Do certain neck woods affect tuning stability?

[Chistopher]

Having worked in constuction, I know certain woods withstand temperature and humidity changes better than others. I was wondering if this transfered to the guitar world. My question is, do certain woods maintain better tuning in a wider variety of conditions regarding temperature and humidity? What tone wood expands and contracts the least when conditions change?

 

[ehdwuld]

Re: Do certain neck woods affect tuning stability?

the one with graphite rods

there is a difference in quartersawn and such

the species mahogony and maple
but there are grades of that as well

baked maple is rigid

laminated is rigid as well

 

[Mincer]

Re: Do certain neck woods affect tuning stability?

I'd think...absolutely. Some necks you can physically bend. Some you can't (my wenge Warmoth neck, for instance). Some need truss rod adjustments with every season. These necks are less likely to stay in tune longer (although the sound might be fine). The most stable necks I've used were composite, not wood.

 

[Dave Locher]

Re: Do certain neck woods affect tuning stability?

Definitely! Small mahogany necks flex like crazy. Rock maple, not so much.

 

[Chistopher]

Re: Do certain neck woods affect tuning stability?

So what is the most rigid neck wood y'all have experience with? Lighter varieties of wood give bonus points. I'm trying to replace the neck on a friend's MIM Strat. The old one broke off and had stability issues.

 

[ehdwuld]

Re: Do certain neck woods affect tuning stability?

Keisel 5 peice with graphite rods

 

[Securb]

Re: Do certain neck woods affect tuning stability?

I had a Travis Bean with a body through aluminum neck. It had the worst tuning issues of any of my guitars. I live in New England and the metal would change with the temperature. Bring it into a gig/jam from a cold car and start to play it in a warm room and it would go out of tune all night until it adjusted it's temperture.

 

[Dave Locher]

Re: Do certain neck woods affect tuning stability?

So what is the most rigid neck wood y'all have experience with? Lighter varieties of wood give bonus points. I'm trying to replace the neck on a friend's MIM Strat. The old one broke off and had stability issues.

Three piece hard maple. Roasted maple is supposed to be even more stable. If you are buying, not building, then the Keisel is about as stiff, strong, and stable as they get.

 

[AlexR]

Re: Do certain neck woods affect tuning stability?

Tuning stability and weather induced movement are essentially 2 almost mutually exclusive aspects.
If you are about the resistance to movement that requires truss-rod adjustment then maple is good. Personally the tonal impacts by trying to make it so rigid that it loses all of the wood character would make it something I wouldn't touch with a 10-ft pole.

I have Fender necks that are quite fine with weather.....remember the wood in guitars is dried and sealed with finish.....so in that way the experience of construction wood has almost no relevance to the guitar world. And it is very common to have a neck where the specific plank of wood is just bad for movement...despite that type/species being generally good.

I'm not sure how your friend's neck 'broke off'....but generally speaking those sort of things don't just happen. I'd be more inclined to think that the condition of storage/use might be less than desirable - so perhaps some of the stability issues could be related there.
Needless to say, if you are trying not to overcapitalise then a baked maple neck might be just the ticket. Stable and you can buy raw and save due to its ability to remain strong with no finish.

 

[Boogie Bill]

Re: Do certain neck woods affect tuning stability?

Years ago I fell in love with an Ibanez Strat-clone with a Modulus Graphite neck. I'd bet a buck that guitar is still in tune.

Bill

 

[Mincer]

Re: Do certain neck woods affect tuning stability?

Multi-piece necks are stable. Harder woods, and the new roasted woods are really stable, too. Anything with graphite rods are, as well as a full graphite neck.

 

[Chistopher]

Re: Do certain neck woods affect tuning stability?

.
I'm not sure how your friend's neck 'broke off'....but generally speaking those sort of things don't just happen. I'd be more inclined to think that the condition of storage/use might be less than desirable - so perhaps some of the stability issues could be related there.

My friend insists that it just broke off one day, but given that he keeps it near his do-it-yourself basketball court in his basement, I'm not too inclined to believe it. But it wasn't in the best condition to start with either.

 

[AlexR]

Re: Do certain neck woods affect tuning stability?

Yeah, in the bike riding scene we have heaps of guys insist things break by 'just riding along' or JRA. You can be sure that its not the case, and there has been serious abuse going on.

In which case I would think even more carefully about buying expensive necks, as the same abuse will going on again.

 

[Chistopher]

Re: Do certain neck woods affect tuning stability?

In which case I would think even more carefully about buying expensive necks, as the same abuse will going on again.

Sometimes I think one of the best ways to prevent damaging something is paying a bit more for it. I tend to notice that when I find something that's in the upper range of prices for an object I "baby" it a bit more.

 

[Detroitblues]

Re: Do certain neck woods affect tuning stability?

Certain woods, maybe. Some open grain woods may allow for moisture/humidity to affect them.

I tend to think the quality of the wood and being quartersawn makes a difference.

Having a duel action truss rod also makes a difference....

 

[Chistopher]

Re: Do certain neck woods affect tuning stability?

Does dual action have better or worse tuning stability, in your experience?

 

[AlexR]

Re: Do certain neck woods affect tuning stability?

Dual action rods mean you can compensate both ways for movement....thats all.

I sense you are over-fixating on the wood stability side of things to the detriment of all other. Guitars have existed in all sorts of environments for years and the occasional tweak of a rod is nothing if you have a neck that is not deadened by excessive rigidity. The Warmoth neck with the bulky side adjust trussrod has a fairly high rate of 'dead neck' probability due to excessive routing of the wood.
And as to the previous post comment - you can get what you need without spending a lot of money....what is needed of course is just something that is a half decent neck - without spending more than the guitar itself (something you WILL do with what you are leaning toward)

 

[shredi]

Re: Do certain neck woods affect tuning stability?

IIRC Tom anderson said that ebony fingerboard may have problem with stability. The tuning on my neck/ebony board guitar do go out quite easily even though its a hard tail and kept in the same room everyday. It's a bummer considering its the most expensive guitar I purchased so far.

 

[zionstrat]

Re: Do certain neck woods affect tuning stability?

Parker graphite. Never moves and no dead spots. Unfortunately the bolt pattern is custom.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G920A using Tapatalk