# Tonewood question .. Rosewood VS Acacia neck thru



## KGINDI7 (Mar 30, 2013)

I am all set to start my first neck thru 7 string build based on ESP arrow.
But am stuck at wood selection.

I am from India and as far as I know, I can find only rosewood, acacia and basswood here for guitars.

I was thinking about

1. A full rosewood neck thru and rosewood wings
2. Acacia neck thru and acacia wings
3. Laminated rosewood -acacia neck thru , acacia wings.

I am trying to avoid basswood as acacia is perhaps punchier . Don't know really.

So why did I start a thread? To ask, will all rosewood make it a "thud" sounding guitar? Is acacia really that good? What combination or wood should I use? I am more of a high gain guy. So cutting solos and brutal riffs is what I am after...
Help me out guys..


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## Erick Kroenen (Mar 30, 2013)

a rosewood neck will be great, you can order wood from other countries or use acacia for the wings, just take in mind that your pickups have to match the wood you use


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## demonx (Mar 30, 2013)

Being there are dozens of "acacia", as it's a family name not an exact name, I'll have to generalize and assume you're talking about the more common variety which would be too soft for a neck. So I'd suggest using only for a body and stick to rosewood for a neck.


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## Necromagnon (Mar 30, 2013)

demonx said:


> Being there are dozens of "acacia", as it's a family name not an exact name, I'll have to generalize and assume you're talking about the more common variety which would be too soft for a neck. So I'd suggest using only for a body and stick to rosewood for a neck.


+1

Acacia (in general terms) is quite soft. And a full rosewood guitar will be really to heavy to be used longer than 1/2h.
About souding... Still no comment.


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## KGINDI7 (Mar 30, 2013)

I have a set of Ibanez 7 pickups at my home. Will they match rosewood neck and acacia wings? 
Yes yes, I am a total noob.


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## OfArtAndArsenal (Mar 30, 2013)

My advice: don't build a guitar around a set of Ibanez stock pickups...
Ibanez pickups are ok, but I think most people end up swapping them for something better. I'd recommend getting something better, even if not right away. If Ibanez is what you've got, cool, but build what you like, use the Ibbys for now, and then get pickups that work with whatever wood you chose.


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## KGINDI7 (Mar 30, 2013)

OfArtAndArsenal said:


> My advice: don't build a guitar around a set of Ibanez stock pickups...
> Ibanez pickups are ok, but I think most people end up swapping them for something better. I'd recommend getting something better, even if not right away. If Ibanez is what you've got, cool, but build what you like, use the Ibbys for now, and then get pickups that work with whatever wood you chose.



That's what I am thinking. Pickups are easy to replace. So I will save up for a set of aftermaths or perhaps settle for d activators. I don't know. First I would check the eq change produced by the wood.

Also, Any comment on SUPER DARK sound I am expecting from rosewood neck thru? Will acacia wings minimize that? Or basswood?


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## Navid (Mar 31, 2013)

Laminated rosewood -acacia neck thru, acacia wings
Stripes are sexy.

And yes, what acacia are we talking about?
I hope not acacia aneura even though I was interested of making a fretboard with that one...


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## Necromagnon (Mar 31, 2013)

KGINDI7 said:


> Also, Any comment on SUPER DARK sound I am expecting from rosewood neck thru? Will acacia wings minimize that? Or basswood?


You want one, seriously? 
I can do it for you, if you insist, but I decline every events that could be caused by this afterward.


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## KGINDI7 (Mar 31, 2013)

Necromagnon said:


> You want one, seriously?
> I can do it for you, if you insist, but I decline every events that could be caused by this afterward.




Perhaps my wrong word selection.
I expect rosewood to be dark sounding but I do not want that sound. I want bright sound ofcourse. 

And I will paint the guitar black with iridescent on bevels. just like an esp arrow so stripes cannot contribute to aesthetics.

Will active pickups nullify that dark sound?


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## vansinn (Mar 31, 2013)

KGINDI7 said:


> Will active pickups nullify that dark sound?



My experience is that it's easier to make a bright guitar sound darker with pickups than brighten up a dark guitar.. 

But seriously, to my knowledge, the Indian nature has a lot more varieties than merely rosewood bushes and acacia trees - oh, and hemp.. 
- has anyone ever build a hemp axe, btw


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## KGINDI7 (Mar 31, 2013)

Well, according to.my knowledge, woods available except rosewood and acacia are sakhua which is perhaps a type of ironwood, teak, rarely mahogany, ..mmmmm....mango.....mmmmm don't know.

Perhaps I should check more wood with tap tone and compare that to maple neck of my i by. Acacia or basswood would be fine for wings.


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## UnderTheSign (Mar 31, 2013)

KGINDI7 said:


> Well, according to.my knowledge, woods available except rosewood and acacia are sakhua which is perhaps a type of ironwood, teak, rarely mahogany, ..mmmmm....mango.....mmmmm don't know.
> 
> Perhaps I should check more wood with tap tone and compare that to maple neck of my i by. Acacia or basswood would be fine for wings.


Tone tap is a myth, just saying. I had a maple blank a while ago that I cut into two pieces, some luthier came by and he tone tapped both pieces "oh, yeah, this one is definitely a lot brighter, totally different sound"  strange, considering the pieces were pretty much identical.

I doubt rosewood will make anything sound "super dark" so just use that for a neck, you'll be fine.


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## Necromagnon (Mar 31, 2013)

UnderTheSign said:


> Tone tap is a myth, just saying. I had a maple blank a while ago that I cut into two pieces, some luthier came by and he tone tapped both pieces "oh, yeah, this one is definitely a lot brighter, totally different sound"  strange, considering the pieces were pretty much identical.
> 
> I doubt rosewood will make anything sound "super dark" so just use that for a neck, you'll be fine.


this.
You will never be able to hear a difference in tap tone, even on pieces of 2.5 mm as used for acoustic. So a piece of 30/40 mm thick? Also, considering it's your 1st build, you will have so many stuff be carefull of that wood should be the least of your worries. You could build it from multiply wood (good quility at least, not those cheap ones) or any "none-noble" wood, and still have the same sounding. Make quality build (quality of joints, planing, etc.), build everything properly, set-up it perfectly, and you can use mdf and have an awesome guitar.

About wood, there's some in india/indonasia. We've made a group buy with many fellows to a indonesian guy few years ago, and we bought some indian rosewood, mango, monkey pod, macassar, and I don't remember what else. Monkey pod can be incredible. I've a top for a carved top... 
Mango can also be very impressive, with huge flame. Give it a try, seriously!


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## KGINDI7 (Mar 31, 2013)

I am now pretty convinced for rosewood neck thru with mango/basswood wings. 

I will start a thread as I start the build after a week ( when my exam is over)..
Thanks guys and do keep an eye on that. Will need a lot of help.


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## Amanita (Mar 31, 2013)

rosewood neck will be anything but dark. i haven't any idea which particular species of rosewood but they tend to be dense, hard woods. eg. MusicMan did some guitars with rosewood necks and they sound huge and vibrant.
we (Skervesen) do some neck-thrus from pau ferro/ebony laminate (pau ferro being a different spieces than true rosewoods but very close in look and properties) and boy they ain't dull. just heavy like something very heavy. but definitely worth it.
also, personally i find the idea of painting the rosewood neck kind of... sinful
these woods have excelent figure and require virtually no finish (a bit of wax will do). as kinky as it sounds they are a pleasure to touch 

if by acacia you mean something like koa or a related species then i'd guess it being much softer wood it would dull down/warm up (  ) the tone more than rosewood.


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## leonardo7 (Mar 31, 2013)

Rosewood in a neck thru or as a body wood will be very bright but will have extremely aggressive, deep and tight palm mutes. The best Acacia variation for a neck might be the Tasmanian Blackwood variety which is a cousin of Koa.


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## Gregori (Mar 31, 2013)

I would pick woods based on this order: Stability, Difficulty to work, Weight, Looks, and Tone. Obviously it's best to find a balance between those qualities, but if I had to compromise somewhere, it would be in the tone. Playing high gain metal doesn't require stellar tonewoods, just some understanding of how to EQ and good gear.


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## pathogenicmetal666 (Mar 31, 2013)

Not trying to start an argument, just want to present the other side of the story: 

A lot of people believe wood makes zero difference in electrics. Even those who believe in tonewoods in electrics, say it makes a small difference, especially for high gain metal. So I would focus on pickups and electronics to get the tone you want, and pick the wood based on practical factors.


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## KGINDI7 (Apr 1, 2013)

Any idea on the glue I should use? Wood glue with wood dust? That's very strong Indeed but is it strong enough for laminating the neck?


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## Amanita (Apr 1, 2013)

define wood glue  i've no idea why you'd want to mix it with wood dust.
Gluing Oily Tropical Hardwoods | The Wood Database
a good article about glueing tropical wood.


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## KGINDI7 (Apr 1, 2013)

I hear that it's a good filling mixture and have used once to fill the tremolo post hole which had cracked. I mixed rosewood dust with araldite and it works fine. It's now more solid than it was new. The


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## Amanita (Apr 1, 2013)

filling - yes
glueing - no


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## vansinn (Apr 1, 2013)

KGINDI7 said:


> Well, according to.my knowledge, woods available except rosewood and acacia are sakhua which is perhaps a type of ironwood, teak, rarely mahogany, ..mmmmm....mango.....mmmmm don't know.
> 
> Perhaps I should check more wood with tap tone and compare that to maple neck of my i by. Acacia or basswood would be fine for wings.



As others have posted, you might not need to ponder that much about wood tone, bug more on workability and stability.

You mentioned teak.. a 3-ply rose|teak|rose neck will be very strong, and allow for a nice thin profiled neck, and you'll likely love it's tone/sustain.
The rest will be more up to chosen pups.


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## KGINDI7 (Apr 1, 2013)

vansinn said:


> As others have posted, you might not need to ponder that much about wood tone, bug more on workability and stability.
> 
> You mentioned teak.. a 3-ply rose|teak|rose neck will be very strong, and allow for a nice thin profiled neck, and you'll likely love it's tone/sustain.
> The rest will be more up to chosen pups.



Yeah. Nice idea. And make the end pieces wide so that Trem posts sit there firmly and not in softer body wings. And paint the whole body but leave the neck unfinished just like on esp m2. 

Would be nice. Opinions??????


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## KGINDI7 (Apr 4, 2013)

Any word on dimarzio blaze set in this wood combination? I can get a set pretty cheap locally.


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## KGINDI7 (Apr 4, 2013)

Deleted


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