maple neck - caveats?

[DenverSteve]

Maple guitar necks have been around for a very long time. That about says it.

[Gallopinghost]

Have you spoken to Blazer and Henkes yet? Willi and Rudi's shop is in Tuebingen, Germany and they've been building for many decades. They are highly responsive to inquiries and very generous with their advice and experience.

http://www.antique-acoustics.de/

One of the first guitars I saw of theirs was a 90's Gibson Southern Jumbo with a maple neck and I know they offer it as one of their options. They have incredible tonewoods to choose from and build Martin, Gibson and Larson Brothers style guitars better than most anyone in the world, including Martin, Gibson and the Larson Brothers.

This isn't exactly what you described, but an example of their period correct Gibby Banner Year baseball bat necks in european maple.

[jazzizm]

Originally Posted by Mark L

Have a look at Collings website. They are absolute masters of maple -construction, tone and aesthetic.

I did look at Collings' website. The inspiration for the guitar was a 0 14 by Collings, flame maple neck, back & sides that I played years ago. Also, I have a Collings OM that I adore, not least for its build quality.
But I'm not going to fork over the equivalent of a cheap eastern european car. Most luthiers over here do it for half the money.
If I could find a pre-loved one, I might think again, but something that specific? Pretty hard to find.

Originally Posted by jt1

The maple neck on my Kim Walker SJ:

That is just beautiful.

Originally Posted by Gallopinghost

Have you spoken to Blazer and Henkes yet? Willi and Rudi's shop is in Tuebingen, Germany and they've been building for many decades. They are highly responsive to inquiries and very generous with their advice and experience.

http://www.antique-acoustics.de/

I did not, but I will!

[J-F C]

Hi,

Fred Tellier (FETELLIER member) has built me 2 guitars with maple necks, one of them with maple back and sides also.

http://www.acousticguitarforum.com/f...d.php?t=312295


http://www.acousticguitarforum.com/f...d.php?t=355807


I love them both...

[jazzizm]

Just got the guitar I ordered last year. It has a beautiful flame maple neck and I couldn't be more satisfied with how it turned out (see this thread: http://www.acousticguitarforum.com/f...d.php?t=491859).

[LouieAtienza]

Flame maple has been used for musical instrument necks for a few centuries now, so no worries there. Very popular with archtop builders, and most bolt-on electrics. Many builders here use it. I have used flame maple on a couple acoustic builds, and most electric builds, myself. Many guitar-makers today have used it at one time or another on a guitar. Lowden's Pierre Bensusan model uses a laminated maple neck.

The one caveat is that a maple neck can potentially be heavier than an otherwise similar mahogany (or other) neck. Depending on how you play this may or may not affect you.

[mcgr40]

It should probably go without saying, if the maple is well seasoned, highly figured, and properly quartered it will make a fine neck. True, highly figured maple is generally a bit less stable than plain maple and even less stable than mahogany, so I would put two strips of carbon fiber on either side of the truss rod for insurance. Its relatively inexpensive insurance, shouldn't be a problem for your builder. Maple has a density closer to cuban mahogany which I have used, and I think a denser, stiffer neck aids sustain, but that is just my notion, a notion I can't prove(but still am convinced of).

[jazzizm]

Meanwhile, I have received the guitar I contemplated on some 17 months ago. Its flame maple neck works beautifully, no stability or other issues whatsoever.