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Meranti / Seraya for acoustic necks
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Author:  Colin North [ Mon Nov 25, 2013 7:12 pm ]
Post subject:  Meranti / Seraya for acoustic necks

So, anyone used Meranti / Seraya / Philippine Mahogany for a neck wood, or have any informed opinions?
Density seems about the same as Hog, but I believe it is a bit coarser, but reasonably easy to work.
How about stability?

Author:  Kent Chasson [ Mon Nov 25, 2013 7:31 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Meranti / Seraya for acoustic necks

I've made many necks with Meranti. Stability has been fine but the wood I had was nicer than any I've seen lately. It is coarse and it doesn't get along all that well with edge tools but no big problems either.

Author:  Clay S. [ Mon Nov 25, 2013 8:22 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Meranti / Seraya for acoustic necks

I've also used red meranti for necks. It is a bit coarse textured but worked O.K. with power tools. Stability wise it seemed fine. The stuff I had was on the heavy side of mahogany. There is a lot of variation in the shorea species, so a lot depends on the particular piece of wood.

Author:  Tai Fu [ Tue Nov 26, 2013 12:47 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Meranti / Seraya for acoustic necks

I never liked it, people use this stuff here for construction and it just either felt like balsa wood, or it was extremely hard and dense and everywhere in between. I consider the stuff crap because it splinters like crazy, it feels like cardboard, and they raped rainforests harvesting this stuff!

Author:  Colin North [ Fri Nov 29, 2013 2:39 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Meranti / Seraya for acoustic necks

Tai Fu wrote:
and they raped rainforests harvesting this stuff!

I would imagine many more tropical woods are much the same.
I've worked in Douala, Cameroon and seen the miles of hardwood logs piled on the docks, with hundreds of trucks lined up waiting to get still more in.
I wondered how much of it was legally/responsibly harvested.

Author:  ernie [ Fri Nov 29, 2013 2:57 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Meranti / Seraya for acoustic necks

coarse/ and splintery, but doable, mines heavier than h. mahog. so guessing density is all over the map.

Author:  Tai Fu [ Fri Nov 29, 2013 9:36 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Meranti / Seraya for acoustic necks

Problem is Meranti is just not that good as construction wood. It's splintery as hell, often unsustainably harvested, and it feels flimsy. Pine is a much better choice of construction wood because it's strong and often straight. Also pine tends to be more sustainably harvested too. Pine also smells nice when you cut them whereas Meranti smells terrible. It's just not that good for guitars but great for construction. Not sure why they only use meranti for construction here. Pine is rare as hen's teeth here and expensive too.

Author:  Kent Chasson [ Fri Nov 29, 2013 10:10 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Meranti / Seraya for acoustic necks

Tai Fu, I think we may be talking about different species. There's nothing flimsy about the material I've used. It is sold here in the states as Dark Red Mahogany. It's dense, strong, and stable. More like Sapele than Honduran Mahogany.

Author:  Tai Fu [ Fri Nov 29, 2013 10:14 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Meranti / Seraya for acoustic necks

Thing is Meranti varies all over the place when it comes to density, and the stuff I've encountered so far as construction wood is really light in density, and roughsawn. So the dense stuff might be better for guitar construction but the low grade stuff I've encountered as construction wood should not have been harvested in the first place. The stuff feels like balsa wood but without the benefit of balsa wood.

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