Favorite Neck / FB Wood Combos?

[Zak TMD]

So, I'm having a new bass built between now and early next year. The body is Honduran mahogany, and will be roughly RD style (see pic). Tell / show me your fav combos for neck/fb wood, and maybe a bit of "why."

I'm not 100% sure which direction to go. Right now, all my necks are maple, and hey, I like maple. My guitarist wants me to go with another maple / maple, which I'm tempted to do, though possibly of the roasted variety cuz I don't have one yet.

Current lineup is Maple/Rosewood, Maple/Maple, Maple/Ebony. All three basses are different, but I gotta admit I really like how much the maple/maple JB75 cuts through the mix.

I was also considering possibly pau farro for the FB wood, but I've never had hands on.

Also what are some other neck woods I should consider, if any?

If I was being true to design, everything would just be standard maple... but what's the fun in that?

 

[Poobini]

Wenge!!!!! Wenge forever!!!!

 

[cataract]

I’m having a bass built with a roasted maple neck & fretboard, pretty stoked on it!

 

[Bass V]

my limited experience says mahogany is great for body / necks / tone, maple for fretboard looks.

 

[Zak TMD]

my limited experience says mahogany is great for body / necks / tone, maple for fretboard looks.

I've heard some talk mahogany has some stability issues for necks.

 

[Zak TMD]

Wenge!!!!! Wenge forever!!!!

What do you love about the wenge?

 

[Poobini]

What do you love about the wenge?

It's all about the feel!! I had an Ibanez SR1400 with a wenge (and panga-panga?) neck that felt absolutely heavenly - then I briefly took ownership of a Dingwall AB1 with a wenge neck that took it to the next level. They were both insanely stable despite how thin they were. And being able to feel the gentle open pores of the wood... ah man. I'm also a sucker for dark woods! Something about it just does it for me. Ultimately I let both of those instruments go - The Dingwall because I didn't really get along with the Darkglass Tone Capsule (not super big on active basses), and the Ibanez... because I made a serious mistake!!!

 

[Zak TMD]

It's all about the feel!! I had an Ibanez SR1400 with a wenge (and panga-panga?) neck that felt absolutely heavenly - then I briefly took ownership of a Dingwall AB1 with a wenge neck that took it to the next level. They were both insanely stable despite how thin they were. And being able to feel the gentle open pores of the wood... ah man. I'm also a sucker for dark woods! Something about it just does it for me. Ultimately I let both of those instruments go - The Dingwall because I didn't really get along with the Darkglass Tone Capsule (not super big on active basses), and the Ibanez... because I made a serious mistake!!!

I've played on a number of ebony & rosewood necks, and from what I have read, it falls somewhere between the two in terms of sound and feel. My instinct is always ebony, haha, but I'm trying to do something a little different for this go around. Have definitely been looking at Wenge.

 

[Poobini]

I've played on a number of ebony & rosewood necks, and from what I have read, it falls somewhere between the two in terms of sound and feel. My instinct is always ebony, haha, but I'm trying to do something a little different for this go around. Have definitely been looking at Wenge.

If you've got an opportunity I'd definitely try to get somewhere you can give it a feel. FWIW, I'm strictly talking neck wood... I've never been a big advocate for the tone wood theory, but different strokes for different folks!
I'm also a sucker for ebony/maple in a more traditional sense.

 

[Zak TMD]

If you've got an opportunity I'd definitely try to get somewhere you can give it a feel. FWIW, I'm strictly talking neck wood... I've never been a big advocate for the tone wood theory, but different strokes for different folks!
I'm also a sucker for ebony/maple in a more traditional sense.

So, my pure logic brain is with you, but then again, I've got basses made of different things that sound wildly different, and also if you take two different pieces of differing woods and do the thump/tap tests, the sounds that come out are way different. I take it all with a grain of salt cuz really, the pups do 99% of the work.

 

[Poobini]

So, my pure logic brain is with you, but then again, I've got basses made of different things that sound wildly different, and also if you take two different pieces of differing woods and do the thump/tap tests, the sounds that come out are way different. I take it all with a grain of salt cuz really, the pups do 99% of the work.

I mean, of course different woods and wood combinations are gonna sound different! It's all above me though - big wood guitar make sound B)

 

[Zak TMD]

hahaha yea I'm with you, my ape brain just happy noise come. Pretty much all my decisions are feel and aesthetics.

 

[arbiterusa]

wenge shaft/rosewood fingerboard

Sounds great, very light.

 

[Bass V]

I've heard some talk mahogany has some stability issues for necks.

Epiphone seems to have conquered any issues with their recent Thunderbirds, and it's a tone hog.

 

[6-3-2]

I've heard some talk mahogany has some stability issues for necks.

It depends on the kind of mahogany, and the specific slab of wood, but it is generally softer than other woods like maple. This is part of the reason why Gibsons are notorious for having broken headstocks (the other is the thin wood near where the truss rod cover is). I'm sure mahogany necks could work just fine with carbon fiber or titanium support, but at least I haven't seen it.

 

[Zak TMD]

It depends on the kind of mahogany, and the specific slab of wood, but it is generally softer than other woods like maple. This is part of the reason why Gibsons are notorious for having broken headstocks (the other is the thin wood near where the truss rod cover is). I'm sure mahogany necks could work just fine with carbon fiber or titanium support, but at least I haven't seen it.

Apparently there's like this holy grail of mahogany "Cuban Mahogany" that, while it's characteristics are very similar to Honduran Mahogany, it's also more dense and way harder. Of course, we can't get that here in the good ol' US of A.

 

[FunkHead]

I really like a Brazilian Rosewood Fretboard on 1/4 sawn Maple. It's getting impossible to find but luckily a custom neck builder made one for me.

 

[Stewie]

I have a hard time believing that the fingerboard on a fretted instrument makes a lot of difference tonally, but unamplified, my maple fretless is a lot brighter than my rosewood fretless. Can’t say how different thy would be through an amp, they have different pickups

 

[Zak TMD]

I have a hard time believing that the fingerboard on a fretted instrument makes a lot of difference tonally, but unamplified, my maple fretless is a lot brighter than my rosewood fretless. Can’t say how different thy would be through an amp, they have different pickups

Right, that's what I'm stuck on too, though my maple/maple J is waaaay brighter than my maple ebony or maple rosewood basses... again, all different pups.

 

[6-3-2]

Apparently there's like this holy grail of mahogany "Cuban Mahogany" that, while it's characteristics are very similar to Honduran Mahogany, it's also more dense and way harder. Of course, we can't get that here in the good ol' US of A.

Yeah, here's hoping that embargo ends soon, not just for wood, but to also let the incredible music culture of Cuba be experienced by more people.

We're getting into the luthier forum territory, but Rob Chapman of Anderton's fame did say that after talking to major manufacturers he learned that wood actually ABSORBS frequencies, rather than amplifies them. The wood is more or less acting like a tone filter. Even the hardest actual mahogany (santos mahogany is not actual mahogany) is relatively soft, which for that warm tone is probably the right thing. Idk how titanium or carbon fiber support affects tone, but it might be the magic trick for stability and tone for mahogany lovers.