Wenge/? neck

[Pelagaard]

I've decided to go with a wenge for the baritone neck I'm going to order, but I'm unsure what to do for the fingerboard. 

I love the tones of a wenge neck, and I'm wondering if there's a wood (hopefully with a different look) that'll enhance the low/mid tones without adding highs.  Should I just go with a 1-piece, or would something like bubinga do what I'm looking for?

ETA:  Not that it'll matter much tonally, but I'm leaning towards an LP style neck (or possibly one of the other 3+3 headstocks), so there'll be a fair amount of wood being seen with the fb.  The body it'll be going on is a black-brown burst MIM Jazzmaster.

 

[rockskate4x]

rosewood seems to be the first obvious choice to me. There's also goncalo, but I'm not sure how good that might look.

 

[AutoBat]

A Ziricote or Kingwood board should set you right on a Wenge neck (or all Wenge)

 

[bassfrancesco]

My ebony bass neck has a rosewood board, and the combination is warm and punchy.  Lots of sustain.  Very warm sound.  The feel of the rosewood is very smooth and fas and is nearly as fast as the wenge back.  I'm very happy with it. 

 

[Cracka G]

I have a few Warwick basses with wenge fretboards/necks.  Love the feel of wenge.  However, I cannot comment on how guitar strings behave on a wenge fretboard--I imagine the same as they would on a rosewood board, but I do not have experience to back up this assumption.

 

[keeper006]

Ziricote fretboards look great and would match the chocolatey wenge, and it's a "warm" sounding wood. I have a rosewood neck w ziricote board and I think it's my warmest sounding.

 

[Super Turbo Deluxe Custom]

I wouldn't worry much for the fretboard brightening it, as a fretboard's effect isn't highest on the scale and the brightest one (maple) isn't available on a wenge neck.  Along those lines, avoid ebony and canary.

 

[Dan025]

i vote ziricote. that'd be beautiful.

 

[oceanruckus]

+1 on Ziricote...you're stealing my idea for my next build  :laughing7:

 

[lafromla1]

I have an Ebony fretboard on my Wenge neck and it is a killer combo......

 

[Ddbltrbl]

I have an Ebony fretboard on my Wenge neck and it is a killer combo......

I have 2 of these and love both of them!!  :guitarplayer2:

 

[Super Turbo Deluxe Custom]

I have a Wenge/Ebony neck as well, but the OP stated he didn't want a bright sounding fretboard, though I think the Wenge won't let that happen.

 

[lafromla1]

I have a Wenge/Ebony neck as well, but the OP stated he didn't want a bright sounding fretboard, though I think the Wenge won't let that happen.

Its on a rosewood/wenge tele with P90's.  Sounds anything but bright.

 

[Pelagaard]

I decided to go with wenge/bubinga to go on a BK body.  This thing'll be a beast.  :headbang1:

 

[oceanruckus]

ccasion14:

Thats going to be a really pretty neck...plz post pics when it comes in!

 

[chazfilter]

I used pau ferro as the fretboard on my wenge neck guitar (pictures in this linked posting):

http://www.unofficialwarmoth.com/index.php?topic=19981.0

Even though the fretboard is pau ferro (one of the brightest woods) and the maple is solid maple, the resulting tone still has a strong midrange.  Have you considered a wenge fretboard?  :dontknow:  I had a bass with the wenge/wenge combination.  The fretboard feel was slicker than what one might expect, and the tone was not bright or harsh.

 

[ZionWarmoth]

Can't wait for the picks

 

[AutoBat]

I felt like posting my Wenge/Bloodwood neck again to liven this thread up a bit.

 

[Super Turbo Deluxe Custom]

Are W's Wenge necks quartersawn?  A guy at a show took one look an mine, "This is quartersawn." I took his word for it, but is it an optical illusion or just the differences in species between it and quartersawn maple (which I'm more familiar with) that give this impression?  All I've seen on the board, when looking at where the neck contours into the headstock look similar.

 

[Cagey]

it's tough to say. Usually, it's necessary to see the end of the piece to determine the grain orientation. It's tough to tell from the face of the cut. Also, even flatsawn boards end up with some pieces that will appear quartersawn, and in fact will have the same characteristics. Then in some woods, and I don't know if Wenge is one of them, it may not matter at all. If you look at the grain pattern of Ziricote, for instance, it's all over the place.