Starting a new project and i was wondering what people think about different neck woods personally i like wenge but any other suggestions

I love wenge but I've heard it's a pain to work with(very hard, bad splinters & nasty, semi-toxic dust). Ash feels much like wenge.

+1 to wenge here. Didn't have it for long, but it seems VERY stable and I do like the feel of it in my hands.

Too many different opinions

Depends on what sound you want

:hmm:
I completely forgot to get all uppity & sarcastic in response to the word 'best' in the title. Let me try again: Best for what? Jazz? Metal? Whacking someone in the head? There are many favorites and perhaps something close to best for a specific application, but no *best, period.*

Bassteban's fave: Again, wenge.
There- now I feel better. :)

Graphite

wenge is my favorite, I have a bass that hasn't needed adjustment in forever, the natural non-finished state of a wenge neck feels incredibly good

Ive never needed to touch the truss rod in my SGC Bass Collection, and Ive owned that for at least 10 years.

The necks maple with a rosewood fingerboard, and I doubt its got anything like carbon rods in there :)

But maybe I was lucky and just got a good one...?

How mahogany compares in this context? It sure is softer than wenge for example but I think it has been used commonly?

...the natural non-finished state of a wenge neck feels incredibly good...

Son....if it were truly unfinished, it wouldn't feel so good in your hand.....your hand would be full of tiny splinters.

Well maybe he use glove when playing :D

i like mahogany.

Wenge, maple, graphite is probably good, walnut, mahogany, all good choices! :D

Has anyone tried hickory?

Dan K.

I've never tried hickory for a neck, but it seems like a good choice. It has open pores and is very splintery like wenge, but harder. I recently refloored my house in 4" wide hickory, and I'm thinking of using some leftover for a fingerboard.

I've never seen hickory or mahogany used as a bass neck, except maybe mahog in an old Les Paul bass I had years ago. Thin neck, short scale, incredibly heavy.

Rather than recommending what kind of wood you should use, I'll recommend that you use quartersawn wood for the neck, regardless of the species. Anything quartersawn will be very stable and you won't have to worry as much about it twisting or warping over its lifetime as a bass neck.

I've just received my J Wenge neck from Warmoth - it has a Zircote fretless fingerboard (with maple fret markers) and looks and feels stunning. After using Warwicks for years its nice to get this darker wood sound on a Fender without the additional weight of the a Warwick body - incidentally the neck is unfinished and feels perfect.

Son....if it were truly unfinished, it wouldn't feel so good in your hand.....your hand would be full of tiny splinters.

So by unfinished do you mean no sealer, lacquer, etc, or completely raw & unsanded? I was under the impression that the wenge neck on my Warwick was bare(but sanded nicely, of course :D). I'm not disputing your knowledge or being my usual smartass self; I just want to be sure I'm not misinterpretting here. :)

I've never seen hickory or mahogany used as a bass neck, except maybe mahog in an old Les Paul bass I had years ago. Thin neck, short scale, incredibly heavy.

Gibson Thunderbirds, mahoagany necked, that a reason a lot of people do the Fenderbird mod, for the maple neck.

So by unfinished do you mean no sealer, lacquer, etc, or completely raw & unsanded? I was under the impression that the wenge neck on my Warwick was bare(but sanded nicely, of course :D). I'm not disputing your knowledge or being my usual smartass self; I just want to be sure I'm not misinterpretting here. :)

+1, I have a Cort with a wenge neck, supposedly unfinished, I'd like to know the truth.

Has anyone tried hickory?

Dan K.

Isnt Pecan a kind of Hickory? If so, check this one:

http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=453248

I've never played a Hickory bass, But I've played bass with a few Hicks...

As far as I know you can play on unfinished wenge necks.

Gibson Thunderbirds, mahoagany necked, that a reason a lot of people do the Fenderbird mod, for the maple neck.

Again, sorry about my stupid question or perhaps lack of knowledge but why maple is better than mahogany? Or is the reason something else than the wood itself? Of course, mahogany means many things these days but the mahogany I have is not heavier, I think it is about the same or even lighter than hard maple. Is it sound? What is difference between maple and mahogany in neck? I think wenge is heaviest of the group?

One source gives 57lbs/cu.ft. for wenge, 31lbs/cu.ft. for African mahogany, 44lbs/cu.ft. for hard maple. Thinking of neck there sure is difference in weight but the difference isn't that big?

"best" neck woods would probobly be things like wenge, or purpleheart.

but something like maple is a lot more common.

Having talked to many well-known builders and owned more basses than I had any right to, my opinion is that mahogany is more stable (warp-resistant), but more liable to getting cracked or smashed (all the Gibsons with headstock repairs). You'll see more Fenders than Gibsons with warped necks - except old T-birds cause they made the necks too damn skinny (I've read repeatedly that this is why Entwhistle stuck Fender necks on his birds, liked a chunkier neck).

+another for wenge. Keep in mind, working wenge almost always equals splinters in the hands.

I'd be interested in trying something like bloodwood in a laminated maple neck, or on its own. I've used 3/8" thick strips of purpleheart in a neck but can't tell if it made a difference in stiffening it...the other neck wood was wenge.

I use Mahogany a lot in necks. I like the feel and workability and have had no issues with warping or other issues. Most of the necks I have made have been hard maple because that is what the customers want though.

I owned a Devon bass a while back with an unfinished wenge neck.....felt truly amazing.

Pecan and hickory are "almost" undistiguishable. Carya illinoensis/Carya cordiformis. In the cabinet business it is not usually separated into different species.

I spent a bundle on a Wenge neck from Warmoth, only to discover it weighs about 6 pounds. It's so heavy I can't use it, major, major bummer.

I spent a bundle on a Wenge neck from Warmoth, only to discover it weighs about 6 pounds. It's so heavy I can't use it, major, major bummer.


Not a shock I cant stand a heavy neck I am older and the lighter the better. I use Wenge and Bubinga only as stiffining and decorative stripes in necks. I would like to know what's the lightest wood suitable for a neck. Tight grained 1/4 sawn Mahogany is the lightest I have found so far but I imagine there is something better? :eyebrow:

Pecan and hickory are "almost" undistiguishable. Carya illinoensis/Carya cordiformis. In the cabinet business it is not usually separated into different species.

I did a bit of reading about this last night, it seems that pecan is often, but not always, lighter and less stiff than hickory.

Ive lost the websites now, and in any case I dont know how authoritive they were - Mr. Majestic, do you know if this is true?

...I would like to know what's the lightest wood suitable for a neck. Tight grained 1/4 sawn Mahogany is the lightest I have found so far but I imagine there is something better? :eyebrow:

No-ones suggested softwoods yet - I believe spruce and douglas fir both have way higher stiffness vs their weight.

I know this for a fact. It is not always the case, but in most cases.

The National Hardwood Lumber Association (NHLA) grading rule book states:

"A NHLA inspector will not make a distinction in the specie between Hickory and Pecan."

is wenge really that heavy and isnt that good more mass=more sustain

I have wenge neck with walnut stripes and tung oil finish and it works great

Also I have been told by different people but whereever Wenge is native to that the natives there use to use the saw dust for fishing..

They said that they would take the saw dust and toss it into the water and it would paralyze the fish..

Screw dynamite grab a board lets go to the lake

I spent a bundle on a Wenge neck from Warmoth, only to discover it weighs about 6 pounds. It's so heavy I can't use it, major, major bummer.

have you compared the weight to another Warmoth neck of a different wood? i only ask as the oversize steel truss rods they use have a fairly substantial weight in comparision to those from other companies

Ive got my copy of "Workbenches" by Chris Schwarz open in front of me, theres a section in there that lists the stiffness of some timbers common in North America. What surprised me is that rock maple is actually LESS stiff than both southern yellow pine and douglas fir, heres the E values:

Hard maple: 1.83
SYP: 1.93 (+ 5%)
Douglass fir: 1.95 (+ 7%)
Yellow birch: 2.01 (+ 10%)
Hickory: 2.16 (+ 18%)

vs the densities:

Hard maple: 0.63
SYP: 0.67 (+ 6%)
Douglass fir: 0.48 (- 24%)
Yellow birch: 0.62 (- 2%)
Hickory: 0.72 (+ 14%)

Dont know where wenge, purpleheart and friends compare on this scale.

I think woodpecker did some research into European timbers, I'll see if I can find them.

Ive got my copy of "Workbenches" by Chris Schwarz open in front of me, theres a section in there that lists the stiffness of some timbers common in North America. What surprised me is that rock maple is actually LESS stiff than both southern yellow pine and douglas fir, heres the E values:

Hard maple: 1.83
SYP: 1.93 (+ 5%)
Douglass fir: 1.95 (+ 7%)
Yellow birch: 2.01 (+ 10%)
Hickory: 2.16 (+ 18%)

vs the densities:

Hard maple: 0.63
SYP: 0.67 (+ 6%)
Douglass fir: 0.48 (- 24%)
Yellow birch: 0.62 (- 2%)
Hickory: 0.72 (+ 14%)

Dont know where wenge, purpleheart and friends compare on this scale.

I think woodpecker did some research into European timbers, I'll see if I can find them.
Looking at other sources, some of those figures look like "best case" numbers. For example, for doug fir, the FPL (http://www2.fpl.fs.fed.us/TechSheets/SoftwoodNA/htmlDocs/pseudomenziesii.html) of the USDA shows the MOE to be 1.49-1.95 Mpsi, depending what part of the country the samples were taken from.

For SYP, according to the Southern Pine Counci (http://www.southernpine.com/whatis.shtml)l, it can be any of more than four different species, and dimensional lumber (http://www.southernpine.com/designvalues1.shtml) will have an MOE of 1.4-1.9 Mpsi depending on the size and grade selected. By the FPL, the four main species show a range of 1.75-1.98 Mpsi.

The FPL agrees with the 2.01 figure for yellow birch, but various birches tested (http://www2.fpl.fs.fed.us/TechSheets/HardwoodNA/htmlDocs/betula1.html) are from 1.15-2.17. So if you have control over what species you're buying, fine; but if you're just buying "birch," maybe not so good!

And this is all without counting the individual tree factor. Every maple does not show an MOE of 1.83 Mpsi.

So, rather than the way you put it, I'd be more likely to say, "southern yellow pine and douglas fir can be stiffer than hard maple."

No best,but my money is on hard maple,although my current project is mostly poplar and cherry with a 3/8 piece of teak down the middle.

have you compared the weight to another Warmoth neck of a different wood? i only ask as the oversize steel truss rods they use have a fairly substantial weight in comparision to those from other companies
No. But I am aware of the truss rod, and also the steel stiffening bars. What I can say is that I will never buy a neck from them again, because they must have known it would end up so heavy but they didn't warn me. It is not useable for a bass guitar at all, literally. Maybe I'll make a Barker type bass out of it, dunno. Sucks because the sustain is insane with NO dead spots. But stupid heavy, just nuts.

Looking at other sources, some of those figures look like "best case" numbers. For example, for doug fir, the FPL (http://www2.fpl.fs.fed.us/TechSheets/SoftwoodNA/htmlDocs/pseudomenziesii.html) of the USDA shows the MOE to be 1.49-1.95 Mpsi, depending what part of the country the samples were taken from.

For SYP, according to the Southern Pine Counci (http://www.southernpine.com/whatis.shtml)l, it can be any of more than four different species, and dimensional lumber (http://www.southernpine.com/designvalues1.shtml) will have an MOE of 1.4-1.9 Mpsi depending on the size and grade selected. By the FPL, the four main species show a range of 1.75-1.98 Mpsi.

The FPL agrees with the 2.01 figure for yellow birch, but various birches tested (http://www2.fpl.fs.fed.us/TechSheets/HardwoodNA/htmlDocs/betula1.html) are from 1.15-2.17. So if you have control over what species you're buying, fine; but if you're just buying "birch," maybe not so good!

And this is all without counting the individual tree factor. Every maple does not show an MOE of 1.83 Mpsi.

So, rather than the way you put it, I'd be more likely to say, "southern yellow pine and douglas fir can be stiffer than hard maple."

It seems that you always get different figures depending on what you read, Ive no doubt that your sources are the more authoritive.

I would guess that stiffness isnt the only factor. maybe the more 'growly' neck woods have a non-linear stretchiness (that is a word, my spellchecker agrees!), causing some 2nd order harmonics?

Just wanted to suggest some off the wall species for consideration :)

I have sawed through thousands of board feet of hard maple, soft maple and southern yellow pine and I would definitely have call BS on pine being stiffer than maple, esp. hard maple. Just my opinion.

I have two Warmoth necks made of wenge (unfinished, meaning: no finishing product applied). NOTHING feels like it. It's almost like it's not even there. Admittedly, Warmoth did all the hard work for me of shaping and smoothing them. How they get it so free of splinters is a mystery to me.
Wicked solid, stable, and lively to play. Likewise, it's FAST.

Gibson Thunderbirds, mahoagany necked, that a reason a lot of people do the Fenderbird mod, for the maple neck.

I thought it was from JE breaking the necks on his TBirds and having Fender necks mounted, but that's a guess and not an informed comment. I like mahogany and wenge both. If there's one thing I don't like about wenge it's the weight; I swapped out a maple Jazz neck for a wenge neck and it now has a little neck dive tendency that it didn't have before (even with Ultralight tuners). I still like wenge, but be aware of what can happen. Were I to do it again I'd probably get a lighter weight bass neck with a wenge fingerboard.

You should try different woods and make up your own mind. I can tell you what it like but i wont help you much.
I can also tell you what kind of women i like or my fav color..

Ok...Padouk is my choice :)

It seems that you always get different figures depending on what you read, Ive no doubt that your sources are the more authoritive.

I would guess that stiffness isnt the only factor. maybe the more 'growly' neck woods have a non-linear stretchiness (that is a word, my spellchecker agrees!), causing some 2nd order harmonics?

Just wanted to suggest some off the wall species for consideration :)
Yeah, actually I'd say that the book you've got pulled at least a few of its numbers from the FPL, and in some cases took the "best numbers" only. And in any case, a test on one piece of wood is a test on that piece of wood.

Nordstrand did a bass with a Spruce neck. LeCompte did a bass with a pine body, but I don't remember whether it had an unusual neck material.

Yeah, actually I'd say that the book you've got pulled at least a few of its numbers from the FPL, and in some cases took the "best numbers" only.

"best numbers" only - serves me right for not checking second hand references - thanks for setting me right before I made an expensive mistake!

And in any case, a test on one piece of wood is a test on that piece of wood.

good old +/- 20% rule, check before you buy ;)

Nordstrand did a bass with a Spruce neck. LeCompte did a bass with a pine body, but I don't remember whether it had an unusual neck material.

Also, Gus guitars and basses are made from cedar - the lighter English grown stuff makes the body whilst the heavier, stiffer Canadian grown stuff makes the neck. But the whole thing is laminated in carbon fibre, so I guess thats where most of the structural stiffness comes from.

I thought it was from JE breaking the necks on his TBirds and having Fender necks mounted, but that's a guess and not an informed comment. I like mahogany and wenge both. If there's one thing I don't like about wenge it's the weight; I swapped out a maple Jazz neck for a wenge neck and it now has a little neck dive tendency that it didn't have before (even with Ultralight tuners). I still like wenge, but be aware of what can happen. Were I to do it again I'd probably get a lighter weight bass neck with a wenge fingerboard.

Yup, as I remember that s why JE done it, but IIRC I've read about a lot of guys swapping for the maple neck, for tone, and thats why some like the gothic thunderbird, already has the maple neck.

I could always be wrong.

As for wenge, I have a Cort full wenge neck rosewood board, mahogany body(I think), zero neckdive, awesome feel, so until this thread, I didn't even know wenge was heavy.