Private Stock Wood Options Neck and Back

[Texo]

Hi,

I am planing the perfect guitar for myself and the best way to achieve everything I imagine it to be, the private stock seems to be the way to go. Due to the costs it won't be in near future but since planing the perfect components is a big part of the fun I guess you can not start early enough thinking about it

What I want is a Custom 24 Piezo 85/15s with a Stoptail Bridge and 35th anniversary (or Pauls guitars) switching option. I really like the sound of the basic core (hog back and neck) models. If it was just about the looks and feels, I would go with a black limba body and rosewood (or ziricote, kingwood, homigo,...) neck. But i am afraid that the tone that results in this would be way different that the one I expect.
So I was thinking about if there is a possibility to have a mahogany or korina neck but with the unfinished openly feel of a rosewood (or comparable wood) one. Have you heard of something like this? Is it even possible or wouldn't it work with this kind of wood?

For the genre of music the focus is on a nice progressive rock and even metal tone without losing the nice clean sound the Custom 24s usually have, especially with the piezo option.
Unfortunately I have limited experience with Rosewood necks and none with any other than Mahogany and Maple and have no possibility so far to try other exotic ones. The only other body wood I played besides Mahogany is Swamp Ash. But in the end many components make up the sound so you can't tell too much about just one different wood in the guitar.

Thanks!

 

[bodia]

I can't say for sure what the PS team would do with respect to your unfinished neck. But, I can tell you that I sent a 2006 Cu22 to the PTC in 2016 for a complete refinish (from Whale Blue to Purple Hazel Burst). I also love the feel of a bare neck, and asked if they could leave the neck unfinished. That was not something that they were willing to do. Not sure if it is due to the wood type, or what. I would suspect that to be the case just because I don't recall ever seeing and unfinished mahogany neck, unless it was a DIY project. I used to work with a guy that did that to all of his hog neck guitar.

Anyway, to compromise, I did ask the PTC is they could finish the neck like the Mark Holcomb neck. It's finished in Black, but with a Satin feel. So, it feels very close to bare wood. I also had a Santana refinished in 2018, just the back and neck. I had them do that Satin finish in white on that neck.

You can see it pretty clearly on the black neck. Harder to see on the white one.

 

[WEDGE]

Satin necks are so comfy.

 

[docteurseb]

They would not let me have ziricote unfinished/oiled on a CU24 I spec'd last January, even though it should be OK. They will do a satin finish which I'm fine with as it feels/looks like raw wood on their maple necks anyways.
Ultimately you'll need to ask if they can do a satin finish without grain filler on mahogany/korina, that would get you that open grain+unfinished feel.

 

[DISTORT6]

I can't say for sure what the PS team would do with respect to your unfinished neck. But, I can tell you that I sent a 2006 Cu22 to the PTC in 2016 for a complete refinish (from Whale Blue to Purple Hazel Burst). I also love the feel of a bare neck, and asked if they could leave the neck unfinished. That was not something that they were willing to do. Not sure if it is due to the wood type, or what. I would suspect that to be the case just because I don't recall ever seeing and unfinished mahogany neck, unless it was a DIY project. I used to work with a guy that did that to all of his hog neck guitar.

Anyway, to compromise, I did ask the PTC is they could finish the neck like the Mark Holcomb neck. It's finished in Black, but with a Satin feel. So, it feels very close to bare wood. I also had a Santana refinished in 2018, just the back and neck. I had them do that Satin finish in white on that neck.

You can see it pretty clearly on the black neck. Harder to see on the white one.

Tease!
You know you gotta show the fronts!

 

[bodia]

Tease!
You know you gotta show the fronts!

Ok, fine!

 

[garrettb]

Mahogany requires a finish in order to be stable. As suggested, you can ask for a satin finish and even request they do not use grain filler. This is how the S2 Satin models are done.

 

[Ovibos]

Rosewood Pattern Regular is my spirit animal.

 

[Texo]

Thanks for the input and photos. Asking for a satin finish without grain filler seems like a good idea.
Can anyone say a word to the tone effects of black limba in comparison to mahogany as body wood?

 

[veinbuster]

Thanks for the input and photos. Asking for a satin finish without grain filler seems like a good idea.
Can anyone say a word to the tone effects of black limba in comparison to mahogany as body wood?

I haven’t found black limba to be noticeably different from mahogany, but my limba guitars are quite different from my mahogany ones, and that might hide some tonal impact. I honestly think they are in the same tonal space as a guitar body and would be concerned about it moving the Guitars final sound to a place you don’t want to be.

You’ll get a much bigger tonal impact going from mahogany to rosewood on the neck. I like the difference, but I still play mahogany more often.

 

[Texo]

That leads me to think about getting the best of both worlds: black limba body and mahogany neck. Sounds like a nice combination tone wise and aesthetically

 

[docteurseb]

Black limba on the body, or neck, isn't a negligible up-charge if that's a concern.

Aesthetics could look like this (on the left is the real one for sale at Eddie's Guitars):

 

[Serious Poo]

Thanks for the input and photos. Asking for a satin finish without grain filler seems like a good idea.
Can anyone say a word to the tone effects of black limba in comparison to mahogany as body wood?

I’ve found Korina/Limba to be a little more resonant in the mids with a little less low-end than Mahogany. It’s not a huge difference, but it is noticeable to me. I’m sure others may have a different opinion.

 

[Texo]

I’ve found Korina/Limba to be a little more resonant in the mids with a little less low-end than Mahogany. It’s not a huge difference, but it is noticeable to me. I’m sure others may have a different opinion.

Thanks. Maybe you could regain some of that low end with a hog neck, while still having the resonant miss with the black limba body. But that's pretty theoretical.

Black limba on the body, or neck, isn't a negligible up-charge if that's a concern.

Aesthetics could look like this (on the left is the real one for sale at Eddie's Guitars):

Thats a nice comparison, thanks for that. The whole black limba neck and body does look great, more fitting than the other one i think.

 

[Ovibos]

I’ve found Korina/Limba to be a little more resonant in the mids with a little less low-end than Mahogany. It’s not a huge difference, but it is noticeable to me. I’m sure others may have a different opinion.

My all mahogany (and thick) S2 Singlecut is pretty bassy/middy. It's becoming a quest to get some brightness out of it with pickups.

 

[hord1080]

I also greatly prefer that raw wood feeling, and find the PRS maple necks to feel raw even though they are satin finished, and apparently any satin fin neck will feel that way (even mahogany). I was pricing out Warmoth necks for a Partscaster build and they require a finish on maple and mahogany necks, because without it the necks in certain woods are not stable enough and can warp over time. Rosewood and others can be left unfinished due to the nature of the wood. One interesting note is Warmoth doesn't require a finish on roasted maple because the roasting process it sets the sugars and wood in a hard and very stable fashion - that could be an interesting option to see if they will allow a raw roasted flame maple neck. I also like tones up into the metal zone and have read that for metal and prog rock, to get that tighter sound they usually prefer maple necks and sometimes swamp ash bodies. My buddy has a artist pack Cu24 with flame maple neck/board and hog body and it sounds so dang good.

 

[docteurseb]

The least PRS does on roasted necks is a satin finish unlike Warmoth/Musikraft/others, which seemed disappointing at first.

However while roasted necks are much more stable, they can still warp.
It must be rare enough for Warmoth to not worry about it but they have many advantages over PRS should the neck ever warp:
1) they put a penetrating sealer either way, which reduces the risk
2) they are bolt on necks, trivial and fast to rebuild. Even their most expensive curly roasted maple necks are $700-ish to the consumer.
3) their warranty isn't that long. After that it's not their problem.

Compare that to PRS' limited lifetime warranty and being set neck guitars. Even if you could technically replace the neck it'd be prohibitively expensive and time consuming.

 

[hord1080]

This is a good point. I found the satin maple neck of the PRS to feel so raw anyways, it is probably best not to push the envelope.

 

[Texo]

Interesting point with the maple neck. I had a wood library with one and it was a great feeling and sound. It is also a wood to consider which does not make it easier...In the end you just have to decide for one thing and I think I'll be satisfied with the outcome either way Right now I am leaning towards a hog body and black limba neck, I heard good stuff about this combination.

I have another question that connects to the idea of a private stock guitar. Has anyone ever tried a combination of 85/15 in the neck and the PRS m/ metal pickup on the bridge?

 

[bodia]

Interesting point with the maple neck. I had a wood library with one and it was a great feeling and sound. It is also a wood to consider which does not make it easier...In the end you just have to decide for one thing and I think I'll be satisfied with the outcome either way Right now I am leaning towards a hog body and black limba neck, I heard good stuff about this combination.

I have another question that connects to the idea of a private stock guitar. Has anyone ever tried a combination of 85/15 in the neck and the PRS m/ metal pickup on the bridge?

I haven't had the 85/15, but I did put a set of \m/ pickups in an AP Santana. Great pickups. Very clear and articulate. Not a one trick pony.