Warmoth Neck Ebony Vs. Maple

[NSC217]

I bought a Warmoth Strat neck (Rosewood over Maple neck) and it had a very spunky, chimey, plush, bright tone to it. I then got a thicker strat neck, for more comfort, with the same specs (except I said dark Indian Rosewood instead of just Indian Rosewood), and it has a much warmer, fuller tone to it without the chime and spunk  when i strum a chord. So, I'm going to try one more time and purchase a new neck from Warmoth. I'm thinking about getting the neck slightly thinner than the original neck I had, but with a wider nut so that the volume of the new neck will be similar to that of the original neck (with the tone I liked) and it wont be too small for my hands. I'm also thinking about getting the new neck quarter sawn to help my odds that it will have that chime to it.

In order to further increase the odds of getting the chime tone I like, I'm also thinking about possibly getting an ebony back instead of the maple. A maple fingerboard over a maple back is simply too bright for my liking. I don't want a tinty tone so much as a nice chime. However, I'm nervous that the black ebony will get too hot when i play outside and either burn my hands and/or cause the neck to warp a lot. So I would go with the lighter brown ebony that warmoth offers.

Any Ideas? Thanks!

 

[Nando Vallart]

Ebony will be even more brighter than Maple...

Welcome to the forum

 

[NSC217]

"Snappy" is another word to describe the tone of my original neck (note: it only had that bright, snap tone to it when i raised the action and thus the string tension),

 

[Death by Uberschall]

Welcome.

Every piece of wood will have some tonal difference. But usually thicker necks are warmer sounding. Try the same neck with an ebony board.

 

[NSC217]

Thanks guys. I just read somewhere that maple has a snappy bright tone to it, while ebony has more of a clear bright tone to it... anyone know?

 

[OzziePete]

OK I have used necks that have only had an ebony fretboard, not the full ebony neck,  and I find  that increases the treble response from the strings...or I should say, the ebony does emphasise it more.

I used the ebony board on a 24.75" conversion neck for a Tele project in order to bring back some more treble twang after opting for the shorter scale and that is what happened.

The use of the ebony board also worked when I specc'ed out a custom acoustic guitar, with the neck on that being mahogany and ona  jumbo sized body. But despite the inherrent tendencies for a guitar built like that to be bass boomy, there is some treble sparkling through. This I attribute to the brilliant work of the luthier AND the use of ebony on the fretboard.

But ebony is hard under the fingers and may not be to every one's liking.

I'd suspect that a full neck made of ebony would be very solid, I cannot imagine the neck moving at all! But it may also be a bit harsh in upper mids and treble tones & might even be too shrill. I have never read of anyone complaining about ebony getting too hot, just maybe some comments about the wood being unforgiving under the fretting fingers and also comments about the tone being too trebly.

Woods of course vary in response to frequencies, even within the same species. And an ebony neck would be quite expensive too. IF you find you do not like it for whatever reason, you cannot expect to recover that expense fully.

As you have had a couple of necks before hand, maybe step out the plan a bit more conservatively and get a maple neck with an ebony board and see how that feels? If you find that is still not to your liking and you want to go full ebony then, after experiencing an ebony board, go for it.

LATE EDIT:I just noticed your comment about believing maple/maple as being too bright....... if that is the way you feel about the woods (everyone's opinion differs so that's no big issue) then I would suggest that ebony/ebony would be worse than maple/maple.

 

[bassilisk]

I have a Warmoth bass (carved top Dinky P Mahogany body with a Maple cap) with an all Macassar Ebony neck and my impression is it's like a graphite neck made out of wood. Extremely stiff giving great focus and sustain to the notes, and being unfinished just a joy to play. I wanted something bright to offset the Mahogany so I went with all Ebony. I cannot offer a comparison to another wood combination on this same bass. I will say that the tone is not very "organic", for lack of a better word - it doesn't yield a "woody" tone, it's just way too stiff. That may not work out for you on guitar. The effect of the Ebony has more going on than just a "bright" factor, like maple vs rosewood. It may get too sterile sounding on a guitar - again, it depends what you're looking for. If you just want snap and edge you'll get it in spades.

It really does compare to graphite IMO, and it works great for bass. I'm very glad of this because it's a pretty expensive experiment to perform and not get the results you want. BTW, I wouldn't worry about the neck getting hot in the sun. You'll catch fire long before that becomes an issue.

 

[Cagey]

BTW, I wouldn't worry about the neck getting hot in the sun. You'll catch fire long before that becomes an issue.

I wondered about that when he asked the question. Never heard it asked before, and in nearly 40 years of playing have never heard of anybody having a temperature issue with their neck from playing outdoors, regardless of what it was made of. But, I also haven't come across any completely ebony necks in real life, so what do I know? It does seem highly unlikely to be an issue, though.

 

[bpmorton777]

before spending $600 on a neck you might want to see if changing the pots to a higher value does the trick. :sign13:

Brian

 

[lafromla1]

BTW, I wouldn't worry about the neck getting hot in the sun. You'll catch fire long before that becomes an issue.

I wondered about that when he asked the question. Never heard it asked before, and in nearly 40 years of playing have never heard of anybody having a temperature issue with their neck from playing outdoors, regardless of what it was made of. But, I also haven't come across any completely ebony necks in real life, so what do I know? It does seem highly unlikely to be an issue, though.

Ask this guy how it sounds

 

[JaySwear]

I wondered about that when he asked the question. Never heard it asked before, and in nearly 40 years of playing have never heard of anybody having a temperature issue with their neck from playing outdoors, regardless of what it was made of. But, I also haven't come across any completely ebony necks in real life, so what do I know? It does seem highly unlikely to be an issue, though.

sometimes when i play my acoustic outside the neck's upper frets (since i usually play low on the neck) will be pretty warm. but not hot. i definitely wouldn't worry about that! as cagey said, i'd really call that a non-issue

EDIT: and +1 on brian's suggestion. pot values could change a whole lot of your sound

 

[mayfly]

BTW, I wouldn't worry about the neck getting hot in the sun. You'll catch fire long before that becomes an issue.

I wondered about that when he asked the question. Never heard it asked before, and in nearly 40 years of playing have never heard of anybody having a temperature issue with their neck from playing outdoors, regardless of what it was made of. But, I also haven't come across any completely ebony necks in real life, so what do I know? It does seem highly unlikely to be an issue, though.

I've only ever heard about this with aluminum necks.  But I could be pulling a Burr-Brown here...

 

[NSC217]

Thanks All! What do you mean "change the value of the pots"? I have vintage noisless pickups and love the way they sounded on my other neck. If you mean getting hotter pickups, wouldnt that simply give me an even muddier tone?

I also keep my pickups VERY low because they are too bright and tinty sounding when I raise them. I guess there are different types of brightness. Even with my new muddy tone, I also keep the treble down to 5 because I don't like that type of brightness as it's piercing to my ears.

 

[kboman]

They mean the values of the tone and volume potentiometers, I believe.

 

[Cagey]

Thanks All! What do you mean "change the value of the pots"? I have vintage noisless pickups and love the way they sounded on my other neck. If you mean getting hotter pickups, wouldnt that simply give me an even muddier tone?

I also keep my pickups VERY low because they are too bright and tinty sounding when I raise them. I guess there are different types of brightness. Even with my new muddy tone, I also keep the treble down to 5 because I don't like that type of brightness as it's piercing to my ears.

Typically, single coil pickups are wired to 250K pots (potentiometers, or volume controls). Changing those to 500K pots will usually brighten them up and the increase output just a tad. It's nothing to write home about - I mean, it's not like installing a preamp or something - but it is perceptible.

 

[JaySwear]

yep, yours are most likely 250k pots, but 500k pots would open up your sound and get you a little more clarity. but with that clarity would be a bit more treble as well. i know they make 300k pots. maybe those would be best? they'd brighten your sound just a little bit but still not give you ear splitting highs. somebody such as myself probably wouldn't be able to tell the difference between those and 250's, but you might! and it's a whole lot cheaper than a neck. otherwise, 500k pots with the tone rolled down might help.

EDIT: after looking around it looks like you can find 350k pots as well. you might be able to custom order a value if you're looking for something strange. i know there are a few companies out there that'll most likely take orders for something like that, and you'd still be spending a whole lot less than you would to get a new neck!

 

[Cagey]

You can also put a 1M resistor in parallel with a 500K pot and effectively get a 330K pot (plus or minus tolerances).