Ash Neck

[Jim88]

Hi,

Is European Ash suitable for a neck,,Fraxinus exelsior,

Just came away with a nice piece from my local hardwood guy,,I was after native cherry ( uk) but non was ready,,

I am nearly finish build 1 and am planning #2 ,and would like to use native woods where possible,,

I tried to find info but could not, so if anyone has used it Or could offer advice it would be great,,

Thanks and all the best

[Truckjohn]

It will work just fine. Instead of spoke shaves and chisels - you will most likely turn to rasps and coarse sandpaper because the wood is more dense and harder to work.

It will make a fine neck that will be heavier than normal. You may want to use a heavy tail block to balance it out.

[Jim88]

Thanks for the advice truckjohn,

I just used a rasp and sandpaper for my first neck so good to go for the ash,,

There will be enough ash for a tailblock so might use that to balance....

Thanks for the heads up

[Truckjohn]

That's what I did when I made one with an Oak neck

Another piece of advice.... Use a good quality double acting truss rod that's plenty stout. Ash is stiffer than mahogany and requires more force to straighten back out. Truss rod adjustments on my oak neck are a challenge.

Thanks

[LouieAtienza]

I'd rough out whatever's possible with whatever you have, first - be it a band saw, router, jig saw, coping saw - to make life easier for yourself.

[The Bard Rocks]

One of mine has an ash neck. Beautiful and folks can never guess what it is. Yes, it is heavier, In my case we used ziracote for the back and sides, so while it is some ounces heavier than it might otherwise be, it remains balanced. You might want to consider how a heavier neck will balance.

[Jim88]

Thanks for the advice bard rocks

The build i was planing to use the ash for is the 604mm scale torres small body for my nephew which a have turkish cypress back and sides for,,due to the nature of cypress being light I am starting to have doubts about using the ash neck,,

Maybe keep it for a all native steel string build,,

However the neck will be pretty short and thin ,,and narrow so might get away with it,,
Or might break the little lads toes when it tips over,,,,,,,,🙂

[Truckjohn]

I would not use ash for classical guitar neck duty. The push with those is to keep them lighter and well balanced.

I would stick with traditional neck woods for your first classical. Philippine mahogany /Luan would be a fine choice that's perhaps easier to find than Spanish cedar or Honduras mahogany.