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Figured maple necks and stability

#21
I asked Bernie Goodfellowat GB about this .... he believe that a none-reinforced figured neck will end up like a harp if u not cafefull.:P (well not quite)...

he used twin graphite reinforcment bars plus a two way adjustable truss rod in all his necks....and he says he's never had a problem for them warping and goin out of tune..but of course he's said he learnt the hard way...

:)..
 
#23
I ordered a highly figured bird'seye J neck with matching board from Warmoth 3 years ago and had it clear coated per warranty requirements. That neck is on one of my favorite basses, and after having it set up and mounted has not needed even a tweak since. Every note sings and it looks killer.
 
#24
The neck on my Cirrus 6 is oil-finished birdseye and, despite being quite thin from front to back, it is very stiff and stable. It is graphite reinforced and laminated with purpleheart, though. On the other hand, my Yamaha 6's thick, gloss-finished, three-piece, non figured maple neck with two truss rods (ouch, my back) is kind of weak and bendy by comparison. It's more about the build quality than the type of wood in the neck.
 
#30
The Warmoth dude is correct, that figured maple CAN be stable enough for a neck if you get the right piece, but that's the key... getting the right piece. However, as a GENERAL RULE (by far), the straighter the grain, the stronger AND more resonant the wood withOUT having to spend any time picking through a pile.

I personally believe figuring is good for only two things...

Density and appearance... NOT resonance and tensile strength and consistency (key for avoiding dead spot problems). Therefore, they make great tops and fingerboards, but NOT great necks or body cores (though admittedly, it's most significant in the neck).

Hey, I LOVE figured wood, but personally, I'll take a straight grained neck every time. Some figuring, no big deal... highly figured, no thanks.

At least based on my personal research and experiences...
 
#31
We don't see any difference in stability between birdseye and unfigured maple. You will notice from our site that we price flame maple for necks much higher than birdseye, even though you'll find the opposite is true at your local hardwoods store. While flame figure is much more common in maple, very little of it is stable enough for us to use for necks, so we have to pick though a lot of it to find the good stuff
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I am sure the metal reinforcement helps too...This is all a good thing since I have a figured birdseye neck on order from William at Warmoth....
 
#32
smakbass said:
I am sure the metal reinforcement helps too...This is all a good thing since I have a figured birdseye neck on order from William at Warmoth....
Click to expand...

Absolutely, and don't fret (sorry, just had to), Warmoth stuff rocks. You'll get a great piece of carefully selected wood, and yes, the reinforcements DO make a big diff.

I used to have a Ghecko 5 fretless and the craftmanship was absolutely excellent.
 
#36
MAJOR METAL said:
I was reading a whille back because of the extreme preasure on the neck of a bass that G&L found birdseye maple not strong enough to be used for the whole neck but they do offer it as a fingerboard.
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That's funny, I have a birdseye neck & board on my L-2500 and I haven't touched the truss rod in the 5+ years that I've had it. That neck doesn't move.
 
#37
MAJOR METAL said:
Those who play or who have owned basses with figured maple necks have you noticed any stabillity diffrences then those basses that did not have figured maple necks. I personaly havent but the basses i have owned were multilaminate necks that seem to carry extra stability. I have heard of several builders that will only use figured maple as a fingerboard becuase of weak necks that were completly figured.
Click to expand...

I had a Pedulla Rapture J2 5 with quite a bit of flame (and birdseye) in both neck and fingerboard ... and it was solid as a rock. What a looker too.
 
#38
For me, my standard neck is a 5 piece, so when using birdseye or flamed maple, I will use a very stiff wood for the stringers to help bring some stability to the neck. Also, I trust my supplier to only send me the good stuff, I wouldn't use figured maple from Wood Craft or some other "hobbyist" type wood working store. Most of that stuff is not going to be instrument grade.

I do like birdseye and flamed maple fingerboards, but I have them stabilized first. This prevents the wood from warping, shrinking or expanding from moisture, they don't require any finish at all so that unlike a lacquered fingerboard, they won't wear off and dirty up over time, and they really help with stability for the whole neck.

Here's a couple of pics of a stabilized flamed maple fingerboard on a bass I'm building now:

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I love the look of it!

:^)~
 
#39
:cool:
I believe it's the quality of the wood, and each board is different.
I have a17 yr. old replacement neck on my 1966 jazz bass.
It's flame maple, with a flame maple fingerboard.
All from the same board.
Sounds great even and killer.
Also Lakland has highly figured,birdsye necks and sound great.
 

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