Pau Ferro for touchers

[ericar]

Sometimes I feel like I see more with touch than sight. I have just finished my 1st Warmoth and I can't stop touching and feeling my guitar. ( a little weird , I know). My scalloped pau ferro neck is THE most amazing neck I have ever touched. The only thing I did to it was polish the frets and wood with micro mesh pads from stewmac. I have always loved to touch bare wood to get the feel of different kinds but have never owned an unfinished neck before. I wouldn't give this neck up for any
PRS or Gibson guitar period. Warmoth quality is as good or better than any guitar I have ever played. If anyone is wondering about a pau ferro neck don't wonder anymore, just buy one. It is heavy and feels harder than any other neck I have played.
Thanks to Warmoth for what I hope is the 1st of many guitars I will build from Warmoth parts. This has been a very enjoyable experience in every way.  ccasion14:

 

[stubhead]

WE NEED PIX. Especially since my brain is slowly forming up another scalloped-neck guitar, my #1 is quartersawn maple and ebony board built in 2001 but I have since discovered pau ferro. MAJOR PIX, CLOSEUP PIX etc.

 

[Cagey]

+1,000,000 on the Pau Ferro. I have one of those w/ an ebony 'board and stainless 6100s, and it is my favorite neck in the stable. I like variety, and I haven't got a few of the others I want yet, but I'm continually drawn to using another Pau Ferro neck because it's just so nice. I have to do a Goncalo Alves one first, though. Heard too many good things from too many people to go ahead and die without ever having one. I'm also slowly coming around to the Wenge after a few I've seen here. Oh, and I haven't got a Canary neck yet. That's gotta be wrong somehow. Gotta get a Ziricote fretboard on something, too.

So many species, so little time...

 

[ericar]

I don't know if this is where I should post pics but here goes. It is a poplar body ,kahler trem ,active emg SA pickups. It has a Roland GK pickup with the guts taken apart and stuffed in the cavity. It has 2 switches for up and down patches made from pen caps. the mini switch is to turn power off on the emgs. the pickups run direct to the GK board and the volume control it wired to the GK board for overall output level of my VG99. there is no 1/4" output only a home made 13 pin jack. This guitar is only for my VG99 which is all I use . the neck is pau ferro compound radius with stainless 6100 frets. planet waves wonderful tuners. R3 locking nut to give a little more space between string and neck edge ( something my Malmsteen strat is terrible for) . The hardest part was fitting everything inside and getting it together with no noise problems. It was more work than I thought it would be but well worth it. For me , I couldn't buy a guitar like I wanted anywhere else. Warmoth has far passed my expectations for service and quality. I have played many nice guitars but never anything as perfect feeling as this neck.

 

[ericar]

more pics

 

[ericar]

more pics

 

[stubhead]

Aww, that neck is obscene. Touch it hell, I want to eat it...  :headbang1:

"I VANT TO BITE CHOUR NECK....." :evil4:

well, another piece of the puzzle for my next one. 2 Cats for sale! low mileage, one owner, only taken to church on Sundays....

 

[Cagey]

That's purty! I'll bet it was fun drilling out that jackplate for that 13 pin connector. Coin any new cusswords we should know about? <grin>

 

[B3Guy]

+1 on the Pau! I'm 100% set on a Pau neck in my future, and I'm surprised there aren't more on the forum. Everyone seems to like Goncalo or Wenge on here, but the Pau seems more awesome than both to me.

 

[KainThornn]

I don't know if this is where I should post pics but here goes. It is a poplar body ,kahler trem ,active emg SA pickups. It has a Roland GK pickup with the guts taken apart and stuffed in the cavity. It has 2 switches for up and down patches made from pen caps. the mini switch is to turn power off on the emgs. the pickups run direct to the GK board and the volume control it wired to the GK board for overall output level of my VG99. there is no 1/4" output only a home made 13 pin jack. This guitar is only for my VG99 which is all I use . the neck is pau ferro compound radius with stainless 6100 frets. planet waves wonderful tuners. R3 locking nut to give a little more space between string and neck edge ( something my Malmsteen strat is terrible for) . The hardest part was fitting everything inside and getting it together with no noise problems. It was more work than I thought it would be but well worth it. For me , I couldn't buy a guitar like I wanted anywhere else. Warmoth has far passed my expectations for service and quality. I have played many nice guitars but never anything as perfect feeling as this neck.

Hella sweet guitar!  I'm after the SS 6100 frets on my next project, how do they play compared to standard frets?

 

[ericar]

Stainless is for sure nicer to play on. I love big frets on a normal guitar because they give you more room to dig in for bends. On this guitar the size of the fretwire doesn't make much difference because it is scalloped. I picked Pau ferro because it was hard and bright like maple and didn't need a finish. It is so smooth that you can't feel the grain at all. This is my first compound radius and to tell you the truth I can't feel any difference. I am used to guitars with mostly 12" radius. The compound doesn't feel any different to me than the 12" straight radius.
You can't even tell to look at it that there is any difference from the first fret to the last. I even checked it with radius gauges to make sure that there wasn't a mix up. I would probably buy compound again just because it is supposed to be better.

 

[Super Turbo Deluxe Custom]

That's interesting to hear that about the compound radius.  I had the same experience.  Can't feel or see the difference, and even thought I was sent a straight radius by mistake. 

 

[llmtelecaster]

Hella sweet guitar!  I'm after the SS 6100 frets on my next project, how do they play compared to standard frets?

After playing SS frets, regular frets will feel like barbed wire.

 

[llmtelecaster]

I know what you mean about loving the feel of a raw neck. So much so that I'm a registered exotic woods offender in 7 counties.

 

[Orpheo]

I know the feeling. I have that with purpleheart. there's no wood I love more than purpleheart (oh damn this is just an open door, is it?)

 

[ericar]

I would like to try macassar ebony for my next project. I would like to try rosewood but think that would be too much mellow wood with a poplar or ash body. I think I need harder brighter woods for my necks.

 

[Orpheo]

I would like to try macassar ebony for my next project. I would like to try rosewood but think that would be too much mellow wood with a poplar or ash body. I think I need harder brighter woods for my necks.

I have a macassar ebony tele-neck. very, very nice and slick-feeling!

 

[stubhead]

The boys in the back had a thing going with satine-ebony necks for a spell that was pretty terrifying, too...

 

[Stew]

Wow, that's a nice piece of wood! This is the first time I've seen a Pau neck ... it's more common around here as a fretboard on Goncalo, correct?

So sonically it's similar to maple? Hmmm, what's the weight like compared to a maple neck ... could be an option for a Tele build I'm dreamin' about.

 

[Cagey]

Depending on the pieces of maple and pau ferro you're comparing, the pau ferro will weigh between 20% and 30% more. It's not a lot, really, since necks aren't particularly heavy to begin with, but it'll be something you'll notice when you unbox it. That is, after you get done marvelling at the feel of the stuff.

Best. Neck. Ever.