neck wood opinion?

[KevinLPederson]

laminate the mahogany/maple/mahogany - then you can have both woods .

Here is how I've done my 'Signature' laminations.



Kevin.

[John Arnold]

Personally, I don't believe there is an advantage to using quartersawn wood for necks. That is because contrary to popular belief, it is not stronger, stiffer, or more stable in the grain direction than slab cut.
The advantage of lamination that was mentioned is the use of slab cut wood on edge, producing vertical grain. But in an acoustic guitar, the depth of the heel is usually greater than the peghead width, so even one-piece necks are cut on edge, from slab cut 3" thick lumber. The real advantage is that 3" thick lumber is difficult to find these days, and is always more expensive because of the increased time to kiln dry it.
You can get more stability from using balanced laminations, with the grain opposite on each side. But most of the stability gain will be in the direction perpendicular to the laminations (sideways on a neck), and that is not the direction that usually gives problems in a guitar neck. I have seen one-piece necks that developed a twist, but in most cases, it is because of twisty grain. A well seasoned, straight-grained piece of mahogany (or Spanish cedar, or even cherry) is usually all you need for a good stable neck.

[charles Tauber]

Originally Posted by John Arnold

Personally, I don't believe there is an advantage to using quartersawn wood for necks. That is because contrary to popular belief, it is not stronger, stiffer, or more stable in the grain direction than slab cut.

With that said, do you believe there is an advantage to using quartersawn wood for ANY part of a guitar?

[DouginKy]

Originally Posted by KevinLPederson

laminate the mahogany/maple/mahogany - then you can have both woods .

Here is how I've done my 'Signature' laminations.



Kevin.

Beautiful.. and as much as I'd love that, I'm temporarily stuck with buying something more finished. I only have minimal hand tools.
I've bought two from this guy and was thinking about trying a maple one this time. I'm not building, just altering for my own enjoyment.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/230731726823...84.m1438.l2649

I only have to do minimal carving to the neck and headstock and a little work to get the neck angle right.

[John Arnold]

do you believe there is an advantage to using quartersawn wood for ANY part of a guitar?

Absolutely. My point is that stability across the grain and stability along the grain are two different things. It is the latter that is important in a neck.
Many woods are stiffer when slab cut than when QS, but the difference in diffuse-porous hardwoods is slight.
And as far as strength goes, the primary way that necks break is in a direction parallel with the fingerboard plane. That is the same plane that a QS neck is the weakest....perpendicular to the growth rings. In other words, a slab cut neck can actually be stronger than QS. The next weakest plane is parallel to the growth rings, so the best cut for strength (resistance to breakage) is actually a skewed grain.