Official Luthiers Forum!

Hi everybody,

I have just registered with this fantastic forum and I would like to give you my compliments for the great advise you provide and also for the wonderful pics of your guitars you always show.

I have been playing the guitar for more than 15 years but now I am much more interested in building one myself so I have read many threads regarding tonewood and stuff.

The question that I want to post is related to the neck wood for acoustic guitars. Although Honduras Mahogany is regarded as the best in terms of stability, its more and more limited availability in Europe makes me wonder what other wood represents a valid alternative. Finding Honduras Mahogany is nearly impossible nowadays in UK even at an expensive price.

I have read good opinions about Sapele and African Mahogany. What wood would you choose for acoustic guitars if HM was no longer available? 

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Andy

Italian spruce if you look for the best!!

Hi Andy,

Wecome to the OLF

There are many good timbers suitable for necks, especially once laminated. I am fortunate insomuch that Australia offers black acacia and queensland maple both of which are ideal. If you wanted to try these, get in contact with Tim Spittle of Australian Tonewoods, Tim is an OLF sponsor and a great guy so he will help you out.

Aside from these, walnut is a popular choice as is maple and many others. With the stability of 5 piece lamination you have many options.

Cheers

Kim

Hi, welcome to the OLF!

Sapele which is an African mahogany is very suuitable for neck construction, you can also use hard maple, walnut and rosewood amongst others that don't come to mind right now...

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Peter M.
Cornerstone Guitars
http://www.cornerstoneukes.com

Sapele and Khaya seem to be good alternatives to Honduran mahogany. Sapele seems to be the most popular of the two. Sipo is another African mahogany like the other two, but isn't as common. I've never heard anyone using it for neck stock though.

If you aren't afraid of leaving the neck shaft a bit thicker, Spanish cedar will work well for steel strings. It is lighter, more stable than mahogany and slightly less stiff. If you use graphite rods for reinforcement, you can carve a thin neck.

These 4 woods are probably your best bet for replacing Hondo as a neck wood - if you want the same look.

There are a ton of alternative woods that you can use that don't look like mahogany - maple, walnut, limba, cherry, primavera, sycamore, myrtle, ect.

Good luck-

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John Lewis
Wannabe builder owned by 2 crazy dachshunds

Andy,

Welcome!

Some of your fellow UK-ers like to use Cherry wood for necks. I suppose that, like any wood, you'd have to search for the clear, quartered material, but it apparently works well. The Cherry you folks can get is much nicer, generally, than the Cherry in the U.S.

For backs and sides, the two woods you mentioned, Sapele and African Mahogany are becoming the replacement standards over here. There's some fine Walnut in your area, too, and it's a great tonewood.

Oops,

I forgot my manners, welcome to the forum. Do let us know what you decide to use on your next guitar.

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John Lewis
Wannabe builder owned by 2 crazy dachshunds

Welcome Andy,

You can still get mahogany neck blanks in the UK at a reasonable price but you have to know where to look.

As well as all the excellent woods mentioned so far, a couple of years ago Russell Rose gave me a Cedar of Lebanon neck blank. I used this on an electric guitar but it is extremely stable and with cf rods I think will work perfectly on a steel string.

English cherry, walnut and sycamore can be reasonably easily found and work well.

Sapele is very good and is a pretty good ringer for mahogany - just a fraction heavier.

Lot's of us still remember the fabulous curly ash neck on of of Joh Kinnaird's guitars.

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Dave White
De Faoite Stringed Instruments
". . . 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

Oh and Spanish cedar is readily available and works well with cf rods in.

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Dave White
De Faoite Stringed Instruments
". . . 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

I'm looking at limba, cherry, walnut, and spanish cedar right now in anticipation of a mahogany shortage. I've got a good source of Honduran, enough for an awful lot of necks, but I'm a young fella so I've got to think ahead and save a bundle for the future which means using sustainable woods now.

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Bob Garrish
Former Canonized Purveyor of Fine CNC Luthier Services

Many thanks for your warm welcome and for your quick response to my question. I didn't know that Sycamore is also used for guitars, sorry for my ignorance. Has anyone of you tried it?

If I don't find any good Hond Mahogany, I think I'll go for Sapele. It's easy to find and it should guarantee a good strength to weight ratio.

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Andy

Italian spruce if you look for the best!!

[QUOTE=Andy C]

Many thanks for your warm welcome and for your quick response to my question. I didn't know that Sycamore is also used for guitars, sorry for my ignorance. Has anyone of you tried it?

If I don't find any good Hond Mahogany, I think I'll go for Sapele. It's easy to find and it should guarantee a good strength to weight ratio.

[/QUOTE]

Andy,

Sycamore in North America is what we call plane - usually London plane in Europe. Sycamore here in Europe ususally refers to a variety of maple. Here's one neck I did with it:



Here's a Sapele neck with a London plane heel:

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Dave White
De Faoite Stringed Instruments
". . . 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

Beautiful guitars Dave and thanks for the pics. They give a better idea of what these woods look like and to me they're both wonderful.

 

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Andy

Italian spruce if you look for the best!!