Roasted maple neck - What fretboard?

[harry]

Hi

I'm thinking about my second build here. I'm aiming for a vintage-ish telecaster. The body will be swamp ash, and I want to try roasted maple for the neck.

But what about the fretboard? How is the feel of an unfinished roasted maple fretboard. Is it nice? Or should i go for more "traditional" with rosewood, pau ferro or ebony?

 

[Cagey]

They feel fantastic! I buy mine without frets so I can burnish the fretboard, then install the frets after that. Makes for a 'board that feels like glass, although I generally use pretty tall frets (6105s or 6100s) so there isn't a lotta contact with the 'board anyway.

Of course, you can do the same thing with other fretboard woods; there's nothing special about Maple that way. So, you may want to consider aesthetics as well. Roasted Maple is a bit darker than raw, but it's still kinda light and may not complement your body as well as a darker wood might.

 

[harry]

They feel fantastic! I buy mine without frets so I can burnish the fretboard, then install the frets after that. Makes for a 'board that feels like glass, although I generally use pretty tall frets (6105s or 6100s) so there isn't a lotta contact with the 'board anyway.

Of course, you can do the same thing with other fretboard woods; there's nothing special about Maple that way. So, you may want to consider aesthetics as well. Roasted Maple is a bit darker than raw, but it's still kinda light and may not complement your body as well as a darker wood might.

I have read about our "burnish" method and it sounds interesting!

About the colour matching, I'm a little unsure. I will do a satin tru oil finish on the swamp ash, and may use a dark grain filler so the grains stands out. But will the neck be much darker than the body? How well will the colours match?

 

[Cagey]

It probably won't be darker, but Swamp Ash has both light and dark features so it's hard to say.

 

[harry]

It probably won't be darker, but Swamp Ash has both light and dark features so it's hard to say.

Thanks for your reply. So I may consider to use som dye on the body to tint the colour a bit.

I'm aiming for something like this, but less relic'd.

http://rebel-guitars.com/palir-guitar-model-t-in-butterscotch/

 

[Cagey]

It depends on the stain color. Plus, roasted Maple is more of a darker tan color, where that one looks more orange-ish.

Here's a shot of a roasted Maple neck on a stained Alder body, which while not an ideal match to what you're doing will give you some idea of the color...

 

[Logrinn]

What is that steampunk contraption you have there? Some kind of neck straightener? 

 

[Cagey]

No, that's part workstation, part setup jig. The neck straightener is here.

 

[Logrinn]

Right. I forgot. I saw that thread. (Excellent, by the way!)

It takes some doing but it's fun going through old threads here. I've learned a lot these few months I've been part of this fine community.
I hope I might add some wisdom here in return someday.

 

[Cagey]

I've tried using that setup jig to bend necks, but it doesn't work for that at all. It's more for accurately and firmly holding an instrument in place for measuring and adjustment. I fabbed up a small dummy body I usually use to attach just necks to so I can work on them without bodies. Frees up the entire fretboard all the way to the end of the heel so I can level/crown/dress/polish frets, install strings to facilitate filing nut slots, setting relief, etc. It also mounts on the jig, so everything's easy to work around. The jig stand is on a roll-around base.

 

[Logrinn]

A brilliant idea solution. Very clever.

And I see you chose the Bo Diddley style body for it.
Very elegant.

 

[Cagey]

Thanks. When I originally drew it up, I was going to have Doug fab me something up out of aluminum, but then I found some 5/8" 9-ply Maple die board out in the garage that I'd forgotten about. So, I sandwiched a chunk of oak between two pieces of that and routed it for pickups/bridge/controls. You can't see the controls, but there's an output and volume at the end that I use to feed a tuner mounted at the headstock end of the setup jig. The whole thing is pretty damn stiff, probably moreso than any body would be, so there's no influence on the neck mounting. Also, the bridge is a Schaller 475...

...which has saddles that beyond height and intonation will also adjust for different neck widths. The pickup is just some unidentified thing I found in the Drawer of Misfit Parts. I don't know what it is. I suspect it's a GFS unit of some sort.

 

[Logrinn]

Ah, the output is on the end. I see. Cool.

Yes, I recognized that bridge, and actually had some thoughts on using that on my build-to-come. I quite like the idea of having a top loaded bridge.
But in the end, I decided to go - like you often say - simple. I'll be using a standard ordinary Fender american flat mount bridge.

 

[Cagey]

Truth be told, I wouldn't use that bridge on a guitar because of the rollers being mounted on threaded rod. It's probably an ungrounded concern, but I could see them moving on me during string changes or whatever and inadvertently changing string spacing without my noticing until it pissed me off. In this application, though, it works to my advantage because I work on a lotta necks and their widths can be different. Plus, I may go through more than one set of strings during a setup so the top-feed is handy once everything is strapped into the jig.

 

[Logrinn]

Quite right. I've thought about this too, and actually read somewhere on the interweb that people that use this bridge have different solutions for having the roller saddles stay in place. Locking juice and whatnot.
So, am.std. flat mount it is.

 

[stratamania]

Stain the ash with tea, it'll get you close.

See Tele build in my signature.

 

[harry]

It depends on the stain color. Plus, roasted Maple is more of a darker tan color, where that one looks more orange-ish.

Here's a shot of a roasted Maple neck on a stained Alder body, which while not an ideal match to what you're doing will give you some idea of the color...

Is that a quartersawn maple neck? 1 or 2 piece? I have a hard time to decide. Can you feel the skunk stripe on a raw neck? Is a 2 pice neck "aesthetic" nice with the same wood in the finger board as the neck?

 

[Cagey]

I don't remember, but that particular neck was somewhat curly, so it's unlikely it was quartersawn. Usually, figured woods are flatsawn to get the best yield from the log.

Skunk stripes are typically undetectable by feel. They are visually apparent, and often use contrasting woods for appearance's sake.

I'm not aware of any aesthetic reason to use one-piece vs. two-piece woods other than what's in the eye of the beholder, and I don't think there's a quality difference.