a mahogany neck?

[thefunkelastic]

I'm collecting woods for my first build, the body is a one piece ash blank, the top is burled redwood ( I know too much for a first time builder to take on, I have some help) and I am now looking for that final piece (well minus the fingerboard) the neck blank, I'm thinking mahogany to add some warmth to the bass, but it it too soft to be a neck wood? What are people's thoughts on this? How about black walnut?

[mattharris75]

How many strings will the project have?

Either way, if you use the techniques of laminating with a stiffer wood and/or adding carbon reinforcement rods, you should be fine.

I'm making a multi-lam neck with mahogany/black wood fiber/padauk/black wood fiber/mahogany and am using a pair of carbon reinforcement rods. I expect it to be rock solid.

[Triad]

Mahogany has pros and cons. It's a bit "dark" sounding but it doesn't move.
If you use a good quarter-sawn piece you can do that without problems.
On an Ash body I'd go for an Ash neck (always quarter-sawn)

[Bassguy61]

I'm not a builder, but have been a big fan of Gibson basses for many years. They have used mahogany necks on a number of models over the years (still do). The only negative I've seen/heard of is that they tended to be prone to breaking at the headstock if hit, dropped, etc... Not sure if that's a function of the mahogany itself, or more the Gibson neck itself (they tend to be very thin). Just something to keep in mind. If you go that way, you may want to make sure the neck is sufficiently thick to aviod the possibility of breaking. Again, not a luthier, just a Gibby fan.

John

[tjclem]

I have used 1/4 sawn 1 piece Mahogany necks several times on 4 string basses with no problems I don't think I would do it with a 5 or 6 though but it might work fine.