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anyone ever used Spanish Cedar for necks on steel strings?
http://www.luthiersforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10101&t=29498		 Page 1 of 1
Author:  Corky Long [ Fri Oct 15, 2010 1:25 pm ]
Post subject:  anyone ever used Spanish Cedar for necks on steel strings?
I've got a line on some Spanish Cedar offcuts that look like they'd work for neck blanks, as long as you weren't too focused on degree of "quartersawn-ness". Anyone used Spanish Cedar for necks on steel strings? How about Philippine Mahogany? Good results? Thanks.
Author:  David Newton [ Fri Oct 15, 2010 1:44 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: anyone ever used Spanish Cedar for necks on steel strings?
Good SC is great for necks, and I like it on certain guitars, namely 12 fretters.
Be aware that curly figure makes SC weak.
Quartered wood is always nice, but I don't think SC loses any stiffness in off quarter or even flat, though it isn't my preference.

Luan, or PM isn't favored as a neck wood, except in inexpensive asian guitars. Since maybe a million guitars were made with it last year, I can't exactly say it won't work.
Author:  Greenman [ Fri Oct 15, 2010 4:57 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: anyone ever used Spanish Cedar for necks on steel strings?
Hi Corky- Nice article in the A.S.I.A magazine thanks for sharing your experiences with us. Hope to see you next weekend in Woodstock if you can get away. Back to the subject alot of Martins necks are Spanish Cedar necks so that says alot. I would be tempted to put in a couple piece of Carbon fiber to reinforce it as it is not as strongs as Mahogany. I think I heard Dave LaPlante talk about using flat sawn Cedar in a neck with no problem. Woods that are very dimentionally stable like Mahogany and Spanish cedar don't move much. It is perferable to have quartered piece but I think flat sawn would work fine. Regards :mrgreen: Bill Sterling-Greenman
Author:  John Arnold [ Fri Oct 15, 2010 10:20 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: anyone ever used Spanish Cedar for necks on steel strings?
I have built one steel string with a SC neck.......a dreadnought with a 25.4 scale. It is 15 years old now, and still works fine.
BTW, Martin is churning out thousands of SC necks these days.
Author:  oval soundhole [ Fri Oct 15, 2010 10:23 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: anyone ever used Spanish Cedar for necks on steel strings?
Didn't Martin use Spanish Cedar for necks from the 1800s to the turn of the 20th century?
Author:  JRHall [ Sat Oct 16, 2010 6:13 am ]
Post subject:  Re: anyone ever used Spanish Cedar for necks on steel strings?
oval soundhole wrote:
Didn't Martin use Spanish Cedar for necks from the 1800s to the turn of the 20th century?



That's true.
With the difficulty of sourcing mahogany in quantities needed for their production, Martin has been making thousands of SC necks a year for the last few years.
Author:  Alexandru Marian [ Sat Oct 16, 2010 6:33 am ]
Post subject:  Re: anyone ever used Spanish Cedar for necks on steel strings?
I have measured the density of all my SC and it ranges from 0.36 (lighter than most spruce) to as high as .6 which the same as mahogany. For my classicals if I am requested a thin neck I pick a heavy one, or laminate a light one with rosewood, and viceversa, pick the light one for someone asking for a thick neck.
Most of it is somewhere in between 0.4 and 0.5. I guess these not particularly heavy pieces might benefit from extra reinforcement but the extra heavy ones should be drop-in replacements for mahogany.
Author:  John Arnold [ Sat Oct 16, 2010 8:22 am ]
Post subject:  Re: anyone ever used Spanish Cedar for necks on steel strings?
Quote:
Didn't Martin use Spanish Cedar for necks from the 1800s to the turn of the 20th century?

Yes, but those were gut string guitars for the most part. The other difference from modern Martins is that they had a grafted-on headstock....the diamond carving was a functional part of that joint.
Author:  woody b [ Sat Oct 16, 2010 11:24 am ]
Post subject:  Re: anyone ever used Spanish Cedar for necks on steel strings?
I've used Spanish Cedar for a couple necks. I reinforce all my necks with 2 carbon fiber rods, one on each side of the truss rod.
Author:  Alan Carruth [ Sun Oct 17, 2010 6:45 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: anyone ever used Spanish Cedar for necks on steel strings?
The thing to keep in mind is that strength; the ability to take a load in compression, is not usually the issue. Almost any wood would work if that were the only criterion. SC is certainly strong enough in that sense, and it's stable, too; it's just not stiff enough to resist bending up by itself. With a good truss rod it's always been fine on steel strings for me.

I do, however, generally use a V-joint on cedar necks; whether for steel or nylon string guitars. It gets the grain running the right direction through the weak point. Also, if it does break, a through V-joint (not the modified bridle Martin used) tends to break along the glue line, so it's an easy repair. I also would not use a headstock adjustment for the truss rod if I could help it with cedar. In 'normal' service it should be fine, but somebody's always doing something abnormal that could bust it. Best to not take chances.
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