# Why are rosewood necks so uncommon?



## thinkpad20 (Mar 23, 2016)

Rosewood is easily the most common material used for fretboards. Why then is it so rare to see for a neck wood? It's not unheard of, and it usually comes in higher-end instruments, so it's definitely a viable wood. And it can't be prohibitively expensive, or else rosewood fretboards wouldn't be so ubiquitous. Is it particularly hard to work with? Prone to warping? Tone that people don't like?

Mostly I'm asking because I'm considering it for a custom build and I want to know if there's a good reason I should avoid it.

While I'm at it, I'm also curious why ebony is such a rare neck wood (even more rare than rosewood).


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## Spicypickles (Mar 23, 2016)

It's not as strong or stable as maple nor as cheap. I'm not sure how it compares to mahogany necks, but I'm assuming they're either cheaper or stronger as well.


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## Varland (Mar 23, 2016)

Cost has a lot to do with what you're asking about. Not only is Brazilian Rosewood becoming much more expensive, but it is difficult to work with, meaning it will eat through tooling more quickly than other woods. Ebony is not only harder to work with, but even more expensive to procure. If a manufacturer wants to provide a good product at a reasonably price, making an entire neck out of ebony is not the way to go.

Something else to consider: mixing woods makes necks more stable. Even the all-maple neck on my S7721 is made of three separate pieces, because the grains vary and will cancel out each others idiosyncrasies. An single-piece maple neck of the same profile would be much less stable. That's why you see lots of 5-piece maple-bubinga or maple-wenge necks. The strips of harder bubinga or wenge add more stability and break up the maple planks visually, making a more attractive neck (or at least I think so). If I were to involve rosewood or ebony in a neck construction, that's how I would do it. The sonic profile created by having an entirely rosewood or ebony neck simply isn't worth the cost. 

All that aside, you are going to see more tonal difference from pups, amplifiers, preamps, string tension, etc. Having the fingerboard made of rosewood or ebony will give you the feel of that wood on the fingerboard and still get most of the sound you are looking for. (There are plenty that would argue that wood choice has an insignificant affect on tone anyway). 

Hope you find this helpful.


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## xwmucradiox (Mar 23, 2016)

Stability from multiple pieces of wood is more contingent on opposing grain directions than different species. 

Tradition is the reason you see mostly mahogany and maple necks in mass-market instruments. They are safe bets from a marketing and consistency standpoint. 

Rosewood necks feel great, generally sound like maple necks with fewer overtones in my experience. They aren't the most stable necks but if you can handle a few truss rod adjustments a year they're great.


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## demonx (Mar 23, 2016)

Cost. 
Availability.

Rosewood a costs a hell of a lot more and it's not as easy to obtain in neck blank sizes as other materials are, like maple for example.


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## bostjan (Mar 23, 2016)

It's funny, but part of it is that it's what they think people want because it's what they sell, but it's what they sell because it's what they make. Walnut, Pau ferro, bubinga, wenge, yellowheart, padauk, and more make good stable necks if done right. Maple is very stable, available, and easy enough to work, so it's probably the best overall choice. Mahogany is okay in some of those aspects. My Oni CF8 has a spruce neck and it's the most stable I've ever owned, but it's also exo'd with carbon fiber.


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## thinkpad20 (Mar 23, 2016)

demonx said:


> Cost.
> Availability.
> 
> Rosewood a costs a hell of a lot more and it's not as easy to obtain in neck blank sizes as other materials are, like maple for example.



That would make perfect sense, but if that's the case then why do the majority of guitars have rosewood fingerboards? Even (or especially) the cheaper ones.


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## High Plains Drifter (Mar 23, 2016)

I love the sound of my American Standard with solid rosewood neck/ head-stock and Fat 50 pups. Definitely not a bright-sounding strat by any stretch. Neck feel so so good.


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## demonx (Mar 23, 2016)

thinkpad20 said:


> That would make perfect sense, but if that's the case then why do the majority of guitars have rosewood fingerboards? Even (or especially) the cheaper ones.



It is the way it's most commonly milled at point of origin, hence what is available after it is exported.


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## Jaek-Chi (Mar 24, 2016)

Man go for a rosewood neck! They feel like no other neck i've felt, they are super slick and feel so good in the hand.


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## Dabo Fett (Mar 27, 2016)

I have nothing to add except that the rosewood neck on my prs has to be the nicest feeling bare neck I've ever played. There's just nothing else like it


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## Hollowway (Mar 27, 2016)

"Boo, rosewood fretboards suck! It's sooo poo brown and ugly!"
"Yayy, rosewood necks rule! They're so rich and beautifully brown!"

SSO (including me) on rosewood.


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## awesomeaustin (Mar 31, 2016)

thinkpad20 said:


> That would make perfect sense, but if that's the case then why do the majority of guitars have rosewood fingerboards? Even (or especially) the cheaper ones.



There are multiple species of rosewood used for fingerboards and necks. Indian rosewood is by far the most common. That's what you're going to find on most guitars over $300 for fingerboards, and what most rosewood necks are made of. Indonesian is a little less expensive and typically found on cheaper instruments. There are also other species like Pau Ferro (sometimes called Bolivian rosewood), Bubinga (African Rosewood) which look like rosewood but are not true rosewoods.


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## shadscbr (Mar 31, 2016)

thinkpad20 said:


> Mostly I'm asking because I'm considering it for a custom build and I want to know if there's a good reason I should avoid it.



In terms of using it on a custom build, I say go for it. I have a bare BRW neck w maple fb, the feel and smell are out of this world. Its hard to pinpoint exactly how it contributes to tone, but it certainly has a "ringiness" to it that I love....and again with the feel, I rub it way more than I should   If it weren't for cost, I would have many more BRW necks 

Good luck!


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## High Plains Drifter (Mar 31, 2016)

shadscbr said:


> In terms of using it on a custom build, I say go for it. I have a bare BRW neck w maple fb, the feel and smell are out of this world. Its hard to pinpoint exactly how it contributes to tone, but it certainly has a "ringiness" to it that I love....and again with the feel, I rub it way more than I should   If it weren't for cost, I would have many more BRW necks
> 
> Good luck!



Do you condition your rosewood necks? With what and how often? 

Thanks very much.


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## jwade (Mar 31, 2016)

shadscbr said:


> I rub it way more than I should



Quoted in appreciation of hilarity.


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## shadscbr (Mar 31, 2016)

High Plains Drifter said:


> Do you condition your rosewood necks? With what and how often?
> 
> Thanks very much.



As it sits now, its bare, and i don't want to mess with the mojo. I have been thinking about it lately, if I can keep that natural bare feel. What do you use?


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## thinkpad20 (Mar 31, 2016)

So I'm definitely intrigued by the idea of a rosewood neck. Is the long-term stability a potential issue though? The luthier I'm going through usually does carbon fiber reinforcement rods so maybe this isn't even a concern...


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## High Plains Drifter (Mar 31, 2016)

shadscbr said:


> As it sits now, its bare, and i don't want to mess with the mojo. I have been thinking about it lately, if I can keep that natural bare feel. What do you use?



Thanks. Unlike yours, I've got a rosewood board. I've used Guitar Honey on the board but haven't yet done anything with the neck/ head-stock going on about 3 years. I know it likely needs to be conditioned but I don't want to loose the feel plus I'd hate it gumming-up or maybe causing noticeable roughness. It's damn near like silk as it sits now. 

Not even sure if you're supposed to use the same thing on boards as on unfinished rosewood necks... or anything at all.


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## will_shred (Apr 3, 2016)

While maple is arguably the most stable wood, any piece of quartersawn hardwood that's been properly cured is going to be pretty stable. Rosewood is prohibitively expensive for mass manufactured guitars. I have a rosewood neck on my warmoth strat, I bought it mostly for looks and feel, though I have heard from many people that rosewood sounds very fat/warm. I don't really have an opinion on that because I think the pickups are what make the biggest difference in tone dynamics. I haven't had any issues with warping, set it up once and it hasn't budged in the 2 years I've had it. I've found that in general, neck stability is something that people often get worked up over when its really not a big deal unless you're actually touring and playing shows in wildly different climates.


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