What woods go well with walnut?

[hoytbasses]

"SWAMP ASH and walnut is best. alder sounds good too... ebony or maple neck...."

true-ish...... there is a lot of hype around swamp ash and consequently the price is rediculous for what is essentially a junk wood. for a young person trying to build skills (and who is probably trying to save $$) Northern ash is wery reasonably priced and sounds excellent. I can afford any kind of ash and I prefer northern (though i do spend some extra time picking through the stacks). Alder is great but wood suppliers have figured out that they can charge more for this wood as well.

two great sounding woods that are good for novices to practice on are poplar (prime and paint it... it's ugly naturally) and basswood, alder's cousin. Both of these woods can be bought very cheaply and you may have them in your school shop. Big guitar factories use both for really great sounding but cheap instruments. You can use aniline dyes and spray polyurethane for a great natural looking finish on basswood......

 

[mikeyswood]

Fair warning: "Northern" with Ash refers to the same species as "swamp" with Ash almost always - fraxinus spp. Just different growing conditions.

Basswood is only related to Alder by being in the same kingdom: plantae.

 

[Zombbg4]

Another vote for ash, here's an example. The maple fingerboard pulls it all together IMO, and the ash neck is icing on the delicious, bass-y cake.

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And walnut on walnut is a nice look as well-

I agree with the advice given so far. I had a top and back set of some killer blue mahoe that I used on my first build...<- sums it up well enough.

 

[HogieWan]

"swamp ash" is usually just the lighter boards of the same tree

 

[steve_rolfeca]

Steve - You may want to research and then edit your post. Word to the wise.

No clue what you mean, dude. Tone Wars???

Went back and re-read my post, though, and realized how long-winded and repetitive it was.

Fixed (somewhat).

 

[ctmullins]

No clue what you mean, dude. Tone Wars???

Short, polite answer: The contribution of particular woods to an electric solidbody instrument's tone is anecdotal at best, and not verifiable in any scientific manner. Electronics, strings, and the quality of construction play hugely more influential roles, and the particular wood used is largely a non-issue.

 

[eleonn]

ASH!!! I have a classic inspired version of my CC model in progress that's got a walnut top almost exactly like that (got it from Gallery Hardwoods some years ago) I called it 'vagina walnut' , I have also built one more bass with a french walnut top and ash goes extremely well with it.

Wilser a pic or two would be great so the op can see how the top and ash look together... actually a complete and detailed post would be great!!

Any light colored wood would look great and IMHO better that with a redish woods like mahogany.

 

[Rodent]

Walnut on Swamp Ash. I like how the corner radius frames the top with an outline

my recommendation to the OP: use some inexpensive wood and make yourself a body to go with that neck. in the process of making your first body you'll make a ton of mistakes. build a couple more bodies, and once you can make a body without any significant mistakes .... it's now time to consider using that nice piece of Walnut for a body build

all the best,

R