Guitar neck woods

Guitar Neck Woods

From plain white maple to colorful tropical exotics, there are rainbows of musical instrument woods. There is no one best wood. The choice you make should be based upon your application and personal taste or preference.

Part of the beauty of wood is the uniqueness of each piece. There are wide ranges of color, striping, streaking, figure size, interval, etc. All varied by whims of nature. Pictures are included for reference.

	Birdseye Maple (Acer saccharum): Birdseye is another type of figure found in hard maple. It shows best in flat sawn wood. There is a wide variety of size and shapes in the "eyes" to keep them interesting. There seems to be a recurring rumor that Birdseye maple is unstable and not suited to guitar necks. Having made tens of thousands of Birdseye necks, we can assure you that it is no different in stability than plain maple. AAA grade denotes very heavy figuring. *Used for both necks and fingerboards
	Bocote (Cordia elaeagnoiders): Sometimes called Mexican Rosewood. Striking green to yellow color usually with distinct grain lines sometimes with variegated interesting patterns. Smells like dill pickle's when cut or sanded. The feel is very waxy, similar to most rosewoods in feel and tone. This fast feeling wood needs no finish. Suitable for both necks and fingerboards. Limited availability and expensive. *Used for both necks and fingerboards
	Brazilian Rosewood (Dalbergia nigra): A very hard and dense wood. Great clarity and articulation in tone. Very smooth feeling. Color varies a great deal from piece to piece, all being gorgeous. *A very high class fingerboard wood.
	Bubinga (Guibourtia demeusei): A very strong stiff wood used primarily for bass necks and in laminations. Used by Rickenbacker for fretboards. As a bass neck, it brings bright midrange and a thick well defined bottom. *Used for both necks and fingerboards
	Canary (Centrolobium ochroxylon): More properly called Arariba. What we've had of this wood is primarily a yellow color with deep red streaking. Not as dense as maple, smooth and fast feeling with a warm tone. May be used for necks and fingerboards. No finish required. *Used for both necks and fingerboards
	Cocobolo (Dalbergia retusa): A true rosewood species and gorgeous to behold. Unfortunately this extremely oily wood is difficult to glue. Worse yet, the dust is very irritating and toxic. We have used it in the past but due to the allergic reactions we choose not to work with this wood.
	Ebony (Dispyrus melanoxylon): This is black ebony. Very hard, smooth and fast feeling that has a bright, long sustaining tone. Chocolate brown or dark gray streaks are not uncommon. Available primarily as fingerboards and occasionally for full neck construction. *Used for both necks and fingerboards
	Flame Maple (Acer saccharum): While there are several maple species that show the flame figure, the only one hard enough for making necks is Acer Saccarum. Identical to plain maple above, except for the highly prized flame figuring. *Used for both necks and fingerboards
	Goncalo Alves (Astronium fraxini folium): Very dense smooth texture with a waxy fast feel - no finish required. Color is tan with darker chocolate stripes (used by Smith & Wesson for pistol grips). Articulate clean warm tone. Primarily used as a Neck wood and mates well with Pau Ferro or ebony fingerboards. *Used for necks only
	Hard Maple (Acer saccharum): This is the traditional Fender neck wood. Dense, hard and strong, offering great sustain and stability. The tone is bright. Maple must be finished to protect from warping We use flat sawn maple though quarter sawn may be available at an additional cost. *Used for both necks and fingerboards
	Indian Rosewood (Dalbergia latifolia): This is the most popular fingerboard wood. It has a warm "rock'n roll" tonality. Colors range from dark purple to lighter purple with yellows and orange. *Available for fingerboards only
	Koa (Acacia koa): Koa comes from the Hawaiian Islands. It is the premiere ukulele wood. It is fairly similar to mahogany in strength and weight though generally better looking. Sometimes available with flame figuring. Koa sounds best when combined with a Pau Ferro or ebony fingerboard. Koa must be hard finished. *Used for necks only
	Limba (Terminalia superba): Korina is the name guitarists recognize for this wood. Its light yellow-green color is unique and looks aged even though new. In both tone and texture Limba is very similar to mahogany. Limba is only suitable for neck stock, not fretboards. It must be finished. Availability is limited or sporadic. *Used for necks only
	Macassar Ebony (Dispyrus macassar): Stripped ebony, black with heavy striping, chocolate brown to gray. A beautiful wood for those wanting the feel and tone of ebony but a more exciting look. Primarily for fingerboard wood but sometimes available for solid necks. No finish required. *Used for both necks and fingerboards
	Mahogany (Swietenia macrophylla): Commonly called Honduran Mahogany. This is the wood most associated with Gibson guitars. Not as dense or strong as maple. Good for warmer, fatter guitar tone. An open grain wood requiring more work in finishing to fill the open pores. Must be hard finished. *Used for necks only
	Padouk, African (Pterocarpus soyauxii): Bright vivid red color which oxidizes to a warm brown with use. This waxy feeling wood has an open grain texture similar to rosewood and a tone similar to maple. It is very stable in use and requires no finish. Feels great to play on. *Used for necks only
	Palisander Rosewood (Dalbergia baroni): This is our wood of choice for making solid rosewood necks and bodies. The color varies from light violet to darker purples, sometimes with darker stripes. The best smelling wood around. Very hard and heavy with somewhat open cell structure. Feels very fast and requires no finish. *Used for both necks and fingerboards
	Pau Ferro (Machaerium villosum): Relatively new as a fingerboard wood but very well suited to this purpose. Very smooth texture similar to ebony. Tonally brighter than rosewood but not as bright as ebony. Color varies from light tan to a darker coffee color. Usually quarter sawn to show nice striping. Primarily a fingerboard wood though occasionally available for necks as well. *Used for both necks and fingerboards
	Purpleheart (Peltogyne pubesens): Generally this wood is used as an accent line in laminated necks. The purple like color is striking. A very hard dense wood. Similar to Bubinga in its good bass tone. A specialty wood that can be used for necks and fingerboards. *Used for both necks and fingerboards
	Satine (Brosimum paraense): We know this as bloodwood because of its dark red color. A very dense hard tropical wood with a waxy smooth feel. No finish is required and may be used as neck or fingerboard wood. *Used for both necks and fingerboards
	Walnut (Juglans nigra): Walnut is the only North American dark wood. It is somewhat softer than maple though stiffer than mahogany. Looks and sounds good when combined with ebony fingerboards. This wood must be hard finished. *Used for necks only
	Wenge (Millettia laurentii): A black hard wood with chocolate brown stripes. Very hard, coarser textured wood with open grain. This wood makes awesome bass necks with strong midrange tones and warm lows. Combine it with an ebony fretboard for more brightness. Used primarily as Neck shafts but may also be used as a coarse fretboard. This wood is usually played raw. No Finish required. *Used for both necks and fingerboards
	Ziricote (Cordia dodecandra): This dark gray to black wood is similar to ebony in weight, density and tone. Some pieces have gorgeous striping and spider web grain patterns. May be oil finished or left raw. Suitable for both necks and fingerboards. Limited availability and expensive *Used for both necks and fingerboards