Official Luthiers Forum!

Hello All. Hope it is a good morning for everybody.

I have a quick question. I have a local supply for quarter sawn Spanish Cedar and Mahogany neck blanks. When I compare them to the necks I can get from GMC, the growth pattern is not even comparable.

These shown below are Spanish Cedar, but the Mahogany he has is very similar in growth pattern.

Is this typical of the neck material available today? Are these likely to provide a stable neck that will last over time?

Thanks so much.

As long as it has the stiffness you desire it should be O.K.
I like Spanish cedar for classical guitar necks, not so much for steel string guitars, but others have used it successfully for both.

I am not familiar with spanish cedar, but if the mahogany has such wide grain it indicates rapid growth, maybe at a tree farm. I would be worried about the stability.

I don't know about a "tree farm". But these come from an area of Costa Rica where the fellow Kevin has some 1000's of acres. (https://www.diamondtropicalhardwoods.com/).

They are certainly not old growth. How much old growth Mahogany can be left?

When you say stability. Would you worry about movement over time? Tensile strength?

Thanks,

Chuck.

You can get necks from GMC? Count me jealous. Must be local?

Yeah. I live about 25 minutes from Martin.

Uhh, mebbe you could help a fella out?

Check your PM’s.

IT just so happens that I own about 25 Mahogany trees in Costa Rica. Purchased about 10 years ago they were intended to be harvested at 25-30 years. So relatively speaking that's rapid growth. It's amazing how fast trees grow down there.

Anyway, it's my understanding that growth ring (grain line) count is not an indication of stiffness and strength.