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hi, has anyone built guitars or basses using cherry for the neck wood, thanks

Haven't used cherry, yet,
but it is so much like maple, that I'm sure it would be fine.

I haven't tried yet... but many people told me it's nice. I bought some curly cherry last year, and when I tried to resaw them (from a 4x4) and it blocked the table saw, splitted in the planer, warped like hell... and it was pretty dry... so.. I don't know. I stopped to resaw it..

But I like the look of cherry! I hope I could use it.

Francis

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Francis Richer, Montréal
Les Guitares F&M Guitars

i have used cherry in two necks, but not for the whole thing, i used in the center of a 3 peice laminate with maple on either side. as stated above it seems to behave much the way maple does, i have not had any problems with it.

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~shad peters

http://www.flickr.com/photos/petersinstruments/
http://petersinstruments.blogspot.com/
http://petersinstruments.com/

Never made an electric guitar, but I have used cherry for a number of necks on acoustics and in my view, and a lot of others out there, nice quartersawn cherry is one of the very best neck woods you'll find. As I'm in the UK I use the English wild cherry, Prunus avens, but I'm sure it's very close US relative is every bit as good.

Colin

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I don't believe in anything, I simply make use of a set of reasonable working hypotheses.

I have been working for a custom furniture builder for several years. I have built an acoustic and an electric as well as some experimental projects that were eventually dissembled.
I work with cherry a lot in the furniture we build, and have been considering using it in my next instrument project.
It is different from maple in that it is lighter and has a mellower tap tone (half way between maple and mahogany).
It Is normally far more stable than maple, -either rock or western bigleaf- in the non figured form( though the "plane" cherry in 6/4 and up, is almost always lightly figured, but still stable).
Anyway I hope someone has some experience with it in instruments. It works well, and is available in nice widths/ high quality etc.

thanks for the feedback, i was hopeing it would be positive, i had a nice straight grained, clear flat sawn peice of cherry that i glued up to be quartersawn, i was able to get a neck through electric guitar, @ a bolt on or set neck bass neck out of it, im thinking of yousing ebony for the fingerboards, i will let you all know how they turn out. thanks, james

Martin has used it in necks on some of their guitars. If it will work for an acoustic, I don't see any problems with an electric.
I'm contemplateing cherry, spanish cedar, or peruvian walnut for necks when the time comes. I'm only on my second build, so i don't have a lot of experience with woods, but the fact that it's already in use by at least one manufacturer(and probably more) means, to me at least, that it should be fine. Were I you, I'd use it without hesitation.

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Mike

The only thing nescessary for evil to thrive is for good men to do nothing.

Like this?




It was a joy to carve, and the smell was wonderful.

Steve

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From Nacogdoches...the oldest town in Texas.

http://www.stephenkinnaird.com

That neck looks beautiful, Steve.

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Mike

The only thing nescessary for evil to thrive is for good men to do nothing.

can you try to describe the sound?

Thanks, Mike. I'm pleased with the way it turned out.
And if the question about "sound" was directed my way, I'll have to get back in a few days. Haven't strung this guy up just yet.
My feeling is that it will sound electric.

Steve

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From Nacogdoches...the oldest town in Texas.

http://www.stephenkinnaird.com

Nice neck, Steve!

I used a cherry neck on a quilted mahogany OMC a few years ago. The neck has been quite stable.

Ken

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http://www.casperguitar.com

So ,How about Cherry for back braces,end blocks,bindings,head plates etc. I don`t see why not if it is well quartered.It certainly is available and inexpensive compared to Mahogany.It seems some of our suppliers such as Lmi would offer these things.
James

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James W Bolan
Nashville Tennessee

James-
I've used cherry quite a bit in furniture, and have built several acoustic necks and an archtop with cherry. Cherry is great neck wood, IMO.
Of the items in your list, I'd use cherry without hesitation for bindings and headplates if that was the look I was after.
I'd definitely avoid cherry for the other uses (braces,endblocks) as I feel it's too dense for that. Some cherry can be a bit prone to splitting, so something to keep in mind as well.


Cheers
John

Slight hijack. Sorry. Filippo, you mention local lumber yards. Are you willing to share the location. I'm in Virginia, and have searched for lumber yards in this state for a couple of years with no success. It would be appreciated. I would love to be able to find mahogany locally(or semi- local).

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Mike

The only thing nescessary for evil to thrive is for good men to do nothing.

I have noticed that the lightest cherry seems to be found in the bigger boards, -6&8/4 7'+wide- probably older trees being cut from mature forests. It is still typically a bit heavier than mahogany, though some of the denser boards of mahogany may be equal.

As for tap tone I don't think it is a direct substitute for mahogany it has a distinct sound of its own. I have at the moment a piece of cherry, but it is a 3/4' riper 3" long -not a typical instrument blank. It gives a good bell like ping, fallowed by a lower ring for the count of "one Mississippi". It is a much dryer sound than maple or bubinga, a little dryer than koa but not as dry as walnut, mahogany, or spruce. I hope "dry"ness makes sense to most of you.

Wow, this makes me really want to build a cherry neck! The lumber yard I go to stocks it pretty cheap and it's easy to find big pieces which is always a plus. I've never used it myself, but a friend made a laminate neck using it and it came out great. I don't think he had any trouble working with it either. It wasn't figured though, so obviously that helps.

Thanks for bringing up this thread. Sounds like an under-appreciated wood.