Maple or Mahogany?

Maple or Mahogany?

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Woodcutter

Woodcutter

New member
I'm building a strat from USA Custom Guitars. I've already ordered a mohagany body so now I'm trying to decided what wood to use for the neck. I'm leaning towards an ebony fretboard but I'm not sure if I should use mahogany or maple for the neck. The pickup routing is H-X-H and I mostly play blues and classic rock.

I appreciate any input.
 
Re: Maple or Mahogany?

For blues and classic rock I would go Mahogany/mahogany but, either is a great choice.
 
Re: Maple or Mahogany?

Maple with an ebony fretboard would be a sweet mix with that mahogany body, it'll give it some snap and brightness.
 
Re: Maple or Mahogany?

i like Mahogany necks a lot.. A new variation i came across with my Godin is a soft maple body with a Mahogany neck... perfect match for me... i'll be using that more in the future.
 
Re: Maple or Mahogany?

Either will work really well, it kind if depends on what you are looking for. Mahogany can vary quite a bit in tone. I went with a ebony/maple neck on my Tele just in case I got a dark slab for the body. Maple also has the advantage of needing little to no finish. If you like unfinished necks like I do, it might be something to consider.
 
Re: Maple or Mahogany?

Mahagony. It should be a sweet sounding guitar.

But it depends on what you're going for. Some rock guitarists use maple with mahagony and the result is also great (althoug the tone is more brittle IMO).

What about a pau ferro fingerboard? Just to try a more exotic wood...
 
Re: Maple or Mahogany?

Conventional wisdom says it's better to use mahogony with a ebony fret board. However, I've used the maple/ebony combonation with mahogony bodies to very good results. I havn't found it too bright. I believe the maple will give you better sustain with a bolt on design too.
 
Re: Maple or Mahogany?

This is based on what I've read, so it's just my opinion. I'll say mahogany, but with options. For blues, you're playing a body with complex overtones, mahogany, so you can probably get away with maple necks because they tend to direct more energy of the strings to the body, which emphasizes the body wood. Mahogany + mahogany = Les Paul tone, Mahogany + Maple will not sound the same, but close enough in my opinion.

All else being equal, i.e. bodies with the same amount of resonance, mahogany will have complex overtones and a tiny amount of absent mids (but not much), depending on the frequency. I usually go by The Jemsite frank falbo wrote. If you want lots and lots of complex overtones (which give blues some soul and mojo), swamp ash and mahogany bodies are very good.

This is just my opinion. For what it's worth, I don't think the maple neck you got is a bad thing, so long as it's well assembled so that it directs vibration to the body. My Lite Ash Strat is swamp ash with all-maple neck and it's got tons of soul tone with 3 Alnico II Pro Staggered pickups.

Again, the above is my opinion based on what I've read.
 
Re: Maple or Mahogany?

Is it African or Honduran mahogany? Makes a big difference......

Also what color is it? A reddish or light coca.....makes a difference.

If it's Red Honduran go with the maple/ebony. If not go with a mahogany/pau ferro neck.
 
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