Wenge\Bubinga as a neck wood.

[nkws]

Hi, everyone!
I'm thinking about ordering a custom build and I can't decide what kind of wood to use for a neck. But as for the look of the neck wenge\bubinga (5 piece wenge\bubinga\wenge\bubinga\wenge) seems like a really great option for me.
This is goin' to be a neck-through 7-string with a maple fretboard.
So my question is:
Have you played or heard such a guitar in action? How does it sound acoustically and pluged on high gain?
I would appreciate any references (maybe youtube or smthing else...) or your opinions. Thx in advance.

 

[Killemall1983]

You arnt really going to hear a difference in neck woods.

 

[KnightroExpress]

Wenge feels great when polished up well, I'm a big fan. I'd be more concerned with weight than questionable sonic issues.

 

[chaneisa]

It's used extensively in bass necks, such as Ibanez, warmoth gecko necks, I think mayones uses Wenge, just with Padauk, not bubinga, Warwick uses Wenge. It's a lot less common on guitars. Warmoth has a wood tone guide for necks and bodies.
Warmoth Custom Guitar Parts - Neck Woods
Since its neck-through, it'll be more influential than a regular bolt on.
And as stated above its pretty weighty. Being neck through will help remedy neck dive hopefully, but it might overall be above average weight.

 

[Deegatron]

I like Wenge as a neck wood. It's visually stunning and in my experience has been very stable. Ormsby claims it can move some tho so YMMV.

It's not that much heavier than Maple (45 lbs/cub ft vs 55 lbs/cub ft)... but expect it to add a little to the overall weight.

Tone wise... I don't think you'll be able to hear a measureable difference without have two guitars side by side with identical setups and different neck woods. it's just not worth worrying about.

 

[nkws]

Warmoth Custom Guitar Parts - Neck Woods

TY for the informative url!

Well, my aim is to build a totally different guitar from my second which is Ibanez RG7-1 (mahagony body, bolt-on, maple neck supported with bubinga and rosewood fretboard). So they would complement each other in the mix. So the second guitar should be brighter as i see it. That's why I'm thinking about an ash(northern) body. But it seems that the weight will be epic.

 

[Cloudy]

TY for the informative url!

Well, my aim is to build a totally different guitar from my second which is Ibanez RG7-1 (mahagony body, bolt-on, maple neck supported with bubinga and rosewood fretboard). So they would complement each other in the mix. So the second guitar should be brighter as i see it. That's why I'm thinking about an ash(northern) body. But it seems that the weight will be epic.

Yeah, non swamp ash is heavy. If you can deal with the weight you should check out some euro ash, lovely looking stuff. Wenge paired with it is a sure shot way to get a nice chunky guitar if thats the direction you want to take.

I just made a couple of Wenge/Bubinga necks myself for some personal projects and I'm definitely a big fan of the combo. Looks great!

 

[nkws]

Yeah, what I mean by northern ash is a euro one!
The heaviest guitar I've played was a Gibson LesPaul (dunno which year of production), it was heavy as hell, but I was a kid. Nowdays I'm a little big bigger and stronger so I think I can afford this. And I don't think that this kind of wood setup will be so heavy that it breaks my spine
BTW as I see it, I'll use this guitar for recordings mostly. So the weight of it is not the first priority matter.

Cloudy thx for the reply. Now I'm pretty sure about the wood of the guitar. Cause "chunky" is the kind of sound I'm looking for.

 

[HaMMerHeD]

That Warmoth list is...amusing.

 

[chaneisa]

Don't view wood as a definite and/or only way to achieve certain tones. In my opinion, they offer ease of tone, nothing more. Be conscious of weight, aesthetic, and feel. Whether or not wood has any effect on tone is a pretty big debate amongst a lot of forums.

 

[nkws]

Well, atm I an owner of 2 sevenstring guitars made with slightly different specs and they have really different tones. So I don't doubt that wood specs affect sound.
First one is Ibanez RG7-1 (mahagony body, bolt on construction, neck wood is maple with bubinga fillet + one piece maple headstock, rosewood fretboard), the second one is Strictly 7 Cobra (bolt on, mahagony body, one piece maple neck with flamed maple fretboard). And trust me, they sound so different that you will hear the difference even if you are deaf...hope you understand what i mean. And if I compare the Ibby to my 6-string ESP with the same specs - this is where you can hear much less difference.
What touches upon S7 compared to the Ibanez, I can say that S7 has much more of a glassy tone for sure, so it easily cuts through the mix with RG. And Ibanez has much more of a fatty tone.
If the deal is not about the wood specs, then what makes the trick?

 

[Konfyouzd]

I have a bass with a wenge neck and maple fingerboard...

It sounds like a bass both acoustically and plugged in...

 

[chaneisa]

Wood does affect tone, I am aware of that, I'm just saying don't think of woods as limiters to what tone you want, as in my opinion, they just allow you to achieve certain tones easier. They do have very different tones, but in terms of other things that affect it, just about everything. Pickups are a large portion. How it's set up. What strings you have on. all of that affects tone. Wood does play a part, but, again in my opinion, is more for shaping/ease of shaping. The reference to some people believing wood doesn't affect tone was regarding the people further up that stated that the neck wood won't make a difference/will make a negligible difference. Back on topic though, wenge and ash is a well used combination across many bass manufacturers. In regards to a guitar, it'll probably give similar qualities, but you don't see it as often on guitars as you do on basses. At least I don't.

 

[nkws]

chaneisa agreed! pickups and other hardware plays its role. And wood will shape the sound. But as for my aim - I'll play it unplugged pretty occasionally + I don't wanna tune my rig settings hard to make my both guitars sound the same\different, I strive to have a sound...you know..."out of the box" the way I want it to be with as less rig tuning as possible. Of course I'm going to place different pickups (which suit to my prefered behaviour for the particular axe), but sonically I definitely want to have two different instruments.

 

[chaneisa]

Solid, brother. It sound like you know what you're aiming for well enough so I'd say go for it. Do you know who you're going to order it from?

 

[nkws]

TY!
Well, now I'm talking with Skervesen about the build. Before this I was thinking about another Strictly 7. But my previous experience with S7 was far from amazing, so I've decided to try someone else. And I hope Skervesen wouldn't disappoint me.

 

[chaneisa]

I'll be sure to keep an eye out for the build if you decide to post updates or a NGD.

 

[nkws]

Well I was planning to do so. Now it's just about time for the final specs to be agreed and I'll open a thread asap. C ya

 

[A-Branger]

the ibanez TAM100 the Tony Abasi sig comes with Wenge/bunbinga neck