Tele neck wood - Ebony?

[buckallred]

hi guys:

Quick question. I am interested in a no-finish exotic wood tele neck.

From a quick perusal of the "showcase" of the Warmoth site, there are several options that won't quite break the bank.

There are several Indian Rosewood necks that are surprisingly not too expensive. Also there are 2-3 necks made of ebony that are beautiful, though I don't think I have ever heard of necks made entirely of ebony.

Beyond that, I am open to suggestions though I don't really want to spend more than $300.

Any suggestions or input would be appreciated. Any expeirence with or thoughts on an ebony neck? Indian rosewood vs. brazilian rosewood? This is going on a sunburst Alder body (MIM) for now, the idea is eventually to get a Warmoth body to go wth the neck. Also any thoughts on other no-finish-required exotic woods would be appreicated. I generally want a darker, richer sound and want a wood that does not require a finish. Thanks!

 

[NonsenseTele]

Not very sure about the difference between brazilian and indian rosewood... but I think a Ebony neck will be to bright, even more if you'll use single-coils... But hey, I'm a Rosewood man  :icon_biggrin:

 

[Phrygian]

I could be wrong, but I think that sometimes people experience stability issues with ebony (e.g., cracked fingerboards).  Anyone?

 

[Funky Phil]

I have worked on hundres of guitars with Ebony boards (though none yet with a solid Ebony neck)...

Its properties appear to be;

Bright tonally
Hard wearing
Strong reaction (dimensionally) to moisture...it appears to shrink in a dry climate (and grow when wet) more than most woods...
Tricky to refret...it splits and chips very easily
Looks nice!

 

[m4rk0]

But hey, I'm a Rosewood man  :icon_biggrin:

You are our own forum brazillian wood lover man!

 

[Orpheo]

I have an ebony neck, and its for me, too smooth and slick, and too bright. pau ferro is the best neck imho; not too warm, not too bright, and not too smooth.

 

[NonsenseTele]

But hey, I'm a Rosewood man  :icon_biggrin:

You are our own forum brazillian wood lover man!

I didn't meaned the Brazilian, but hey it's the ace, isn't? :icon-biggrin:
If it were just for where it comes I would say "I'm a Mahogany, BR, Bloodwood, Gonçalo Alves, Pau Ferro, Kingwood, Purpleheart, Imbuya man" :laughing7: And that's just from Warmoth site  :toothy12:


To add something, have I said that that "leg" under the C on Gonçalo makes the pronuntiation of it "Gonsalo" not "Goncalo"?

 

[m4rk0]

You live in tonewood land!!
no tonewoods from where I live or come from..
Texas - just some mesquite trees
Holland - more people, cars and cities than trees.. most overcrowded country in Europe

 

[NonsenseTele]

But damn sexy blondes, oh yeah

 

[Patrick from Davis]

I kinda like Ebony, bright - sure, but articulate, slick, and solid.  Mine is on a Korina body with humbuckers (well one of them), but...  It might be too bight for the tele single coils, or you could get darker sounding pickups for it (overwound)

Oh and posting pictures of these things never gets old...
Patrick

 

[Orpheo]

But damn sexy blondes, oh yeah

agreed!

but marko, that is not really true, huh. Here we/you have maple trees, ash trees, alder trees, basswood, elm, pear and walnut. all great tonewoods. granted, we don't have korina, mahogany or rosewood, but the USA don't have those either!

 

[Soylent]

Marko has a strat with an ebony board and I freakin love how fast it is, but that's just me.. I wanted one till I saw that canary/ziricote combo..

My 2 cents, I like ebony boards, I don't know about solid ebony though, that would be very, very bright.

 

[buckallred]

Thank you all for the excellent input, this forum is really great. Lots of folks who know a lot about building these awesome guitars.

I didn't realize that ebony would produce such a bright sound. I want to go in the other direction this time. . . which leads me to conclude that, for the money, indian rosewood is a great deal. I think that is what i will get this time. But as we know, there will be others. . . it never really ends.

Thanks again! Any further discussion of exotic wood necks is certainly welcomed.

 

[buckallred]

PS: my current Warmoth:

 

[Orpheo]

indeed, rosewood is VERY warm compared with ebony. rosewood is just as warm as mahogany, but with a different soundspectrum. more a bell like chime, the tone and mojo oozes out of every pore.

 

[rahimiiii]

In my experience ebony is really hard to sand... and the black dust they just get everywhere. Rosewood is much easier to sand but the purple dust is annoying as well. But ebony is hard as hell so it's hard to wear them down. I received an ebony fretboard that had a crack in it... not sure if it wasn't properly seasoned or something. they replaced it promptly.