Official Luthiers Forum!

I'm planning a 12 string, and one of the things that ran through my mind was Ron Steiger's all spruce guitar. While I'm not going with spruce back and sides (I'm planning on EIR), I did think the idea of a spruce neck is interesting. A friend pointed out to me that an EIR neck would be super heavy, especially on a 12 string with double the tuners; would it make sense to make the neck out of spruce versus, say, mahogany? Any downsides? The color would be weird, but it could always be stained (or who knows, might turn out nice looking).

Just struck me as an off-the-wall idea and was interested in hearing your thoughts.

Thanks!

Jay

Durability would be my main concern. I see enough damage from old capos and leaning on an amp or table with mahogany necks. Spruce would be at least twice as susceptible to denting. I think it would have to be a "no wedding rings" neck.

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Eschew obfuscation, espouse elucidation.

You really need to check out Sylvan's Home DePaul. He built a LP Junior from a 2x10 from the BORG. It is very cool. All the wood on the guitar is from that same original piece of wood...even the fingerboard. You might want to speak with him on how he reinforced the neck and keeps it from denting.

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Joe Breault
Merrimack, NH
Perpetual novice