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Stringed instrument necks need to be as strong as possible and as light as possible. I use five main species.
Queensland Maple (Flindersia brayleyana) Queensland Maple, named for its light colour and maple - like fiddleback figure is a pale tropical hardwood which grows in north Queensland rainforests and has relatives in New Guinea and the Pacific. It varies in strength and weight but is generally lighter and stronger than the Brazillian Mahogany available recently for guitar neck stock, giving it a real advantage for use in steel string necks. I use it in most of my steel string necks.
Australian Red Cedar (Toona australis) Another Eastern Australian hardwood, this beautiful red-brown lightweight aromatic timber is my choice for classical guitar necks.
Rock Maple or Eastern Hard Maple (Acer saccharum) American hard maple is used widely for electric guitar necks due to its great strength. I use birdseye-figured maple for my F - style mandolins and archtop guitars. There are several Australian woods which would do the job, but this one looks right and is still readily obtainable. It is a little heavy to use in smaller guitars but is also often used in jumbo steel-strings.
European Maple (Acer campestris) Violin, viola and cello necks are traditionally made from this wood. I use it.
Red Tingle (Eucalyptus Jacksonii) One of Western Australia’s rarest and most endangered eucalypts, Red Tingle grows only in an area about 30 miles by 10 miles on the south coast of Western Australia. It has a long, fibrous interlocking grain and for its moderate weight it is extremely strong. I have a few boards I bought in the early 1980s and I use it rarely, but have made some legendary neck-through electric basses with it. It is so resistant to bending it simply cannot be bent into guitar sides. It is also very hard to carve, something like wire rope, but makes basses that you only adjust once, string infrequently and tune sometimes!
Another wood I will use in necks is American Mahogany (Swietenia macrophylla) in restoration projects or where rich clients insist on it, but I prefer the strength of Queensland Maple and avoid mahogany on environmental grounds. I also have a small supply of Spanish Cedar which I save for classical guitar necks used on Brazillian Rosewood or similar guitars.
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