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Need to make Wood choice

muzicdudem09

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I want opinions on two things, I am wanting to order a neck for my Warmoth Body, it is a Chambered Mahogany Body w/Flame maple top
And I can't decide between a Mahogany w/ Rosewood fingerboardneck or a Wenge w/ Ebony fingerboard neck..please help me!
 
I vote for the Mahagony/Rosewood neck, because I generally like to see color contrast between the meat and fretboard.
 
Wenge/Ebony sounds awesome. Though for me it depends a bit on what the back colour for the body is.
 
Appearance is certainly important, but of all the arguments, opinions, facts and dogma regarding wood species in reference to the tonal characteristics and playability of an electric guitar, the ones having to do with neck meat are the most pertinent. Body wood almost doesn't matter on an electric, but neck wood certainly does.

Aesthetically, you almost can't go wrong with black Ebony. It matches anything. Also, the feel is superb and wearability is robust.  As Zebra said, a color/shade contrast to the body is usually a Good Thing so with a lighter shade body like you've got with a figured Maple top, either one of your choices is gonna look good. In addition to color contrast, you also don't want the fretboard/body wood to fight for attention, so a highly figured body will usually look better with a plainer neck, and vice-versa. Black Ebony has no discernable figuring to it, so it would just be a classy accent to the figured Maple.

Wenge is a harder wood than Mahogany and Ebony is harder than Rosewood. From a sonic point of view, that means Mahogany and Rosewood will tend to absorb more vibrations, so you lose some high end and sustain. An Ebony over Wenge neck is going to be on the brighter side and will ring out longer. But, on an electric guitar/bass that would be my preference even if you tend to play darker/warmer tones. You can always EQ out freqencies you don't want, but you can't EQ in frequencies that aren't there to begin with, nor can you add sustain without compressing out your dynamic range.

Another advantage for that combination is it would cost less than Rosewood over Mahogany because Wenge doesn't need a finish while Mahogany does. Ebony over Wenge is an intrinsically more expensive neck, but adding the finish to the Mahogany version will run you an additional $110, which make that choice slightly more expensive overall. Finally, the playability of Ebony over Wenge, especially with stainless steel frets, must be felt to be appreciated. It's uniquely wonderful.

Then, there are the bragging rights. Chances are you'll be the first kid on the block, probably within many miles, to have an Ebony over Wenge neck, while everybody and their brother has Rosewood over Mahogany or Maple. Hell, you can get Rosewood over Mahogany or Maple at Walmart. When you're building a custom guitar, it usually only costs a little more to go first class and you're never sorry  :laughing7:
 
Mahogany needs a finish, and that's no good. It will never feel as nice as raw wenge.
 
No question in my mind!  Ebony over Wenge wins every time  :headbang1:
As others have mentioned, because of the comfort and playability of an unfinished naked neck.  Believe me, you can not go wrong with that combo!  I actually have two Ebony over Wenge necks and love em both.
:rock-on:
 
Wenge/ebony for all the reasons stated above. You'll love the feel of raw wood.
 
Go for an unfinished neck, you can't beat it.  What's the body look like?  Cagey nailed it. :eek:ccasion14:

Have you considered pau ferro?

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or darker version?

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and there's even a pau ferro/black ebony right now in the showcase

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Maybe I'm just a whiny bass player, but you guitar guys get all the neck wood porn.
 
ghotiphry said:
Maybe I'm just a whiny bass player, but you guitar guys get all the neck wood porn.

Sadly, best porn is limited to Standard neck profile lovers, kinky profile guys only get soft porn.
 
Not a big fan of Wenge.  I think some of Warmoth's new Brazilian Ebony stuff would be pretty darned awesome.  Now you can ignore my opinion. :)
 
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