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What are you guys using for stringers in multi piece necks? I see a lot of Maple and Rosewood combinations and know there must be many others. Has anyone found anything that is lightweight, stable and easy to work and readily available? For example would there be any advantage/disadvantage between using EIR vs. Madagascar Rosewood or how about Walnut? Any kind of personal experience, good or bad, would sure help as there are many possibilities. What do you look for? Are you thinking more stability/weight or more a blending with all the other features of your build?

A lot of questions I know. Hopefully there are a lot of answers.

Tim

Phew thats many questions,

i cant really offer much advice on this particlar subject as i dont make many laminate necks but i think think the idea is that woods of diferent density add different ammounts of sustain to the guitar.
for example indian rosewood is a lot lighter and less dense than mad rose so you would get more sustain from the mad rose with the trade off of a heavier neck.

walnut is used alot in necks and is a wonderfull wood full stop.

i have seen alot people buying wenge for this purpose as its quite dense but light weight.

in theory you could use any wood but each one will have its merrits and disadvantages.

but as it is also structeral it is adviseable to use a quarter sawn peice of good stable wood.
this why mahogany,rosewood,maple,and walnut are good choices.they are all stable woods.

I am sure that someone will be able offer a better awnser but i hope that helps a little.

Joel.

I look for stability first!
Then strength & weight.
I've used -Maple,Walnut,Cherry,Mahogany,E.I. Rosewood,Goncalo Alves,Spanish cedar(classical),Lacewood!
Usually any WELL seasoned hardwood will work!
If you are laminating the neck just use what you like the looks of and is ready to use.
Matching the neck to blend with other features does happen -but it's not a neccessary thing to do unless that's how the guitar is planned.

Like Howards Kleppers guitars
He probably could help you allot !

Mike

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Mike Collins

I look for stability first!
Then strength & weight.
I've used -Maple,Walnut,Cherry,Mahogany,E.I. Rosewood,Goncalo Alves,Spanish cedar(classical),Lacewood!
Usually any WELL seasoned hardwood will work!
If you are laminating the neck just use what you like the looks of and is ready to use.
Matching the neck to blend with other features does happen -but it's not a neccessary thing to do unless that's how the guitar is planned.

Like Howards Ks guitars

Mike

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Mike Collins

I can't say I have one favorate there are always conditions to deal with so here my breakdown list

Apperance: Curly Walnut but it is heavy.

Workability: Honduran mahogany and Spanish Cedar

Stability: Curly Maple

I've only used mahogany, maple and ash. I'm making a curly ash 3 piece neck now with IRW veneers between the pieces... heavy as heck, but nice looking and strong too. But I really have to say I just love mahogany necks, it is like it was made for this purpose! I usually laminate two matched pieces like this ///\\\, no center piece. It makes a light and stable neck that is easy to carve; what's not to like?

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Rian Gitar og Mandolin

Mahogany, Myrtle, and Walnut look very nice together. This is a neck that was made for me by Chris at Hanalei-Moon for my first build which is a OLF SJ with a Lutz top and Myrtle b/s.

Thanks for all the replies. One that I was surprised to see was Lacewood, but then why not. I must admit that Mahogany is hard to beat because of the weight and workability and the stability from the interlocking grain structure is a huge plus. To me, just by weight and apparent density (withough getting too scientific) I think Mahogany, Walnut, Koa and Myrtle (which I hadn't thought of, very nice neck digidoc), and you could probably throw in Monkey Pod, should all be very similar. One of the things I was wondering was in the use of real dense woods such as Purpleheart, Bloodwood, Ebony, things along that line. Years ago I had a Maple Lowden with a 5 piece Maple neck. The Maple and the Walnut stood out but the 3rd wood, which I will guess was Purpelheart, was cut very thin almost like a purfling line. Do you guys think that would to be more for the reason of keeping the neck a bit more balanced, or to limit additional sustain? Or just because? A friend of mine, who has been making guitars for 35 years now made a multi piece Maple neck last year, from scraps, with 2 thin Pernambuco stringers. The guitar not only sounded great but it was extremely lightweight and with no trussrod. Once again the heavier wood was kept very thin.

One that I hoped to see, but really didn't expect to see, is Alaskan Yellow Cedar. I've really been thinking about trying this wood in a neck. A couple of years ago I rebuilt several of the sash windows in my house and used AYC for the stops. It not only made the shop smell wonderful, it was lightweight, extremely fine grained, very stable, and finished easily by hand or machine. It was a dream wood in every way.
Another one I am tempted to try is Sycamore. Looks like Lacewood and I think it should be as stable and light as Maple.
Weight has always a big issue with me in everything I do (surfing, sailing, mtn biking, skiiing.....etc) and my favorite guitars weigh close to 4#. My last Mahogany OM was 3.8#. I guess I will have to do some experimenting to see what different combos I can come up with that will keep the weight down while keeping the stability and stiffness. Which sponser had that sale 6 neck blanks for the price of 5? I might be a day late n that one.
Anyone know if different kinds of glue will add stiffness and/or weight?

Thanks for your answers and will appreciate any more who would like to add.

Tim

The type of glue will affect creep and the joints integrity when exposed to environmental stresses but I don’t feel it will add or subtract enough to quantify in regards to stiffness or stability of the neck as a whole, the wood is the factor there.

Sycamore, like Maple has a tough end grain to work. Well tuned chisels and frequent sharpening is a must.