Official Luthiers Forum!

Hiya. I found this list of neck woods that didn't require finishing. I'd like to pursue a laminated raw neck soon & and I wonder..
Would it be a fly in the ointment to use a veneer of maple or mahogany (or any wood that would require a finish) in a neck that will remain raw? Also, I think I will use epoxy for glue up since the wood list looks pretty oily & moisture is a concern. And because I'm a rookie. Any red flags? I'd sure appreciate any input.
Thanks y'all.

Afromosia
Bocote
Bubinga
Canary
Cocobolo
Ebony
Goncalo Alves
EIR
Kingwood
Padauk
Pau Ferro
Purpleheart
Satine
Wenge
Ziricote

I think this list is strictly subjective - I know of no reason why a neck has to be finished regardless of what wood it is. I think it's more of a concern of how it will look after being played for years.

Most of the woods on that list are dark, heavy and dense and less susceptible to staining - they can get dirty but you could clean them up with steel wool.

I'd say use whatever wood you want but experiment with seeing how it looks after getting dirty. Grind some dirt into it, mix in some sweat, hamburger grease, ketchup, beer, wine... then see if you like the patina.

Kevin Looker

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I'm not a luthier.
I'm just a guy who builds guitars in his basement.
It's better than playing golf.

Hi.
That list was taken from the Warmoth page. I was under the impression that some woods needed a sealer/finish to keep them stable from humidity fluctuations. I am truly mistaken if neck finish is a preventive measure for cleanliness and not stability.

Thanks for the input.

Unfinished maple looks nasty after about a week.
Some woods ding a lot easier without a finish, like honduras mahogany and walnut.
As far as stability amidst temp and humidity changes, I have lotsa wood in my garage that has been through years of fluctuations that haven't moved one iota, I would imagine they would be just as stable in service finished or not.
About the worst wood I've encountered stabilty wise is ebony, and I don't know of many ebony necks that have finish on them, and I haven't encountered any problems specifically due to having an unfinished ebony fretboard on any necks I've made.
I DID make an entire neck out of ebony once, after a few years it required replaning the fretboard, but has been fine ever since.

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Old growth, shmold growth!

My curiousity is piqued.

Why the preference for a 'raw' neck? I've never seen a finished guitar with an unfinished neck, and having handled a lot of them during the building process, I can't imagine why anyone would prefer one.

The only minor exception was a strat copy a friend had that had a neck coated with medium super glue and sanded smooth. This was apparently inspired by him reading that Eric Claptons guitars has a super glue finish on the neck. I must admit I did like the feel of it. I've never considered trying it myself though.

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Jim Hansen

the metal crowd in the '80s used to imagine they could play a run a billionth of a second faster if they sanded all the finish off of the back of their guitar necks... i think yngwie might have had something to do with that fad. lots of factory metal style guitars came with no finish on the back of the neck...

lol really?

Wow.. there is no way my body chemistry would allow this. Any neck of any kind would be gunky and grimy after about 20 minutes.

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Jim Hansen

Out of the three necks I have made from Alder, the best of the two are the ones without any finish outside of sanding it down to 600 grit, and the only reason they aren`t finished was the thought that I might not like the profiles I had carved. After playing for quite awhile, they`ve buffed up and polished themselves. Nice smooth and fast necks!
I have oily hands, but they`re always clean before I grab any guitar. No grime or gunk seems to be building up.
Coe

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Give me 50 cents worth of regular.
Check my oil too, if you don`t mind,,,

Thanks!
I sanded the finish off my LP neck & fell in love. I put tung oil on it & it still feels great, but I wanted to experience it stark naked. The guitar, I mean.