Official Luthiers Forum!

......Steel String guitar necks out of Spanish Cedar?
Has it been a problem?
What have your experiences been?

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Old growth, shmold growth!

For Steel String guitar necks out of Spanish Cedar you need forum # USB7249-0045-234-1b & c,
filled out in triplicate, notarized and submitted 3 years in prior to commencing construction to the office of ?adma C/O dis here web site. Be sure to enclose the $125.00 payment for processing, along with the $200.00 filing fee and three pieces of id.

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CF Martin that is

I have made steel string necks from Spanish cedar. They are a bit more bendy than mahogany necks so make sure you have a good truss rod.
Spanish cedar varies quite a lot in weight and stiffness, so you must judge for yourself if the piece has the qualities you require.
I know C.F.Martin used cedar for their early guitars which were primarily gut strung instruments, but have they used it recently, and for steel strings?

Works fine for a neck. Its a bit softer than regular mahogany so it might not wear as well if you're rough with it.....dents and dings will form if you bump a table edge something

I've used it a lot(though it makes me sneeze and itch...). Martin is using it often these days, along with other 'mahogany-like' neck woods under the terms "select hardwood".

It makes a perfectly fine neck for steel string guitars...

I just noticed that one vendor was selling neck blanks of Spanish cedar, " the kind that doesn't ooz sap". Is anyone familiar with the different kinds of Spanish cedar?

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Pat

I used it on a couple of steel strings. I laminated oak in the middle to stiffen it up. Easy to carve and work, and with the center oak lam, it is holding up just fine.

But I hate the smell. It gets in my nose and stays there to party.

--Paul

Thanks guys!

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Old growth, shmold growth!

I think Doug Kauer makes a lot of his electrics with Spanish Cedar bodies & necks. Carve away!

I think it is just a characteristic of the individual tree, rather than a separate species.
About 20 years ago I bought a whole pile of 8/4 SC from a sign maker, and some of it 'oozes', but most of it doesn't. In 1995 I made a two-piece steel string 14-fret neck out of it, and it did warp after about 12 years. The guitar obviously had been overheated at some time, since the bridge had lifted, leaving telltale strings of Titebond glue underneath. The heat also caused some 'bubbling' of the lacquer on the pores of the neck, but light sanding and overspraying a couple of lacquer coats made it like new.
I removed the CF fixed reinforcement, and installed an aluminum channel one-way adjustable truss rod. Problem solved. The current owner will undoubtedly take better care of the guitar, since he thinks it is the best thing since sliced bread.

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John

I too like sliced bread, but you need to give it a few extra minutes in the toaster if you want to have any chance of bringing it up to pitch. Like most things I learned this the hard way.

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Joe Beaver
Maker of Sawdust