) if it's matched with a Maple top on the body, the difference will make it look kinda strange. Does anyone know if Warmoth can take a bit of the top and put it on the headstock, so it will match the body?

One more thing, which string gauge do you recommend for drop G with this scale length?