Products > Wood Samples > Neck Woods
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Neck Woods
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The single most important wood decision you make about your custom built Alembic is the neck, for the neck is the foundation of the sound. The choice must be made for the desired sonic outcome. Neck woods are more limited in variety than woods for other tasks because the neck must be strong and stable, and certain woods are just not suited for the purpose.
spacer On our neck through guitars and basses, the neck woods are largely responsible for the tone, though every part of the instrument will contribute. For set neck models, the neck is still the most important wood in determining the sound, but the body comes into play more than on the neck throughs. The observations we present relate only to Alembics, other makers will surely find differing results with their own techniques.

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Maple and Purpleheart Pictured on a Signature Deluxe bass. A Maple neck with Purpleheart laminates is the quintessential Alembic neck, classic in every way. Two Purpleheart laminates for a 4-string bass, three for a 5-string bass and five for a 6-string bass. On guitars, we generally use the 5-piece arrangement show on the left. This combination offers even response across the entire range of the fingerboard.
spacer If you just can't decide on the neck woods, we would suggest Maple and Purpleheart - a grand success on thousands of Alembics.
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Maple and Purpleheart Pictured on a Spyder bass. 7-piece version of the classic Alembic neck. This arrangement with smaller Purpleheart laminates is for 4-string basses and 6-string guitars. This is the standard neck for Series II basses and guitars, an optional upgrade for other models.
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Maple and Ebony Pictured on a custom bass. Big, bad Ebony. We rave about it! For the deepest low end response, look no further than Ebony neck laminates. Also prepare yourself for unheard of fundamental sustain. Ebony is expensive, and it is heavy, but it is worth it.
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Maple, Ebony, Purpleheart Pictured on a Signature Deluxe bass. Since Ebony is so "bossy" you are free to mix it with other woods and still hear its useful contributions. A single Ebony neck laminate does about 75% of the work that 2 or more do, so you can mix it up with some Purpleheart and Maple, and you'll still hear some of the other woods.
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Maple, Birch, Walnut Pictured on a Brown Bass. For the ultimate in warmth, start with the outside neck pair in Mahogany. Very smooth bass response, great for jazz settings and more. The Walnut laminate brings up some additional attack, but it's not overpowering in the slightest. Birch laminates support the highs without going over the top.
spacerThis combination is the standard neck lamination pattern for the Brown Bass, and can be custom ordered on any Alembic instrument.
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Mahogany, Ebony, Maple Pictured on a Series II Bass. For warmth with some added big bass response, add some Ebony and Maple to the Mahogany foundation. The Mahogany rounds out the sound, but the Ebony adds its signature bit of low-end "umpf" and fundamental sustain to the mix, with just enough Maple to keep the highs intact.
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Flame Maple, Purpleheart, Cherry Pictured on a Further guitar. First seen regularly on our Tribute and Further guitars, the combination of Flame Maple, Purpleheart, and Cherry gives great even tone. The Flame Maple is from the western United States, and is not as dense as eastern Maple. This means the familiar brightness of Maple is a little less overpowering with these necks. Purpleheart add some strength, beauty and supports the highs well. The addition of a single Cherry laminate down the center of the neck rounds out the bottom end for great low end response.
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Maple, Purpleheart, Cherry Pictured on a Stage Further guitar. For the Stage version of the Furthers and Tributes, we use the combination of Maple, Purpleheart and Cherry. Just a tad brighter than the version with Flame Maple for the main neck wood, this neck offers even response with defined lows and highs. What you play on this neck, you will hear.
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Maple, Purpleheart, Vermilion Pictured on a Darling guitar. Maple and Purpleheart are old standards for neck woods here at Alembic, but adding a Vermilion laminate to the mix really beefs up the lows. There is nothing thin or twangy sounding about any Alembic neck, but with the Vermilion, you not only hear, but you feel those deep dark tones. Standard confirguration for Little Darling and Darling guitars, we add some thin veneers of Maple just for decoration.
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Mahogany, Purpleheart, Vermilion Pictured on a Darling guitar. Changing out the Maple that's standard on a Darling for Mahogany yields a tone of unrivaled warmth. Nice round sound, that just makes you ears feel good!
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Maple and Walnut Pictured on a Signature Standard bass. All Maple, all the way. We regard three as the magic minimum number of laminates for one of our necks. This allows our structured beam to have opposing grain on either side. We add the little veneer "pinstripes" in Walnut just for their good looks - they are too tiny to contribute to the sound. Maple necks will lean toward the brighter sounds, but of course if you have too much of the highs, you can always turn down your low-pass filter.
spacerMaple necks are standard on all set neck basses, Skylark guitars, Essence and Rogue basses. Historically, Spoilers, Persuaders and Elans all came standard with Maple necks. Earliest examples did not have the pinstripes. For 5- and 6-string models, we use five laminates of Maple with four Walnut pinstripes.

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