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I have some mystery wood looks like chechen or pernambuco , not sure vy orangey/ red that I inherited abt 25 yrs ago.Am thinking of using it for 2 ss guitars minus the truss rod which would make it much heavier than it is , the wood is very flat and straight. Back in the 70/s some people used EIR for Cl gtr necks this wood is harder and more dense. Have any of you built a SS using dense hdwd minus a truss rd
. Your thoughts and opinions thanks

Hey Buddy!

IMO a truss rod is always a good idea and I'll add a double action one is even better. I can't tell you how many times someone will let a guitar dry out too much or get baked in a black car in the long term at LAX for a month and if the rod was not present AND a double action rod the guitar would be toast.

That's from a serviceability point of view.

From a player point of view I hate guitars that the headstock tends to take a swan dive into the floor if you reach for your scotch and water...

Can't know but with this wood finishing might be an issue too since the backs of guitars necks seem to be very high wear areas as well.

Guess that's three strikes in my view. Besides what's wrong with tradition...

Nothing wrong with truss rods. I have 11 but thought it might make the neck too heavy ??. too play. I agree, without a rod problems of all kinds can arise down the road especially accidents. The wood doesn/t have big pores like H mahog. I would use enduro var or shellac or behlens bar varnish. Thanks for your input Hesh

Ernie- I've read other's opinions regarding exotics for necks..... My thoughts, for what they're worth. Weight. dense exotic woods are heavy, and this will make the guitar feel unbalanced in you're hands. Stability. There is a good reason that Honduran Mahogany was the only wood pattern makers used in that trade. I prepped and still have a few unfinished blanks of Wenge for necks. Quarter sawn, too. I probably will never use them, because they are heavy. I would not build a neck without a truss rod, at least a one way type. Guitars without one when being re fretted will have to be compression fretted, a technique to move the neck to a back bow against string pull. Ask Hesh about that.
Nothing wrong with that, it just takes a lot more time and skill to make a neck adjustment than turning the rods screw.

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I saw go for it. I have a cocobolo/redwood SJ in the plans and I'm going to do a cocobolo/maple (with black fibre too) laminated neck.

Jim Olson has built a few SJ and Dreds over the recent years with both Brazilian and Indian rosewood necks and here's a link to a beautiful Omega (Kevin Gallagher) with a cocobolo/maple laminated neck.... http://www.acousticguitarforum.com/foru ... bolo+omega

Depending on the body wood, the guitar could be very balanced with a denser neck.

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I agree with Hesh, always use a truss rod for steel strings. The precision needed for a really good steel string setup is much higher than for nylons. It is possible to finetune the relief by compression fretting, but a truss rod is much easier.

I also hate neck heavy guitars, but I do think a hardwood neck could be done well if you design for it, and don't mind the guitar being a little heavier overall. 12 fret neck, slot head, single compression truss rod, lightweight tuners, high waist, and heavy tail block will all help to improve the balance. Heavy tuners will throw off the balance worse than heavy neck wood, because the tuners have more leverage. A lot of the neck wood is close to the center of mass where it doesn't have much effect on the balance.

For finish, I'd recommend making it very thin, almost bare wood. Feels much better than a thick finish, and with hard wood it should stay feeling nice and smooth as it wears.

You might consider a titanium truss rod.

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Ken Franklin
clumsy yet persistent
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I am building a guitar right now which I hope to use some dense hardwood for the neck. I built one with it before and it is neck heavy but I don't really notice it when it is being played on you lap. Since the guitar I am building is to be a stage guitar the balance is important. I put a big chunk of cherry in the tail area to weigh down that end. If need be I'll use some open back tuners. If it is still heavy I'll just make another neck for it.

Where does one get a titanium rod and how expensive are they ? . Hey lots of great ideas here and opinions and things to try out. I will try and use some of them thank you

I haven't tried one but you can get a titanium truss at http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/3915293224 ... noapp=true Not cheap.

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Ken Franklin
clumsy yet persistent
https://www.kenfranklinukulele.com

have been doing Ebony necks without TR, but with kevlar tube inside, have done BRW with and without TR, have done African Blackwood without TR, but with hollow kevlar GFK tube insde...

everything works, just depends all on the fretting and pre bow....

cheers, alex

Hi where do you get the hollow kevlar GFK tube from thanks ??? usa , europe , or ??

Another vote for always using a truss rod. Use lighter tuners if you're worried about weight... wooden buttons, open-backed designs, or both save lots of weight where it is most welcome for balance

Make the neck a little thinner than you would with mahogany. I think of it this way: to copy a well proven design you want to make the weight of each piece the same, not the dimensions. If using a dense wood for the neck make it thinner so it weighs approximately the same as a really thick mahogany neck.