Wenge Fretboard

[bleached]

I just ordered a Gecko body and I'm still trying to decide on a direction for the neck.  Does anyone have experience with Wenge fretboards?  I've found on some forums people complaining about finger gunk getting stuck in the open pores of the Wenge and difficulty removing it.  If this were true, I would imagine the same problem would occur with the neck but I haven't heard about that happening.

I'm mostly going between Wenge/Wenge or Wenge/Ebony.  Any insight or pictures of Wenge fretboards would be appreciated!

 

[ValeBliz]

I never played a wenge fretboard, but I do have a couple if warmoth wenge guitar necks. One is a couple of years old, so far I never had problems with gunk build up. Schecter builds the Nick Johnston sig with wenge neck and it's a pretty expensive instrument.

 

[stratamania]

Personally I would lean towards Wenge with an Ebony board. That way the doubt around Wenge as a board is eliminated.

 

[bleached]

Personally I would lean towards Wenge with an Ebony board. That way the doubt around Wenge as a board is eliminated.

I like the idea of black or macassar ebony, but without any unique choices and only being able select "Ebony" it seems like a gamble on what it's going to look like when it shows up.  I spoke with Warmoth and they said the UC boards on the other 5 string necks (of which there are plenty) wont fit Gecko necks and it didn't sound like there would be UC boards for the Gecko any time soon.

 

[Rick]

i've got a wenge / wenge neck and there's no problem with gunk.  Ridiculous.

 

[Lbpesq]

I built a bass with a Wenge fretboard.  LOVE IT!

Bill, tgo

 

[stratamania]

Personally I would lean towards Wenge with an Ebony board. That way the doubt around Wenge as a board is eliminated.

I like the idea of black or macassar ebony, but without any unique choices and only being able select "Ebony" it seems like a gamble on what it's going to look like when it shows up.  I spoke with Warmoth and they said the UC boards on the other 5 string necks (of which there are plenty) wont fit Gecko necks and it didn't sound like there would be UC boards for the Gecko any time soon.

Occasionally Gecko necks show up in the showcase but perhaps not as frequently these days. Of course if they do you can see exactly what it looks like.

 

[musicispeace]

I have a strat neck with a Wenge fretboard. I haven't had any issues and it feels fine. I've had it on a guitar with 6105 frets for at least three years now. I once had an all wenge neck for a tele that I ended up not using but it felt fine to the touch as well.

 

[Steve_Karl]

Personally I would lean towards Wenge with an Ebony board. That way the doubt around Wenge as a board is eliminated.

I like the idea of black or macassar ebony, but without any unique choices and only being able select "Ebony" it seems like a gamble on what it's going to look like when it shows up.  I spoke with Warmoth and they said the UC boards on the other 5 string necks (of which there are plenty) wont fit Gecko necks and it didn't sound like there would be UC boards for the Gecko any time soon.

The guys at Warmonth are artists in my opinion.
I've never made a Unique Choice on any of my fret boards. 4 in total, and 3 being ebony and for me it's been very good.
The last one was macassar and I'm pretty sure if I had made a UC it wouldn't have been as spectacular as it turned out
in the specific way that it was chosen and assembled.

 

[18allthaway]

I have a Wenge neck with Pau Ferro Fretboard.
So far so good. I wish that I reversed them; the Pau feels much smoother than Wenge.

 

[gingataff]

Warwick basses use wenge necks and fretboards, don't they? Maybe look out for pics on the web of old ones or see if any local stores have one second hand.

 

[ChronoTrigger77]

I owned an Ibanez MSM1 (Marco Sfogli) for a couple of years.  It had a Wenge neck (with bubinga strips) and a wenge fingerboard.  I've parted ways with most of my brand name guitars now that I'm building with Warmoth parts, but I really liked the Wenge for its look, sound, and feel.  It's lighter than rosewood, which is good for the neck.  It's also quite coarse, but then, that's part of the point.

I can see how the the pores accumulating things could be an issue.  I just cleaned it each time I restrung it.  On the upside, the open pores mean Wenge will take stain very well if you want to make lighter piece look more dark chocolate.

It's likely I'll build a neck with Wenge again at some point, but I think I'll choose a smooth fingerboard, like Ebony, as others have suggested.

 

[Frankie Chestnuts]

I have a maple neck with a wenge fingerboard. Love it.  I have no issues.  No gunk. It's a very smooth board.  Maybe a touch waxy feel, but nothing I am bothered by.  I waited around and picked a 'Unique Choice' board and it's stunning.  EVERYONE asks about it. 

 

[Kostas]

...I've found on some forums people complaining about finger gunk getting stuck in the open pores of the Wenge and difficulty removing it.  If this were true, I would imagine the same problem would occur with the neck but I haven't heard about that happening...

Yes and no. I have a Wenge neck and the open pores are not ideal but a little oil solves the problem. My tech is using oil & wax but wax makes it sticky and I don't like it.