Which one is better?

[tmoney61092]

What is better for neck laminates, purpleheart or ebony? or anyother wood that you think is the best(please tell!!!)?
 
~Taylor Watterson

[bsee]

For a long time, adding purpleheart to maple has been a standard for improving the density of a neck.  This can both reduce the likelihood of dead spots and increase sustain.  It will also affect the overall tone of the instrument in relation to other common neck woods like maple and mahogany.  Ebony is even more dense than purpleheart and carries those changes further.  
 
At a minimum, your neck wood choices can do the following:
 
1. Affect the tone.
2. Affect the sustain.
3. Control deads spots in the neck.
4. Affect the overall weight and balance of your instrument.
5. Have an aesthetic impact, especially when you combine contrasting woods in multiple laminates.
6. Impact the cost of the instrument in a meaningful way.
 
There are also some other construction decisions that will factor into these things as well, so it's more than just a wood choice.
 
Because of this, there is no objective best that works for everyone.  Describe your ideal tone and some recommendations will come your way.
 
-Bob

[tmoney61092]

thank you for the information, I prefer a warm, rich tone that sounds sort of soothing.What about combining 2 purpleheart laminates and 1 ebony(with standard maple of course)?

[bsee]

You'll see that a number of basses have been made that way if you search through the site.
 
Defining the words we use to describe tone is always a problem.  I'm not sure I'd call the tone warm.  While rich works, I'd use words like deep and tight to describe it rather than warm.  Of course anything can be made to sound warm with the application of a few glowing tubes.  As such, the ebony or purpleheart with maple recipe seems like it should do just about anything with the right electronic tone shaping.  I don't think a mahogany neck could ever be made to sound as tight as ebony.
 
Personally, I wouldn't want an Alembic that didn't at least have the purpleheart in the neck.  I have one with just maple and purpleheart and another with those two plus ebony.  There are other differences in their construction, so it's hard to isolate the impact of the neck woods, but they both feel and sound great.  I greatly prefer them to the all-maple-necked Alembics I have played in the past.
 
Search the site, there are lots of discussions on the topic, enough to shock you into inaction.
 
(Message edited by bsee on January 02, 2009)

[keith_h]

For a rounder sound you could consider adding mahogany to the neck laminates. See Dave Houck's bass, Karma, in the featured custom archive. It has mahogany, maple, purple heart and ebony.
 
I also have a Brown Bass that uses mahogany, maple and walnut in the neck. It has a warmer tone than the similar SC basses with maple and purple heart.
 
If you are looking to order a bass call up Alembic and discuss this with them. They should be able to give you a good idea of how the different wood recipes sound.
 
Keith

[tmoney61092]

ah, i love this forum, so informative, thakn you  all for your information, i wish that i could order a bass but i don't have near the amount of money to even think about it.
 
~Taylor Watterson

[white_cloud]

Absolutely Mahogany for warmth always!

[funkyjazzjunky]

Do any of you use Koa or Padauk for the neck?

[bsee]

I have seen and played non-Alembic basses with those woods in the neck.  Padauk has a few different species, and from what I read, vermillion is an alternate name for one of the African species.  If you search this site, I'm sure you'll find some instruments made with vermillion as a component of the neck.  Vermillion is also used in bodies where the tone it generates seems to be just a little crisper/tighter/punchier than mahogany.  My two Alembics both have vermillion cores and the tone is great.  As I recall, it also makes a very attractive neck recipe when mixed with maple and purpleheart.
 
Carvin made a big deal about featuring koa 20 years or so ago and represented an all koa bass as the holy grail of the day.  I never bought one, but I saw and played a couple.  I can't say that I remember them having any outstanding characteristics that set the tone apart from everything else that was out there.  Maybe they were a little warmer than their maple-necked cousins.
 
Padauk was a component of the neck of a very nice Ibanez that I played back in the early 90s.  The SR-1500 was a mostly padauk instrument with EMG guts and was my main bass for a few years.  The neck was very thin and shallow, so it moved a bit, but I can't say if this was the fault of the wood or the design.  The tone was punchy with nice quick attack, but it didn't have the powerfully tight bottom or sustain of a deluxe Alembic neck.  I preferred the tone to most 100% maple necks I have encountered, though.
 
-bob

[briant]

thank you for the information, I prefer a warm, rich tone that sounds sort of soothing.What about combining 2 purpleheart laminates and 1 ebony(with standard maple of course)?
 
I have two Alembics.  One is just maple and purpleheart on the neck.  The second is exactly this: maple with two purpleheart and one ebony stripe.  The latter has noticably more low fundamental overtones.  Both basses have the same electronics package (Signature) and both have mahogany core body woods.  They have different top woods but with a neck through bass the top woods have much less impact on the overall tone.  The bass with the ebony stripe has a maple top vs. a zebrawood top on the other - technically the maple top should be well more bright but it is in fact the opposite.  I'm a huge fan of my maple, purpleheart, ebony neck bass.  It sounds insane.  I highly recommend it.

[white_cloud]

I have two basses that were handmade for me to my specs by an Italian luthier - both have one piece quarter sawn Padauk necks...it is a very stable and extremely resonant musical instrument tone wood.  
 
To my taste my necks are made quite thick and move much less than any maple neck I have ever owned! My fretted custom has a Cocobolo fingerboard on Padauk and it has a superb attack/sustain - especially for funk playing...the harder you play it the more it likes it!!! My fretless has a Ebony fingerboard on the Padauk neck and it is warmer but still extremely resonant.
 
I love Padauk - it resonates in a similar fashion to Carbon Fibre necks imho!!
 
John.

[funkyjazzjunky]

Thanks to Bob and John for giving me guidance

[tmoney61092]

thanks to all, i greatly appreciate all of the  personal stories, it makes alot easier to choose, if i ever decide to get a custom Alembic(which would be like 30 years, unless my dad won the lottery) i am probly going to go with 2 purple heart and one ebony
 
~Taylor

[crobbins]

My 5 string Orion has,
5-piece Maple set neck with 4 Walnut pinstripes  
Ebony fingerboard
 
How much does the fingerboard wood change the sound?

[bsee]

Craig, I believe it matters.  Maple boards tend to have a lot of attack and click.  Rosewood tends to be a bit more mellow.  Ebony has great bottom and plenty of brightness as well.  Alembic uses a fairly substantial thickness of ebony, and I do believe it factors into the richness of the tone.  Just my experience, not backed up by any science.
 
-bob