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Wenge neck-through: a no-no?

bassteban

bassteban

Aug 12, 2004
17,837
219
62
Northern California
#1
I'm drawing my next start-&-never-finish bass project. I've always liked wenge, but it occurs to me I don't recall ever seeing a neck-through of this wood. Oh yeah- Warwick(Thumb, Dolphin I). Well, I'll ask anyway: from the voices of experience, how difficult is wenge to work with? Is there an obvious(to those who have tried)reason not to do this? I'm thinking 36" scale, semi-hollow ash body wings, not sure what for a top or back. Maccassar ebony fingerboard- fretless.
 
#2
Wenge is difficult to work with, and I personally wouldn't use it as the core of a neck. But as lams for a neck-thru, I think wenge could be really cool. I'm partial to a really nice figured maple for the top, and a nice walnut back.
 
#3
Wenge is pretty high up on the list of woods I don't like to work with but it's also pretty near the top of woods I like best in a finished instrument. Reason's not to work with it, it's brittle and splintery (and heavy). Reasons to work with it, looks great, feels great, can sound great.

My little tip on this wood, don't run your hands over it more than you have to. I'm one of those people with there hands constantly all over the wood, feeling it, pulling out the spirit animal, all that hippy ****. During neck carving I am especially bad about this and I'll tell you, watch out! Those splinters will rock you up and down.
 
#5
I too like to caress the wood as I work it. when working on the accent stripe (it's wenge) on one of the bodies I'm working on I got a splinter on one of my fingers. Couldn't get it out myself, hurt like heck. My wife had to take it out and she had to dig about 1/16" into my finger! I would work with it again, but I'll never run my fingers through it until it is sanded.
 
#7
bassteban said:
I've always liked wenge, but it occurs to me I don't recall ever seeing a neck-through of this wood......I'm thinking 36" scale, semi-hollow ash body wings, not sure what for a top or back. Maccassar ebony fingerboard- fretless.
Click to expand...
I've got the pieces of wenge cut for a medium scale neckthrough, and my luthier friend has been putting it off consistently because he hates working with the stuff so much.

My plan was for a wenge NT with a wenge board and ash wings (but if I could get something funky like Jatoba then I'd like to try that). Something similar to Link Removed without the top.
 
#10
Dharmabass said:
My plan was for a wenge NT with a wenge board and ash wings (but if I could get something funky like Jatoba then I'd like to try that).
Click to expand...

I made a bass with ash wings (spalt top) and a wenge/jatoba neck once.

[This invalid link has been removed]

Jatoba is actually pretty inexpensive and easy to find here in New England. It's heavy and hard and seems to behave well as a neck wood, without the splinters of wenge. If you can track some down, I think you'd like it. If you don't mind the added weight (of either wenge or jatoba), that is.
 
#11
I'm pretty stuck on wenge- it keeps me looking at Warwicks, although after finding fault w/each of the 16 or so I went through, my wife insists I've sworn them off. I'm familiar w/splinters- before going full-time stay-home-dad, I alternated btween bicycle mechanic & cabinetmaking. Thanks, though. I've seen Jatoba used before, & I'm always interested in learning about less-common woods.
 
#14
Jazz ad, that is the exact combination I'm thinking! 5 piece wenge/maple/wenge/maple/wenge(assuming it's maple)- just about those proportions, too. The obsession grows...
As an aside, I've drawn an outline for this bass, & when I showed it to my wife, she made a face. I said, "ugly?" She said, "ugly. But.." I said, "but what?" She said "No, butt-ugly." I'll show her.
 
#16
I've owned/played a few Warwicks(all heavy). The weight isn't so bad if there's good balance. I had a Corvette 6 that weighed 11 pounds, but it balanced much better than any of the 5 or 6 Thumbs I've had. The vision(right now)is semi-hollow- actually I want it to have pretty voluminous chambers. I'd like it to put out enough volume unplugged to practice with, although I'm sure it won't compete w/a full-on acoustic bass guitar, let alone a double bass.
Oh yeah, & at this point, I'm thinking ash for body wings. Not sure about the top or back. Suggestions? I like dark(color, not neccesarily tone).
 
#17
Yeah it's heavy with all the wenge and maple but my bass is thin with a very small body so really it isn't an issue. It weights way less than your average Jazz Bass. It growls like crazy, too.
I have a poplar burl table on top. I like hidden neckthru designs.
Link Removed
 
#18
I too made a neck-through laminate neck bass with the center 3/4" laminate being wenge. It IS really hard to work with, also I found out I am allergic to the sawdust. But it looks and sounds great, the first question I am usually asked about the bass is "what wood is that in the middle?"

The worst problem I had with it was when roughing the neck shape with a drawknife, it splintered and took out big chunks along with the grain. The back of the neck still has a little flat spot due to this happening in the late stages. BEWARE and take off a little at a time!

Whams
 

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