A few questions about having a custom Les Paul made.

[FELINEGUITARS]

How about stopping the gloss abruptly where the neck joins the body (as seen on the bottom example)? I've seen ESP and Gibson do this on most of their Maple necks. Come to think of it, I like the look if the Black Gloss (colour I'm wanting) stop abruptly around the neck join, where the maple hits the mohogany, then have naked maple :)

Yes , but to a small extent the border line will need to be a bit feathered or you'll have an uncomfy step in level

[Nephilim]

How much more tonal difference does a Maple actually make over a Mahogany neck with a Mahogany Body and Ebony Fingerboard?

[Nephilim]

What I mean to say is, seeing as the neck will be set-neck rather than neck-thru, this won't make the guitar as bright as say, a Les Paul with Maple neck-thru and Mahogany wings, since there's more mahogany and the pickups are mounted into mahogany rather than maple. Am I correct in saying that? Secondly, would a maple neck compliment the mahogany body well for the type of music I play compared to mahogany?I ask this because, if I got a mohogany, I'd have to have it finished anyways, so if a maple will balance it better, I may as well have a maple neck that's finished. The exact type of metal I play is the same type as bands such as Bullet For My Valentine, Killswitch Engage, All that Remains, etc. Bands that have fast riffs and harmonized passages, and the occasion 20 breakdowns per song (lol). It'll be a BKP Miracle Man I'll be putting in it btw.

[FELINEGUITARS]

Mahogany is actually brighter than maple in terms of the real top end frequencies, but maple has a strong upper mid focus.
An all mahogany lp has a bit more crispness and the sound compresses a touch more . A maple cap focuses he top end sizzle and smooths it out a bit.
A maple neck will make it sound a bit more direct (to my ears)

Mahogany necks can have an oil finish - they just take a bit more oil compared to maple

[Nephilim]

So which one would you recommend? A lot of the bands I listen to play maple necks, and they seem to get a good sound. I've heard a few of them, Zakk Wylde in particular, say the maple neck gives it a bit more presence, tighter, more precise sound - which is ideal for metal, am I right?. If I was to get a maple neck, would you be able to do the gloss/satin blend? I'm just really set on a glossed body, with a naked wood neck if I'm to be honest.

[Nephilim]

Oh and also, would you recommend a maple cap? I'll be having a solid colour, so it won't be for decoration. Allthough I've read thinner mahogany bodies, kind of ballance the tone out compared to a thick mahogany/maple body, so perhaps just Mahogony Body/ Maple neck/ Ebony Fretboard would be perfect for me :)

[darkbluemurder]

my oh my do these guitars look sexy.

Cheers Stephan