Official Luthiers Forum!

I am making a laminate neck out of Bocote and was wondering first, if there are reasons why you should not use hardwood (rosewood like) for an acoustic neck, and second, what should I expect for differences in tone or response etc. if any?
Thanks,
Wade

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Wade
Nashua, NH
http://www.wadefx.com

Wade,

People have used EIR, walnut, sapele, maple and even oak for necks. The downside is additional weight. An upside might be greater sustain.

Carlton pretty much summed it up.

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Dave Rector
Rector Guitars

If you don't mind a heavy guitar just about any wood (with the right grain) will do the job. My latest guitar has an English Cherry (Prunus avens) neck and I absolutely love it. I was turned onto it as a neck wood by Russell who has a lot of experience with it. Fruit wood necks are traditional on early instruments.

Colin

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I don't believe in anything, I simply make use of a set of reasonable working hypotheses.

Wade, Carlton IS right, it added a lot of weight to my neck when i laminated purple heart and some other wood but i think it helped a lot for sustain and transfer of sound.

The only way i worked with it was to thin that neck down as much as i could to reduce the overall weight of the whole guitar, it has a normal(so to speak) weight now.

Serge

P.S. great website you have BTW!

Thanks guys!
That’s just the info I was looking for.
I hope to keep the weight issue down with a single, compression truss rod and some lighter tuners. That seemed to work with my last build.
I just liked the look and color match of the Bocote with the back and sides I have planned for the next build.

Wade

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Wade
Nashua, NH
http://www.wadefx.com