Neck Woods?

[lfarhadi]

Once in a very-occasional-while I see a guitar built with a neck other than mahogany or Spanish cedar. For example a Hatcher with Koa neck or perhaps McConnell with Braz neck.

This makes me wonder... why don't more high-end luthiers build more often with woods other than mahogany? The answer can't be cost, given the overall price of these instruments...

[nacluth]

Tradition, stability, and weight.

Customers are used to seeing mahogany necks and buyers lean hard into what they are used to seeing. Mahogany and Spanish Cedar are very stable woods with not tons of weight for a hardwood, so they are optimal woods for what a neck is trying to accomplish - primarily staying straight under tension without throwing the balance of the guitar towards the peghead.

Plenty of woods are used in neck building to suit custom guitars. Koa, walnut, oak, rosewoods are just some of the woods we’ve used, but it’s rare that someone actually requests alternative species.

[Mark Hatcher]

I sell a lot of guitars with non traditional neck wood. I’d say 30% of the guitars I sell don’t have Mahogany necks. There are a lot of woods I wouldn’t use because of stability and/or weight issues but there are many to choose from that cover all the bases.

I think I sell many alt. necks because I ask. Sometimes the color of Mahogany isn’t a good match and I prefer not to paint or stain my guitars so I’ll look for a suitable wood.

Sometimes I’ll suggest a wood because for some particular reason I am looking for a little more sustain. I can do that with a neck and a counter balancing end block.

I have a suspicion rosewood necks give more clarity on high mids and trebles.

m

[Bruce Sexauer]

Few woods have the stability of H. Mahogany in combination with being in the weight range that players are used to. Modern truss systems have brought more latitude, but as long as the familiar materials are readily available, conservatism will likely prevail. I have, for instance, found the uber common domestic architectural tree Catalpa to work well as both a tonewood and a neck wood, but selling such a guitar to “Joe Guitarplayer” is a serious can of worms.

[Marcus Bailie]

You right in the way that it's not about cost. Mahogany and Spanish Cedar check so many of the boxes that luthiers look at for making a good neck. Confirming what Ryan mentioned, I choose my necks mostly on stability and weight. I would add "durability" as a runner up for importance as the neck is a high-use element of the guitar (so you wouldn't want to use spruce or regular cedar without special considerations)

As for any aspect of the guitar, spending more money on materials doesn't necessarily net you a "better" guitar. You could use Braz RW for your soundboard bracing but it doesn't make sense as you will run into stability issues (as well as density issues).

Maple is another popular one but it can tend to move away from the stability & weight sweet spot, but not so much to cause luthiers to avoid using it obviously.

[Andy Bounsall]

As others have said, mahogany or Spanish cedar are traditional and what many folks are accustomed to seeing. I have and continue to also use alternate woods for acoustic guitar necks. Black walnut, American cherry, maple all make great necks but are slightly to considerably more dense / heavy compared to mahogany. Butternut can also make a nice and very lightweight neck.

[lfarhadi]

OP here. Appreciate all the replies! Informative as always...

[s2y]

I have a Taylor 12 fret with walnut back/sides and a maple neck. It sounds very Taylor-y. Not sure how much the maple neck plays a role.