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Ash Neck?

Anyone here tried using white ash for their necks? What'd you think?

I mill most of my own lumber and have piles of oak and walnut so I'm pretty familiar with them and confident of their stability as CBG necks. But, I just traded for a hundred or so board feet of white ash. Its gorgeous and dense, but how does it stand up to string pressure? Is it more likely to bend?

Only thing I know about ash is folks make baseball bats and boats out of it. Both, I guess, because it bends rather than breaks (well, until Bo Jackson breaks it over his knee).

My standard neck blank is 1-1/2" wide by 3/4" thick, carved down to round out the back. Then, I laminate on a 1/4" thick fretboard - usually either oak or walnut.

Do you think my ash necks will bend too much on a 4 string CBG?

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Permalink Reply by colin mcgrath on September 30, 2012 at 10:54am

For what it is worth I have used yellow ash with success. However I must say the ash I have came from 2x4 studs out of a one hundred y/old house. I know the circumstance is different, but...

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Permalink Reply by StarrCBGs(Donovan) on September 30, 2012 at 11:01am

I have a piece here at the shop it should do fine as a neck. It would be hard to shape though it is hard as a rock. All wood bends over time nothing to do for that except a truss rod.

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Permalink Reply by StarrCBGs(Donovan) on September 30, 2012 at 11:05am

Laminating the fretboards on also helps them to stay straight.

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Permalink Reply by Roadkill a.k.a. John Maw on September 30, 2012 at 12:52pm

You can look up the characteristics of various woods on sites like this one. Ash looks like a rather good choice. I hope this is of some help.

All the best.

John

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Permalink Reply by StarrCBGs(Donovan) on September 30, 2012 at 1:13pm

Interesting site John I may read over in more detail one day.

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Permalink Reply by Madurobob on September 30, 2012 at 2:00pm

Thanks guys - looks like I might have picked up a bunch of nice guitar necks! John, from that site you linked to, it looks to me that ash is very similar to the oak and walnut I'm used to, though a bit harder. Hard is good for fretboards, so I'll cut some down to check out as those, too.

Excited to have some 'sperimentin' to do.

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Permalink Reply by Madurobob on October 6, 2012 at 10:49am

Well, I played around with it in the shop, doing a couple of tests to see how it bent under load compared to the oak I have. It bent *slightly* more under the same load (25 lbs on a 30 inch span for 3 hours, 1 1/2" X 3/4" stock), but not enough to make me worry about using it.

So, I'm all in. I cranked out 16 necks to use for a batch of student guitars for a class at the local ArtsCenter this November. I'm very happy with the looks so far of the one I completed as a test. You can't see the ash that well in this pic, but really looks nice with just an oil finish:

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Permalink Reply by BUGGY (C) on October 7, 2012 at 1:56am

I have used it and I feel it has a lovely sustain and sound.
And its easy to work.
Can splinter like pine though.

Seems ok with my 3 string.
Thumbs up from me
Bug

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Permalink Reply by Dan on October 7, 2012 at 2:31am

Great wood, just make sure that it is quarter sawn. I've made over 30 guitars with it, holds up straight and true very well, with or without a glued on fret board.