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hi all,
I have a simple neck wood question. What is the better and more stable wood for necks made of Mahogany? Cuban, Honduran or African mahogany?.Or is it a matter of personal preference.I am presently building a Dread SS from Alaskan Yellow Cedar B/S rosewood finger Bd.& bridge(not sure what species yet I have a few species to choose from)and a hybrid spruce similar to what Shane sells from what I saw. The B/S is very light weight will be a lightweight box.

Here are some pics although they are a little on the yellow side, got to get a better digital cam.

Top with Burl and Mahogany Rosette



Yellow Cedar Back with center seam.



this is my 1st complete non kit build
Thanks for your input.

Tim

Hi Tim. Any one of the three would work just fine as would cedro or spanish cedar. That guitar is looking very nice.

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I've made necks with all three and as Bob says any would be fine. Samples of each vary but in general the Cuban will weigh more than the Honduran which will be heavier than the Sapele (in my experience).

Colin

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You *could* consider a Yellow Cedar neck too.
It's not often used because it dents quite easily, but on a YC guitar, it looks very nice. I built a YC neck for a sorta flamenco guitar & it is holding up great. Michael Dunn has built SS guitars useing YC necks with good success.
On a steel string I would laminate the neck with at least one strip of a good stable hardwood to add stiffness, & use a good quality russ rod.
I've got lots of good Yellow Cedar & could send you a blank to try if you cover the postage cost.
Dan'l

I don't have any expierience with Cuban Mahogany but I believe Honduran and Cuban are the same species so personally I wouldn't get too excited over their differences, especially how wood can vary log to log.
On the other hand from what I've seen of African (which is not a mahogany at all but looks very similar) I find to be heavier, harder and more prone to splintering than the Honduran. I much prefer the working characterisics
of Honduran Mahogany.

[QUOTE=Paul Schulte] I don't have any expierience with Cuban Mahogany but I believe Honduran and Cuban are the same species so personally I wouldn't get too excited over their differences, especially how wood can vary log to log.[/QUOTE]

Paul,

Not so, Honduran is Swietenia macrophylla and Cuban is Swietenia mahogonii. Same genus but different species, and also different characteristics for both back/sides and necks. Cuban is slightly heavier but tends to be stronger so that you can make the necks that much thinner. Your point about wood varying is well made though - you can get good and bad wood in any species.

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". . . the one thing a machine just can't do is give you character and personalities and sometimes that comes with flaws, but it always comes with humanity" Monty Don talking about hand weaving, "Mastercrafts", Weaving, BBC March 2010

If it were me I'd definitely make the neck from YC to match the body. It'll look great (my aesthetic sensibility is heavily biased in favor of necks that match the body) and make a nicely balanced guitar, weight-wise. A strip of something down the middle that matches another wood already in the guitar would look nice and add stability, but if it were me, I'd probably just reinforce the neck with carbon fiber (and a truss rod) and call it good to go.

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Ithaca, NY

https://www.dreamingrosesecobnb.com/todds-art-music

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I believe there are also African Mahoganies that are true Swietenia's. There are hundreds of mahoganies all over the globe, and yes, many aren't true mahogany.
Let's everyone say all together "Luan".
Again..."lue-on".
Again...."cra-ap".Don Williams38673.6837037037

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speaking of-what was LMI selling about a year ago for mahogany neck wood? It sanded really easily, and now I have a guitar with a less than stiff neck... yes it has a truss rod and ebony fingerboard, and no, I didn't sand it too thin. Terry Stowell38673.6909837963

[QUOTE=Don Williams] I believe there are also African Mahoganies that are true Swietenia's. There are hundreds of mahoganies all over the globe, and yes, many aren't true mahogany.
Let's everyone say all together "Luan".
Again..."lue-on".
Again...."cra-ap".[/QUOTE]

Heh. Word to that.

I've yet to come across any references to African Mahoganies that are members of genus Swietenia, though. There may be plants of that genus there, but timber...none so far. Khaya, Saepele and Sipo are in the same family, though, the Meliciae.

Thank you for all of your replies.I couldn't find YC in a neck blank.Until now.Daniel M. I will PM you. I wanted to use YC but thought it might be soft.Maybe I can laminate it with a strip of Mahogany or maple. I wanted to use a lighter color wood. I was going to use flamed Maple but it will look funny against the YC.
Thanks for the great Info.

Tim