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 Post subject: Opinion on neck material
PostPosted: Thu Oct 16, 2014 9:56 pm 
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Cocobolo
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Hope you all can share some thoughts on neck materials.
I'm building a jumbo baritone back and sides Brazilian Rosewood.
Top still up in the air
Neck the same. I've been considering ,Spanish Cedar , Wenge, Brazilian Rosewood,
I'm really new at building so I'd like to know why and what.
Thanks
Jeff


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PostPosted: Thu Oct 16, 2014 10:29 pm 
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Sounds like that could be a cool guitar. That will be a big, fairly heavy guitar so a neck with a bit of weight would balance out ok. Wenge is pretty heavy for a neck but it would be a good centre lamination for a Spanish Cedar/Wenge neck. I'd be inlined to save the Brazilian for Headplates,FB's and bridges. You could also use a heavier tuner like a Gotoh 510 to balance it out also. That's one opinion.

Cheers,
Danny



These users thanked the author DannyV for the post: Jfurry (Sat Oct 18, 2014 9:27 am)
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PostPosted: Thu Oct 16, 2014 10:41 pm 
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Assuming the neck will be extra long for a baritone, wenge would be good because it's extremely stiff. Heavy though. Use lightweight open backed tuners, or slothead.

Spanish cedar is lightweight, but a little on the flexible side for extra long necks. But if you leave it a little thick toward the heel, it would probably be ok too. Or as Danny recommends, laminate with wenge in the center.

I'd say no to Brazilian rosewood. Costs a fortune, and hard to find high enough quality to make a stable neck, especially with good legal records. And even then, it's heavy, and not that much stiffer than walnut. More of a novelty than a real benefit.

Black walnut is my favorite for rosewood guitars, for its dark color. A bit heavier and stiffer than mahogany, but not enough additional weight to be concerned with. Hibdon has good stuff.


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PostPosted: Fri Oct 17, 2014 5:10 am 
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What's wrong with Mahogany, good old Swietenia macrophylla?
Looks good, carves well, has worked for quite a few guitars so far.

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PostPosted: Fri Oct 17, 2014 5:37 am 
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Brazilian Rosewood
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Brazilian is such a traditional wood that I would use Honduras for the neck. I wouldn't use anything but red spruce for the top. However, why use BRW on a baritone guitar? If you are really new at building, save the BRW and use walnut, mahogany or maple.


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PostPosted: Fri Oct 17, 2014 6:47 am 
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My $0.02:

Some parts of the guitar need to focus on one consideration almost to the exclusion of all other considerations. More than anything else, necks need to stay straight, or be coaxed (on purpose) into a very slight curve. Honduran Mahogany is one of the most stable woods out there. That's why it is so popular as a neck wood. It is also easy to carve, it is not super heavy, it is a decent tone wood in its own right, and it looks nice. It checks all the boxes. Other woods can be used, but you might have some things you don't like. Maple works (lots of electric necks are Maple), but it is heavy, and it can be harder to carve. It looks great, though. Everything else has its own set of goods and bads. But Mahogany excels at the most important thing and does fine on all other considerations.


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PostPosted: Fri Oct 17, 2014 7:38 am 
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Have to say I would vote for Mahogany myself. Little heavier than Spanish Cedar (which I really like), and both are easy to carve. If it were my first, I would also save the Brazilian till I'd built a couple just because of the expense. There are plenty of woods that make interesting back and sides - actually haven't found a hardwood I don't like.


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PostPosted: Fri Oct 17, 2014 10:30 am 
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I would not use any of the three you listed. Spanish cedar can be bendy, wenge and BRW are heavy. Mahogany or black walnut (if you want a darker color) would be my choices.


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PostPosted: Sat Oct 18, 2014 9:47 am 
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Clay S. wrote:
I would not use any of the three you listed. Spanish cedar can be bendy, wenge and BRW are heavy. Mahogany or black walnut (if you want a darker color) would be my choices.

Mahogany I have some really nice blanks stashed but have built with it already and I'm trying to experience as many woods as possible before venturing out on my own. My teacher is not a walnut fan ,I'll try and find out why today. Thanks for the response
mkellyvrod wrote:
Have to say I would vote for Mahogany myself. Little heavier than Spanish Cedar (which I really like), and both are easy to carve. If it were my first, I would also save the Brazilian till I'd built a couple just because of the expense. There are plenty of woods that make interesting back and sides - actually haven't found a hardwood I don't like.

Not my first but will be the first brw I've built with other than fret boards
doncaparker wrote:
My $0.02:

Some parts of the guitar need to focus on one consideration almost to the exclusion of all other considerations. More than anything else, necks need to stay straight, or be coaxed (on purpose) into a very slight curve. Honduran Mahogany is one of the most stable woods out there. That's why it is so popular as a neck wood. It is also easy to carve, it is not super heavy, it is a decent tone wood in its own right, and it looks nice. It checks all the boxes. Other woods can be used, but you might have some things you don't like. Maple works (lots of electric necks are Maple), but it is heavy, and it can be harder to carve. It looks great, though. Everything else has its own set of goods and bads. But Mahogany excels at the most important thing and does fine on all other considerations.

I have considered maple ,I'm working with it now on the 12 string I'm building. Mahogany seems to be a fav with almost everyone
Haans wrote:
Brazilian is such a traditional wood that I would use Honduras for the neck. I wouldn't use anything but red spruce for the top. However, why use BRW on a baritone guitar? If you are really new at building, save the BRW and use walnut, mahogany or maple.

Could you elaborate more on not using brw for a baritone, and why so specific on the top.
DennisK wrote:
Assuming the neck will be extra long for a baritone, wenge would be good because it's extremely stiff. Heavy though. Use lightweight open backed tuners, or slothead.

Spanish cedar is lightweight, but a little on the flexible side for extra long necks. But if you leave it a little thick toward the heel, it would probably be ok too. Or as Danny recommends, laminate with wenge in the center.

I'd say no to Brazilian rosewood. Costs a fortune, and hard to find high enough quality to make a stable neck, especially with good legal records. And even then, it's heavy, and not that much stiffer than walnut. More of a novelty than a real benefit.

Black walnut is my favorite for rosewood guitars, for its dark color. A bit heavier and stiffer than mahogany, but not enough additional weight to be concerned with. Hibdon has good stuff.
Thanks.
I really like the wedge ,cedar laminate idea. I'm not above the novelty of the brw either laminated with the cedar thank you. [quote="DannyV"]Sounds like that could be a cool guitar. That will be a big, fairly heavy guitar so a neck with a bit of weight would balance out ok. Wenge is pretty heavy for a neck but it would be a good centre lamination for a Spanish Cedar/Wenge neck. I'd be inlined to save the Brazilian for Headplates,FB's and bridges. You could also use a heavier tuner like a Gotoh 510 to balance it out also. That's one opinion.

Cheers,
Danny[/quote
Thanks

Sorry my first try with the quotes and my dyslexia is getting the better of me, you've givin me lots to consider and it is much appreciated .
Jeff


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PostPosted: Sat Oct 18, 2014 2:17 pm 
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Little more info 12 fret 281/2 scale length .


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PostPosted: Sat Oct 18, 2014 2:51 pm 
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Brazilian Rosewood
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How many baritones have you made? Maybe you should start with a lessor wood till you get your baritones down. BRW has a heritage, a reverence, and a tradition, not to mention that it is hard to get (stump wood excluded), cracks easily, is VERY expensive and at this time almost requires a special instrument to be worth using. You have to know you are building a special instrument.
Such a rare wood these days also almost requires that you use the best woods to go with it. It almost commands Honduras for the neck and red spruce for the top. Red spruce is a most fundamental sounding spruce. It has all the headroom in the world. Extremely difficult to strike strings so hard that the tone breaks up.You really don't need a complex sounding top wood like Englemann (cheap German in my book) or real German spruce. Combine BRW and a complex sounding spruce on a baritone and you have something akin to corn syrup...sickly sweet...IMO.


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PostPosted: Sun Nov 16, 2014 11:33 pm 
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The baritone suggestion came from my teacher. I have put a bunch of thought into this and have decided to build something I will play a bit more ( not really playing well enough to keep up inwhat I think is odd tuning)
Haans thank you for the time put into your answer. I can't say I disagree with a single point you made. You made me rethink what I was building.


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PostPosted: Mon Nov 17, 2014 6:49 am 
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Welcome Jeff.
I would start with a maple, mahogany, oak, or walnut. If you want a hard sounding tone use sugar maple. You can't just jump into a new instrument, have to build a few to get the whole idea. You won't regret NOT using BRW.


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PostPosted: Tue Nov 18, 2014 3:09 am 
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I agree with Haans. I have built quite a few guitars but the thought of using BRW still makes me nervous. You might consider starting with East Indian Rosewood. It is excellent wood and affordable. Your third or fourth guitar will be much better than the first. You will be glad you saved the BRW for that one.

Opps! I see this is not your first guitar, just your first BRW. In that case I would use Honduras mahogany for the neck. Still the best bet out there.

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