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Interested in hearing from those who've used these or other 'alternative'
woods for these applications, particularly for classical guitar, but all
experience is of interest. Thanks.

I'd be suspicious of ipe for fingerboards, mainly because the ipe I've seen has pretty large pores. Also, if you think cutting fret slots in ebony is bad, I'll bet ipe is murder....

I've done 4 or 5 Ipe fret boards with no problems at all. Make sure of it's moisture content, any Ipe you source that is decking material will not be dry. Now Alder for necks, I'm not so sure on that, it seems a bit weak to me. I would check one of the various wood information sites and compare it's attributes for strength and stability to Spanish Cedar.

Steve

Hi have used Ipe back and sides on baritone uke, and for veneers . I would suggest solvent based pore filler with 2 applications and use burlap or coarse material to push the filler in the pores, I have made a flamenco neck out of cherry , it is hard to carve but a beautiful wood . Another neck was made from american sycamore , Softer and easier to carve. I would pass on the alder , it is good for electrics, But having used it many times the thinner stock 3/4 in tends to warp. Especially in the pacific northwest. Experiment and see what works for you.

With all the work that goes into making an instrument why use something like alder for a neck?

You need to be using a wood that's light, strong and most importantly, stable. Alder does not
do well meeting those characteristics.

Red Alder is lighter than Mahogany and almost as strong. If fact on a strength to weight ratio it might be stronger . Alder doesn't compare well with Mahogany for stability but not many woods do. Alder is way more stable than maple and maple is used successfully for necks. Alder is roughly between mahogany and maple for stability. Alder is easy to machine, carve, glue, and is pretty fine pored so does not need much in the way of pore filling.
Mahogany is getting pretty expensive and also getting harder to find. While I agree mahogany fits the bill for neck woods if I had a nice straight quartered piece of well seasoned alder I wouldn't hesitate to use it if I wanted a light neck.

L.

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Cut to size.....Beat to fit.....Paint to match.

Thanks for the helpful replies- I have a small stash of Cedro and Ebony, but have
become sensitized to both, and like the idea of using readily available woods
anyway. Alder and Ipe seem like decent starting points in the search.
Good to hear of other choices like Cherry, if it can be found light enough;
I don't care for heavy necks, myself.

I've made fretboards out of Walnut, Padauk,Goncalo Alves, and I have two that are cut and slotted out of Purple Heart thouh I haven't put them on anything yet. Necks have been made of Merbau, Goncalo Alves, Sapele, and Walnut. And oddly enough I really want to use some Poplar for something on a guitar but I don't know what. They have Poplar boards at the store that have wild smearings of green and purple in them, and just look incredible. I think they would make incredible looking tops, but I need to check some more stats on Poplar before taking that leap. I know that Poplar is very soft but it's also very light. No idea the tap tone, but it's a shame if the boards I saw the other day ended up getting painted over.

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Those greens and purples go away pretty quickly with even a moderate exposure to light. The end result isn't at all unattractive just no more greens and purples.
L.

_________________
Cut to size.....Beat to fit.....Paint to match.