As to the original question; the necks in that price category tend to all be flawless ebony or Brazilian Rosewood, often nicely figured on the Brazilian. These exotic woods are no longer readily available, mainly due to environmental factors these days, hence their steep price tag. I think a lot of the people who get into using Warmoth parts to do custom axes do so for the same reason as I, i.e., I can afford to buy anything I want, but find even the high $ custom shop offerings lacking, ESPECIALLY when you consider their pricing. If you're coming from looking at Fender Custom Shop models from $2500-6000 or so, laying out a grand for a neck to build your "dream guitar" is no big whup. As to whether they sound 3-4 times better, that questionable, but in terms of LOOKING better, that's another story. If you hang on to it for a while the intrinsic monetary value of the neck can't do anything but go UP; you might not be able to get a Brazilian neck at all in another decade or two....