Thoughts on Ziricote or Wenge?

[Grinderman]

Hi all. New to the forum so go easy.

I'm working on a build and got it in my head to have a Ziricote fretboard, possibly on a Wenge neck. Having never played on either wood, I admit freely that this has everything to do with looks and Warmoth's description. Does anyone have any opinions or insight on either wood's feel, tone, weight, etc?

Any info would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Hagwood]

Well I haven’t actually played one yet, but I’m definitely planning a Wenge neck with Ebony fretboard for my next dark color build. I got a piece of wenge from Rockler to experiment with to see how I would like the feel. Sanded and burnished up to 3000 grit and it’s like butter. Even though it is an open grain wood, after burnishing it’s incredible. I love the feel of raw necks, and this needs no finish.

 

[teleme01]

2 wenge necks, gotta say my favorite part is the looks, love the dark ones

 

[Spud]

Well I haven’t actually played one yet, but I’m definitely planning a Wenge neck with Ebony fretboard for my next dark color build. I got a piece of wenge from Rockler to experiment with to see how I would like the feel. Sanded and burnished up to 3000 grit and it’s like butter. Even though it is an open grain wood, after burnishing it’s incredible. I love the feel of raw necks, and this needs no finish.

View attachment 66441

Wenge neck with Pau ferro board, stainless 6115's SRV roller nut mop dots

 

[rockandroller]

Ziricote can be gorgeous but varies widely, so definitely go with unique choice option for that

 

[Hagwood]

Here’s one I have saved in my wishlist from the builder. Meadowhawk neck with Wenge and Ebony.

 

[Grinderman]

Holy cow, that's the exact neck I was thinking of ordering! Great minds think alike.

 

[Grinderman]

I fairly new to Warmoth, what's the difference between using the unique choice option and simply selecting it from the drop down menu?

 

[ragamuffin]

I fairly new to Warmoth, what's the difference between using the unique choice option and simply selecting it from the drop down menu?

With unique choice you pay extra to pick out the exact piece of wood that you want and you get that exact piece of wood.
From the drop down menu you get a randomly selected piece of wood of the species that you chose.

 

[JohnnyHardtail]

I wouldn't assume you need unique choice for Ziricote. I ordered two custom necks, and allowed Warmoth to choose the Ziricote fretboard. Neither of them have high-grade grain patterns and some people may think they are a little plain. However they are an excellent choice for fretboards IMO.

 

[Strangs]

For feel I refer to the wood database and compare to something you know:
- https://www.wood-database.com/wenge/
- https://www.wood-database.com/ziricote/

- https://www.wood-database.com/gaboon-ebony/
- https://www.wood-database.com/east-indian-rosewood/
- https://www.wood-database.com/hard-maple/
- https://www.wood-database.com/honduran-mahogany/

Wenge and ziricote are about halfway between maple and rosewood in hardness and almost twice as hard as mahogany.
Wenge is about half again stronger for bending than maple and a bit more than that for mahogany.

Wenge should be more stable in general than your common neck and is known for it's very open grain that when polished/burnished tends to feel very smooth almost waxy. Bass companies make marketing claims about it's mid-range warmth in general - YMMV. Woodworkers hate it due to it's tendency to splinter at the slightest suggestion.

Ziricote has beautiful overlapping grains for nice pieces and is harder than a piece of unfinished maple while not quite as hard as rosewood. If that affects tone in your ears, apply accordingly.

For my eye, it may be a lot of competing brown on brown grain patterns, but would be a very nice thing to play.

 

[teleme01]

It seems to be that unique choice is more expensive but $50 they pick, $60 you pick, unless you select the most expensive unique choice, the price is not that large an upcharge. Imo

 

[NedRyerson]

Although non-WM, my basses have wenge necks. I love them. Super smooth to play, such that my next WM bari build (that I've been planning for over 4+ years so who really knows if/when I'll actually do it....) is slated to have a wenge neck with purpleheart board.

I'm not in any position to evaluate tonal differences between species for necks as I only play at home, at super low volumes, and I hardly ever record, so ultimately, it really wouldn't matter. For me, it's cosmetic, mostly. But the raw wood is much more appealing to the touch than, say, the common finished maple.