Purpleheart strat neck with Ebony fretboard and Supernova inlays

[timezon3]

Just received it last night, unfortunately will be a little while before I get it attached to the guitar, as I'm heading out on vacation for a little bit.  Very pleased with the quality and workmanship of the piece.  Neck arrived pretty much dead straight, out of the box, fretwork seems pretty good.  A couple of slightly high frets, but overall probably better than the necks I've been playing on, so I probably won't bother attempting to level them.  Will install tuners (hipshot open-back locking tuners, black) and a nut, bolt it up, and see how it plays.  Kind of wish I had had Warmoth install a nut - I wanted to try it myself, and I'm fairly confident I can get it worked out, but it sure is a lot of work.  At some point I will probably dress the fret ends, but they honestly don't feel bad to me just beveled. 

There won't be a full build thread, as it's replacing the neck on an existing guitar:
Warmoth Alder body, quilted maple cap (dyed purple finish, done by me)
purple pearloid pickguard
Fender American Standard 2-point trem
Lollar blonde pickups

I will post more pics once it's all put together, though.

TZ

 

[Logrinn]

That looks super nice. I look forward to seeing it on the body.

 

[dmraco]

very nice.  What finish are you going to put on it?

 

[rgand]

Man, everything works on that neck. I really like the purpleheart. It gets nicer with age, too.

 

[timezon3]

Thanks for the comments, folks.  I am not planning any finish on it - it just feels too nice as is!  I will probably burnish it a bit, following Cagey's guide.  I am a little bit concerned about the color changing, but from what I understand, even a finish doesn't prevent it, so why bother.  And it seems to vary from piece to piece anyways - I will just take whatever the wood gives me.  Although if I end up with a color change like this after 10 years, I would in fact be quite pleased, as that dark burgundy is quite attractive!

TZ

 

[vetteman]

I do like the supernova inlays!  Enjoy!

 

[Cagey]

...if I end up with a color change like this after 10 years, I would in fact be quite pleased, as that dark burgundy is quite attractive!

That same site has an example of what happens to Bloodwood over time, which is also a fantastic neck meat. It's very fine-grained and dense, so it ends up feeling like red ebony.

 

[Norgard]

...if I end up with a color change like this after 10 years, I would in fact be quite pleased, as that dark burgundy is quite attractive!

That same site has an example of what happens to Bloodwood over time, which is also a fantastic neck meat. It's very fine-grained and dense, so it ends up feeling like red ebony.

Yep, that looks really nice!

 

[wildbill]

Very nice.  Something I never considered but I'm liking it a lot.

 

[Zhaezzy]

That is one of the cool things about wood it sets and ages my 20 year old padouk neck is pretty dark and it looks cool. My new one is still pretty red. The neck looks great what body to pair it up with??? decisions.

 

[timezon3]

Figure most people have probably seen these by now, but thought it might be helpful to link from here to my completed pictures over in the "Strat" gallery.

http://www.unofficialwarmoth.com/index.php?topic=28366.0

TZ

 

[Tipperman]

Gorgeous neck, timezon3. I'm a big fan of the Strat headstock, and Purpleheart looks great with it.  :icon_thumright: