best neck wood

[PJ all day]

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

[bassteban]

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.

[musicelectronix]

+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.

[Surprise Panda!]

Too many different opinions

Depends on what sound you want

[bassteban]

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.

[Lesfunk]

Graphite

[Rick_no7]

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

[Mikey R]

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...?

[leppikallio]

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

[erikbojerik]

Originally Posted by Rick_no7

...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.

[eleonn]

Well maybe he use glove when playing

[tasty sweeps]

i like mahogany.

[Darkstrike]

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

[Dan Knowlton]

Has anyone tried hickory?

Dan K.

[uprightben]

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.

[bassteban]

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.

[XylemBassGuitar]

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.

[Matt Golgotha]

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.

[bassteban]

Originally Posted by erikbojerik

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 ). I'm not disputing your knowledge or being my usual smartass self; I just want to be sure I'm not misinterpretting here.

[Darkstrike]

Originally Posted by bassteban

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.