Neck weight guesstimate? (3 wood combinations)

[davesisk]

Hi comrades:

I'm considering these neck/ woods:

- Maple neck w/ ebony fretboard
- Padouk neck w/ ebony fretboard
- Satine (Bloodwood) neck w/ ebony fretboard

I'd expect these three neck woods to sound very similar...I'm after bright, articulate, and growl/grit-inducing.

I know woods vary greatly by weight, but on the average, which neck should I expect to be lightest, heaviest, and middle? (I've asked Warmoth this same question, and they didn't give a very helpful answer..."it varies, but they should all be between 2.5 - 3.5 lbs".) I checked their body descriptions for the same woods...hard maple is heavy and dense, padouk is medium to heavy, and satine/bloodwood isn't listed as a body or top wood. The padouk and bloodwood are appealing because they don't require a finish, where *technically* maple does (although I think applying lemon oil periodically counts ).

I really like the sound phenowood/phenolic fretboards on a graphite neck, so I'm thinking ebony on a bright wood neck is probably going to be the closest to that.

One other question...would one of these be more more growl-inducing than the other? I'm after lots of upper-mid (like around 800Hz or so) grittiness.

Thanks in advance guys!

Dave

[Larry Davis]

The best way to do this is establish the dimensions of each lamination, compute the cubic volume in inches or meters for each species; look up the species "AVERAGE" weight per cubic foot and do the math from there. All wood within any given spices can vary by as much as 20% plus or minus but this will give you shot at predetermining weights. Works for bodies, too.

[davesisk]

Wood Density Database: http://www.worldagroforestrycentre.o...s/AFDbases/WD/

Name (scientific name) - Density (Kg/m3)
Ash (Fraxinus americana) - 670

Maple, hard (Acer saccharum) - 680
Padouk, African (Pterocarpus soyauxii) - 737
Satine/bloodwood (Brosimum paraense) - 600-1200

Wenge (Millettia laurentii) - 830

So, really...I should not expect any huge weight difference in the neck based on the woods. Body might be a different story, of course.

So, then back to the 2nd question: Maple, Padouk, and Satine all are bright and articulate woods for a neck, and would roughly weigh the same in a neck. Does one of the three tend to be notably more "growly" compared to the other two.

Dave

[SDB Guitars]

If you search this forum, you will find lots of confusing, contradictory information. Some people think that the wook makes all the difference. Others think that in electric instruments, the majority of your sound comes from solid construction and quality electronic components.

Personally, I think that (providing you are using quality woods and have good construction) the electronics and your personal playing technique affect your sound more than wood selection.

A heavy neck doesn't make it better or worse sounding than any other neck, but I don't think you (or anyone else, for that matter) will be able to quantify what one particluar wood or combination of woods *sounds* like.

Like Larry said, even in density you can expect +/- 20% variance... don't read too much into what some peole say about how "this wood sounds this way"

[davesisk]

Originally Posted by SDB Guitars

If you search this forum, you will find lots of confusing, contradictory information. Some people think that the wook makes all the difference. Others think that in electric instruments, the majority of your sound comes from solid construction and quality electronic components.

Personally, I think that (providing you are using quality woods and have good construction) the electronics and your personal playing technique affect your sound more than wood selection.

A heavy neck doesn't make it better or worse sounding than any other neck, but I don't think you (or anyone else, for that matter) will be able to quantify what one particluar wood or combination of woods *sounds* like.

Like Larry said, even in density you can expect +/- 20% variance... don't read too much into what some peole say about how "this wood sounds this way"

I definitely agree with this for the most part. I do know that every bass that I have or have had that had a swamp ash body seemed to have a nice midrange growl to it. Was it the swamp ash or the electronics in all of them. I dunno...but since they were swamp ash and swamp ash is one of the lighter body woods, it seems like a no brainer to use swamp ash for the body. (Although I'm tempted to use something lighter in weight like basswood or korina, I'd rather not risk losing any growl! Although I have to admit the basswood Musicman Bongo I played recently growled like crazy...hmmm.)

I do believe the woods make a difference, probably the fretboard and neck, most notably. For instance, my Steinberger Synapse fretless sounds unlike any wood-necked fretless I've ever heard...it sounds very much like the Zon's, probably since it has similar construction...hollow graphite composite neck with phenolic fingerboard...it has this unique grittiness that I've only heard with composite/phenolic. I don't think it would be possible to choose pickups or preamp/EQ that provides that characteristic "graphite grittiness". In fact, if this one turns out well, I may put together a 2nd one with a Warmoth body and a composite neck from Moses Graphite.

But, I also recognize that the electronics make a much greater difference in general than the wood. And definitely agreed that player technique definitely makes the final difference!

I would really like to get this one 8lbs or under after all the electronics and hardware are added. If I'm starting with a 3 lb neck and a 4 lb body, I *might* get close to that goal (8.5 - 9.0 lbs maybe). I might trim down or hollow some of the body to reduce some weight, but I doubt I could shave any weight off the neck. (Planning on using a Warmoth Deluxe5/G5 body and the corresponding neck...want to make my first attempt as easy as possible to not make any mistakes! )

Dave

[jordan_frerichs]

well, padouk is a ton more grainy, so if yopu wan't it to fell more closed, like maple, go with the bloodwood. padouk is also oily, so it cuases gluing issues if not properly glued. bloodwood is a sweet dark red, while padouk has more of an orange color to it. also with the padouk, depending on the species it will just oxidize to brown in a few years. i wouldn't worry about maple making a heavy neck, as 90% of necks are maple. i have heard that hard ash makes a great neck. i am doing my next one like that

if i were you, i would make a laminate neck. mainly bloodwood, with some maple stripes, and maybe a little ebony or purpleheart center stripe. that would killer

[SDB Guitars]

Originally Posted by davesisk

I would really like to get this one 8lbs or under after all the electronics and hardware are added. If I'm starting with a 3 lb neck and a 4 lb body, I *might* get close to that goal (8.5 - 9.0 lbs maybe). I might trim down or hollow some of the body to reduce some weight, but I doubt I could shave any weight off the neck.

No, you won't be able to shave much weight off the neck. Ultralite tuners will help a little, but in the end, probably not *that* much.

If it's a super-light body you want, I'd go with something like Spanish Cedar, which is *very* light, but is soft enough that you'd definitely want a hard finish on it (or at least five it multiple good soakings with Waterlox, or somesuch).

Bloodwood makes the best feeling fingerboards I've ever played. Slick like maple or ebony, easy to work with, and super hard. Reasonably heavy, though...