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After receiving the latest LMI catalogue I see they offer necks and neck blanks using Rock Maple. Is Rock Maple anything other than just hard maple? This makes me wonder about the Rock Elm that makes up the old log barn on our property. Do these old logs hold any potential for guitar building in any way such as neck wood? The old barn is leaning badly but I do know that driving a nail into those logs is nearly impossible. Hoping some Wood/ lumber expert can help me out. Also the Maple and Elm that I refer to is from Northern Wi. area. Thanks from Greg.

Rock maple is hard maple is sugar maple.

Never heard of rock elm.

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Howard Klepper
http://www.klepperguitars.com

When all else fails, clean the shop.

From what I can gather, rock elm is ulmus thomasii, different than the more common and larger American elm. If you have an old barn that is falling down, it would be interesting to see what timbers you could salvage from it. Some builders have used ash for necks for electric instruments and I see no reason why elm could not be used for the same thing. There is a Lacôte guitar pictured in one of my books that is ascertained to be some type of elm. If the other options are to let the barn rot away or be hauled off to the landfill, you really have nothing to lose.

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Stay with the happy people.
--Reynolds Large