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Best wood for necks and fret boards?

Hi folks just ordering what wood people think is best for the neck and fret board? Have to buy one soon so wanted to get some informed opinions.

Thanks

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Permalink Reply by Dan Sleep on January 3, 2013 at 1:42pm

I prefer maple for the neck, and either rosewood or cherry for the fingerboards. The lighter neck complements the darker fingerboard nicely in my opinion.

You can also use red oak, poplar, or most other hardwoods.

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Permalink Reply by www.FullerCBG.com on January 3, 2013 at 2:01pm

Thanks dan. Do you ever have any issues with the wood and fret board wood expanding and contracting at different rates with heat?

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Permalink Reply by Dan Sleep on January 3, 2013 at 2:26pm

I don't know if it is heat related or how dry the wood is, but yes. Even commercially made guitar necks can have the fingerboard or neck shrink, thus exposing a bit of the fret wire. Usually you want the wood to be as old and dry as you can. Green wood will likely be a problem.

If you want to hedge your bets, you can always file the ends of the fret wire just a teeny bit to allow for shrinkage without affecting the playability.

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Permalink Reply by wormil on January 3, 2013 at 4:40pm

If both woods are dried then it won't be a problem.

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Permalink Reply by wormil on January 3, 2013 at 4:50pm

Quartersawn maple is traditionally the preferred wood for instrument necks, mahogany and poplar are also common. But really you can use pretty much any hardwood or even a softwood like yellow pine (which is harder than some hard woods). Fretboards are traditionally ebony or rosewood but both are expensive; preferably you'd want something very hard and oily or just hard and smooth.

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Permalink Reply by ChickenboneJohn on January 3, 2013 at 8:25pm

If you are making your own guitar neck, the best wood is the wood that costs nothing, I can't pass by a skip (dumpster) without looking for old furniture. There's really no absolute "best", it a very personal choice.

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Permalink Reply by Mungo Park on January 4, 2013 at 10:08am

Maple with oak center strip, oak or ash fretboard. Works great and I have a crap load of this wood on hand which might creat a bias. Cheers Ron

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Permalink Reply by Skeesix on January 4, 2013 at 10:11am

For cigar box guitars, I like maple and maple. The reason is that the box is a warm sounding cedar wood and also a hollow chamber. The maple is a hardwood with a crisper, glassier sound. They go well together.

I've done rosewood and granadillo fretboards too. They're fine too. On regular guitars I actually prefer them, but for CBGs, maple has won me over.

Pine has a neat warm growly sound, but it can be kind of unstable. If you laminated several boards together I think that would help.

Like the others are saying, there is no "wrong" answer, it's just what you prefer or can get your hands on if your budget is limited.

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Permalink Reply by Camie GNA on January 4, 2013 at 3:17pm

1st, I start with precut: 1.5 x 3/4 inch wood for the neck, its in this price range:

$1.30 ft, tennessee red cedar

$1.20 ft, poplar, kinda soft, I test wood by sqweezing it, with my finger nail

$1.65 ft, red oak, good for fret board

$1.70 ft, ash, they make baseball bats with this stuff

$1.80 ft, alder

$1.90 ft, birch, is very hard

$2.10 ft, maple, fender stuff

$2.60 ft, cherry

$2.65 ft, african mahogany

$2..95 ft, walnut

my 1st build, I used, poplar for the neck and red oak glued to it for the fret board. It worked fine.

my 2nd, in process build, I am using birch for the neck, I did some wood carving on it, its harder stronger and heavier than poplar,

so far so good, will send you a pic of the carving if you like. I am going to use red oak again for the fretboard, but only because I can get it precut, and it worked fine the first time.

remember, first drill the fret dots, thenn, cut the fret slots, and in that order, OK,

CAM: OUT 1/5/13

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Permalink Reply by Niels Vaillant on January 6, 2013 at 1:43am

I know in the end there is no right and wrong, but that they make baseball bats (and axes and hammers which are getting beaten even more) from Ash doesn´t make it good wood for stringed instruments, it,s though but to flexible, the traditional instrument making book i`ve got it says good for the sides and the bindings which you both don´t need on a CBG.