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Pros & Cons of a Wenge Neck?

#21
matthewfoote said:
I have a wenge / flame sycamore neck and it is like glass. I also really like the controlled tone it gives which really sits well in any mix. My neck profile is also as far from a Warwick that you can get.

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Regards

Matthew
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Damn, that's a beautiful instrument. I'd love to try a Sei one of these days.
 
#22
I have a couple of Wenge necks from Warmoth. One with an Ebony fretboard and the other Satine. They are stable and beautiful. Compared to Maple, they are darker and bigger in the lower mids. They are nicely focused. They are a bit heavy. I have found that they do not work with all body woods. For example with a Limba body, the sound is too chunky and cumbersome for my taste. I prefer to use Alder or Swamp Ash with a Wenge neck. Same with dark pickups. Too much of a good thing. With brighter pickups Wenge can add heft without taking away clarity.
 
#23
I had a full-wenge Warwick Corvette. The neck was fantastic, rock stable and seemed to impart a potent and appealing growl. Wish I'd liked the overall ergonomics better, since the neck was a real winner. So my answer is, no cons (except maybe a little heavier than maple).
 
#24
Isotonic said:
I have a couple of Wenge necks from Warmoth. One with an Ebony fretboard and the other Satine. They are stable and beautiful. Compared to Maple, they are darker and bigger in the lower mids. They are nicely focused. They are a bit heavy. I have found that they do not work with all body woods. For example with a Limba body, the sound is too chunky and cumbersome for my taste. I prefer to use Alder or Swamp Ash with a Wenge neck. Same with dark pickups. Too much of a good thing. With brighter pickups Wenge can add heft without taking away clarity.
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I'm with this guy , has to be paired with a bright wood body to accent and balance the mids from the wenge . I found Ash to be best.
Also I wasnt a fan of the brass frets Warwick uses, too "air-y" and hollow sounding. Makes the upper strings sound thin and nasally .
Just my 2 cents.

I love raw necks , but some wenge necks have very large , open gaps in the grain , which can feel harsh , but it is a very beautiful wood. Strong in the low mids as stated.
 
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#26
I have a wenge neck & fretboard from warmoth and that thing rings like a bell. Very piano like and you can feel the resonance.

Open pore feeling might be subjective, some people like it, some people aren't crazy about it. I personally like it.

Pros:
Haven't needed any truss rod adjustment after initial set up.

Cons:
It's a bit heavier than the typical maple/rosewood or maple/maple combo.
 
#27
::::BASSIST:::: said:
Played a Warwick today and love the feel of that wenge neck. I dont really like the chunky shape, but man... oh so smooth.

I am thinking of having USACG build me a custom jazz neck and wenge might be nice (with an ebony fingerboard).

So what are the Pros & Cons of a Wenge Neck?
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I’ve had a couple Warwicks and a Conklin with wenge necks. It’s a good neck wood option imo. One of the pros is it has more of an open/bigger grain than maple. A nice thing about that is the as you sweat during a long gig the neck stays very consistent and doesn’t change from like a sticky feel to a slippery feel like a standard glossy maple neck can. It’s more similar in that regard to a satin finish maple neck imo which are mainly found on more high end basses like my Dingwall for example. I also like high end/boutique ish look of wenge. As for cons. I don’t think they are as stable as well made maple neck. With the exception of the Conklin I had which was a 7’string with two truss rods the other basses I’ve had with wenge necks needed a truss rod adjustment a little more often. This may not be as big of an issue at all though depending on where you live. I’ve had a half dozen german Warwicks over the years and obviously I like them or I wouldn’t have continued buying them but there’s something about Warwicks which don’t jive well with where I live. I don’t think it’s the temperature so much as it is the humidity here that caused that. So that’s something to keep in mind.
 

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