Can maple be stained to look like mahogany?

[Philly Q]

OK, I'm thinking about putting together a mahogany bodied Tele but I'm in a quandary over the neck.

A one-piece maple neck would be fine, but I don't really want that '69 Thinline look, I'd prefer a rosewood or ebony board.  A  mahogany neck would look fantastic, but I don't want the guitar to sound too warm or Gibsony.  So I'm left with a mahogany body, dark-coloured board and maple headstock, which I think looks weird.

So... I had the idea that it might be feasible to stain the maple neck - or rather just the face of the headstock - to look like mahogany.  But I'd guess doing that, and trying to get a good colour match with the body, could be just asking for trouble?

Worth trying, or should I just spray the headstock black and be done with it?  :?

[WezV]

asking for trouble if you are not used to staining maple.

personally i would veneer it, but that also a bugger if its not somethng you are used to doing because of the curve

i always think plain black headstocks look pretty classy

dont forget that even if you do get a good colour match it still ownt look like mahogany as the grain is so different

[Twinfan]

What about a rosewood neck, or something different like on my Thinline?  Might blend with the 'hog better?

[FELINEGUITARS]

what about a walnut neck?

[Afghan Dave]

what about a walnut neck?

You mean Valnøtt? (why has this board gone walnut crazy all of a sudden)

[Philly Q]

asking for trouble if you are not used to staining maple.

personally i would veneer it, but that also a bugger if its not somethng you are used to doing because of the curve

i always think plain black headstocks look pretty classy

dont forget that even if you do get a good colour match it still ownt look like mahogany as the grain is so different

You've pretty much convinced me of the error of my ways right there!  :lol:

The veneer idea had crossed my mind, but it's beyond my woodworking skills and I guess there'd still be a problem getting a good grain/colour match. 

And, presumably, mahogany veneer would be pretty brittle and hard to work with (more so than, say, maple)?

What about a rosewood neck, or something different like on my Thinline?  Might blend with the 'hog better?

what about a walnut neck?

 :D Both good ideas, and both crossed my mind! 

Rosewood would look great, but I'm worried it would make the guitar neck-heavy (it'll be chambered/thinline)?  Expensive too, unfortunately.

Walnut I don't know much about - the colour would be right, and I could still go for an ebony board.  Is it (on average) brighter than mahogany?  That would be good.

[Philly Q]

what about a walnut neck?

You mean Valnøtt? (why has this board gone walnut crazy all of a sudden)

I was thinking I might have a Valnøtt hidden under the scratchplate.  Whip it good!

[WezV]

The veneer idea had crossed my mind, but it's beyond my woodworking skills and I guess there'd still be a problem getting a good grain/colour match. 

And, presumably, mahogany veneer would be pretty brittle and hard to work with (more so than, say, maple)?

its not to bad to be honest, the biggest pain is clamping it in a way that matches the curve, but its just prep really.  you also find you can get away with a tone or two difference in teh colour of the wood which helps with colour matching... especially if the headstock wood is slightly darker - that works better than it being slightly lighter

[Philly Q]

Hmmm, interesting...... 

And I can see your point about slightly darker working better than slightly lighter, for sure.

Presumably you'd also need to shave away a millimetre (or whatever) of maple all over so the veneer would tuck under the "overhang" of the fretboard?

This is the sort of look I had in mind (but these are mahogany necks, of course).  More like the bottom one, but with the headstock trussrod adjustment.

[WezV]

actually i would just take the veneer right up to the sharp edge - no point making life difficult for yourself - but it could be worked into the curve if that line was important to you.

I have done it a few times with rosewood veneer on rosewood board necks and that ends up practically invisible

here is one i did for a local band which is actually a wenge veneer on rosewood neck but you get the idea


That was  a strange handmade strat copy with one of the worst necks ever so my job was just to build a replacement.  after that Ed had he singer paint the body and made himself a very industrial pickguard - and most importantly he put a warpig in it.  still playing through line 6 amps though which is a shame

[hunter]

Why not go Rosewood?

http://www.warmoth.com/Showcase/ShowcaseNeck.aspx?i=TN2519&Body=1&Path=Neck

[HTH AMPS]

So you want a dark finger board, but to retain the spikey tone asociated with maple boards.  Why not go with an ebony board? - the notes have plenty of snap to them and the look will be right.

[FernandoDuarte]

If you buy the neck from Warmoth or a guitar builder I'm 101% right that they can add a veneer to you on headstock... I'm pretty sure that even if you buy a Fender neck, you could ask Mr Feline, Wez, Bob or any other good luthier to put a veneer on the neck (a pain, if finished, would need to be sanded down, etc...)

But this would lead to custom order, what you don't really like :(

Or buy that Rosewood neck ( or Wenge, Pau Ferro, Ziricote or even Bocote (more like yellow to light brown, but awesome) :P

[Copperhead]

Beware of the board!! RW DOES NOT even come close to having snap. Proll'y ebony?? Pau Ferro is tight grained and not bad, but it does not snap quite like a maple board on the low E string.

[Philly Q]

Thanks for all the comments, guys!

The all-rosewood neck would be great (how did you guess I'd go for a '59 Roundback, Hunter? ).  But I suspect it would be too heavy on a thinline. 

HTH, Copperhead - ebony is the most likely choice for the board, for the brightness and because I haven't got a guitar with an ebony board!  Won't consider rosewood unless I go for a maple neck.  If I reverted to a mahogany neck with an ebony board, would the brightness of the ebony be enough to counteract the warmth of the mahogany?  I suspect not.

Wez, thanks for the info on the veneer idea - definite possibility!  :D

But this would lead to custom order, what you don't really like :(

Yeah, you're right!  :lol:  I don't like the fact you can't see the actual pieces of wood on (Warmoth) custom orders.  I know they have the "unique choice" fingerboards, but they cost an extra $45, and the '59 Roundback costs $35 - custom necks work out a lot more expensive than showcase ones.  :(

I'm going to keep watching the showcase for a few weeks and see what comes up.