Cedar as a neck wood ?

[Will S-T]

I have a few pieces, 4 x 2 inch quartersawn.
Any thoughts on it's suitability as a neck wood ?

Or I might just turn it into a lap steel.

[Pete Galati]

I would think cedar would be better suited as a body wood than a neck wood. I have some cut-off pieces of cedar, and it seems like it's about as hard as pine.

[Will S-T]

I would think cedar would be better suited as a body wood than a neck wood. I have some cut-off pieces of cedar, and it seems like it's about as hard as pine.

Yes indeed, it is a wood of choice for classical and flamenco soundboards.
It's just that I've got these 100 year old planks, quarter sawn, that are just
begging to be incorporated into a guitar!! Came off bed rails actually.
They used alot of ceder in early furniture making in Australia due to it's
moisture and insect repelling properties.
I dismanteled a wardrobe recently for the 2 foot wide hardwood carcass,
Aussie alpine Ash I think, about 3/4 of an inch thick by 2 foot wide,
just to discover 1/2 inch thick by 18 inch wide ceder quarter sawn planks
used on the inners of the doors, about 4 feet long.

[Pete Galati]

That's pretty cool. I bet the stuff would make a great sounding guitar! I've always kind of wondered why nobody's using cedar for solid body guitars.

They probably used it in a lot of furniture because from my understanding, moths don't like cedar.

[Benjy_26]

You can make great necks, but for a modern steel strung guitar (with the high tension and loading an electric guitar handles), you'll need to reinforce it. If it were me, I'd use a trussrod and a pair of carbon fiber rods running along either side of the truss.

[eggman]

Howdy,

I believe that Martin is using Cedar for the neck on some models.

Eggman

[theodie]

You can make great necks, but for a modern steel strung guitar (with the high tension and loading an electric guitar handles), you'll need to reinforce it. If it were me, I'd use a trussrod and a pair of carbon fiber rods running along either side of the truss.

Yeah,t his should do it.


Usually Cedar is very knotty. These pieces are not?

Leave it unfinished, it will smell great. LOL!