Wood neck and Body combo ?

[stratamania]

For the next strat type build I am musing over what I might build next. For neck woods I am leaning towards Pau ferro for the neck and ebony for the fingerboard.

For the body at the moment the body may be a Koa, or Koa/Mahogany combo or a Korina with maple top. These would be rear route options.

Pickup wise I will go for am HSH configuration and probably will use Suhr pickups or similar.

So the question is have any of you used these type of combinations and what results did you get tone wise ?

Bonus question have any of you combined a recessed trem and 720 mod and how did that work out ?

Thanks in advance...

 

[Cagey]

Few things in the guitar world are as satisfying as an Ebony over Pau Ferro neck, especially if you burnish it and put some stainless frets on it. You will be sooo happy. It's not an inexpensive way to go, but it's sex on a stick. It'll be the most comfortable guitar neck you've ever put your hands around.

As far as the body goes, I wouldn't waste the money on Koa if you're going to put a figured top on it. Black Korina is probably the way to go. Or, Mahogany - but I'd do the Korina. It can be heavy, though, so you might consider spending the money you would have on Koa to get it chambered. Doesn't really change anything, just makes it lighter. Really only saves you about a pound and a half, but over the course of an evening that can make the difference between not being able to lift a beer and being comfortable. Your shoulder will thank you.

For pickups, unless you have a really good reason, I don't know that I'd spend the money Suhr wants for them. Also, I don't know that I'd do a HSH configuration. In my experience, trying to mix single coils with humbuckers rarely works out. They're just too different. Dogs and cats. You can force the issue, but... I have a couple/few guitars here where I've tried mixing pickup styles, and it's been less than ideal. Seems like a good idea on the going-in side, but the reality sucks. Go all one or the other.

 

[stratamania]

Hey thanks for the feedback Cagey.

Another question I came across a discussion online somewhere which I don't recall where but there was something being mentioned about Pau ferro having a smell to it, have you noticed that at all ?

Definitely would use the burnishing method you linked to.

On the HSH I could also give bareknuckle pickups a try as I am in the UK the same as they are and could go HH, I have plenty of single coil guitars as it is but like the zebra HSH look...zebra HSH on Koa wouldn't look too good I think so zebra would probably be on a flame maple with black dye.

 

[Cagey]

Another question I came across a discussion online somewhere which I don't recall where but there was something being mentioned about Pau ferro having a smell to it, have you noticed that at all ?

Hehe! No, there's no smell to it. I've got about 12-15 species of hardwood here that have been tortured into necks, and none of them have a smell to them. I'll tell ya - some of the bullshit published on guitar forums can stagger the imagination.

But, to be fair, some woods can be really stanky when you're machining them. For instance, I've worked with some Oak that smelled like a combination of old socks and armpit when it was being cut. But, once it's built into something, it's not there.

On the HSH I could also give bareknuckle pickups a try as I am in the UK the same as they are and could go HH, I have plenty of single coil guitars as it is but like the zebra HSH look...zebra HSH on Koa wouldn't look too good I think so zebra would probably be on a flame maple with black dye.

I've heard nothing but good things about Bareknuckles, and I know you can get them there reasonably. They're pretty dear here, but England has some import/export rules that I'm not sure do anyone any good.

 

[The Hun]

I need to get a real camera, or at least learn to take better pics on an I-phone.

That's a Pau Ferro neck and the body is koa over chambered mahogany (koa bodies weren't available.) The neck came with a slight back-bow...freaked me out at first but I just loosened the truss rod and over-tightened the strings and it pulled out of it. Now it has the best action I've ever played!

I have this crazy theory that Pau Ferro is the perfect neck wood: no finish required, looks like rosewood, feels like ebony, sounds like maple!

I used a Bare Knuckles Stormy Monday for the bridge pup, figured even a weak HB is stronger than a bridge single coil pup. It sounds great to me at least!

I definitely think you'll be happy with the wood choices you're considering.

 

[croquet hoop]

About the pickups, I find that the S in a HSH configuration really gives the guitar more versatility. You'll still have the full humbucker sound in positions 1 and 5 (and you can get both in positon 3), but for cleaner sounds the positions 2 and 4 are really nice, and will give you sounds that you can't achieve if you split/wire the other pickups in parallel.

I thank the S1 single coil in my Ibanez everyday for giving it more versatility than if it had only humbuckers (Evo bridge & Breed neck — not really the best for clean sounds).

 

[Cagey]

I need to get a real camera, or at least learn to take better pics on an I-phone.

The trick to better phone camera shots is light. Indoor shots almost never look good. Too noisy. Need to get outside. Even if it's cloudy, the light is better.

I have this crazy theory that Pau Ferro is the perfect neck wood: no finish required, looks like rosewood, feels like ebony, sounds like maple!

That's a good theory. Of all the necks I have and all that have passed my bench, they're always the best. Pricey little buggers, but whoo boy! What a nice wood![/quote]

 

[stratamania]

Cagey, thanks again I thought the smell thing sounded a bit bogus.

ATAN2, good feedback thanks. And get some more photos of your guitar, we like that sort of stuff on here. Try limiting the size to 1024 * 768 so they show up a little easier. Is that a transparent pickguard you have on there ?

croquet hoop, I do have an Ibanez Jem7V with HSH, I will take a look at that. I hardly play it as nowadays I find the wizard neck not so comfortable for me. In fact I am thinking of selling it. 

I suppose for HSH I could look at some funky wiring schemes but this is all part of the fun the design choices. Free to make them too until you pull the trigger.

 

[Cagey]

I suppose for HSH I could look at some funky wiring schemes but this is all part of the fun the design choices. Free to make them too until you pull the trigger.

You might want to consider getting a "universal" route for the pickups. Some folks call it a "swimming pool" route - others call it a "tone chamber". Call it what you will, it's no charge from Warmoth and it'll allow you to play games with pickup choices until hell won't have it. Just costs you a new pickguard in some cases. Plus the pickups, of course. Still - lotta options open to you by by going that way.

 

[stratamania]

I suppose for HSH I could look at some funky wiring schemes but this is all part of the fun the design choices. Free to make them too until you pull the trigger.

You might want to consider getting a "universal" route for the pickups. Some folks call it a "swimming pool" route - others call it a "tone chamber". Call it what you will, it's no charge from Warmoth and it'll allow you to play games with pickup choices until hell won't have it. Just costs you a new pickguard in some cases. Plus the pickups, of course. Still - lotta options open to you by by going that way.

Except for this build i was planning on a rear route.

  Still it's an idea for another test bed guitar for testing out various possibilities ahead of time.

 

[Cagey]

I'm sorry - you mentioned that early on and I forgot it.

 

[stratamania]

I'm sorry - you mentioned that early on and I forgot it.

No worries...

 

[stratamania]

Per Bare Knuckle versus Suhr pickup prices in the UK, I checked and they come out not much different price wise.

 

[stratamania]

GAS attack, so the idea of a Pau Ferro, with ebony fingerboard for an HSH type build is still on the horizon.

But I started to wonder about what neck profile I would get for this when I eventually get around to it. I like the standard thin on my purple quilt strat, but some of my other necks that I also like are a little deeper.

So what to do, I know I have an old Squier tele body fully loaded. So I ordered an unfinished '59 profile tele neck from the showcase today so I can then make a choice between standard thin or '59 when later in the year I order the Pau Ferro neck built to order. Seems a reasonably cost effective  way to check out which profile to get later 

Now, I then saw a nice light one piece ash tele body so added that to the cart, and a Gotoh tele bridge and a few bits and pieces. Looks like I am building a new tele, and the old Squier body will remain neckless.  :glasses9: