Pearwood or beech for necks?

[Paco Jimenez]

Anyone has experience or opinions on the properties of these two woods for necks construction? Or how do they behave compared with the typical ones?

Both beech and pearwood were widely used in the past all over Europe. They are local and abundant spices here. Along with maple (and cedar for classicals) they were the woods to go for necks. What I'm wondering is why nobody is using them anymore. Basically it's all maple and mahogany. They usual choices, I guess inherited from the US making influence specially from the '60s on.

Though I have an ample experience with old European guitars, It's hard to have an opinion, because many pre war guitars had aluminum internal reinforcements, and they use to be in quite good shape even today. But after the war the reinforcements disappeared and in most cases the necks are not reinforced so they develop a bow quite often. Fixed reinforcements started to be used again around the '50s and truss-rods came in by the '60s. But at that point, overall quality (and woods seasoning) decayed due to the huge market competition from Japan. Many European makers and brands disappeared in that period.

So, any thoughts/experiences about those formerly common neck woods?

[Clay Schaeffer]

Beech would make a heavier neck than mahogany or maple. If not properly seasoned it might be prone to warping and checking. It has been used for wooden planes successfully and has many good qualities. Proper seasoning is critical.
Pear wood is a lovely wood, just not commonly harvested and seasoned in marketable sizes around here (Maryland, U.S.A.)
If I had a good source for it I would use it.

[Michael Lewis]

Paco, I treat black walnut as a good replacement for mahogany since it is quite stable and about the same density. If you have access to good pear wood (or apple, cherry, etc) use it. Most 'fruit wood' is virtually poreless and pretty strong.

[Paco Jimenez]

As far as I know american beech is less stable than European (Fagus sylvatica). Anyway, all that about seasoning makes a lot of sense even for this particular variant too. I've seen many unreinforced beech necks that are still ok and in great shape after 50+ years while many others are badly deformed. It seems that good seasoning is crucial if using beech. Don't know about weight for sure, never found properties charts of these woods I'm asking about, but you're right. These necks feel heavier than maple ones, though it's hard to estimate from built necks. Mahogany was a true rara avis for guitar making in Europe until the '60s. Haven't compared it enough.

Pearwood (Pyrus nivalis and Pyrus communis) was widely used all over Europe for backs, sides and necks since the 18th century. And as far as I can see from old necks, it works so good. I'm asking because nobody is using it anymore and maple and mahogany fully replaced it for necks construction around here. From the the '70s on it just disappeared from the european guitars. I wonder if anything else but fashion is the reason behind this switching.

Oh yes, walnut! Thanks for pointing out Michael. Black walnut was introduced in Europe centuries ago. It's not uncommon. But European walnut (Juglans regia) was more common in guitar building at this side of the pond. Not specially for necks, though the french makers made a good use of it. Mainly for gypsy guitar necks. It usually looks nicer than the black variant.

Thanks guys. I'd love to give a chance to the local traditional spices. Anyway. I'd be thankful if anyone knows any properties chart including these spices compared with the typical ones.

[Arnt Rian]

From the literature I have on some early European guitars, beech seems to have been one of the most neck woods on the earliest instruments (for example "Danish Guitars and Their Makers" by Kenneth Brögger). It was, and is, also very common in cabinet making, much like maple in the US I guess, so I suspect it was mainly a case of using a well known, common material that worked OK. It is quite dense of course, so some of those guitars tend to be neck heavy. Pear wood (and perhaps other fruit woods) can be dyed dark and used as a substitute for an ebony fingerboard, and it will hold up reasonably well. As the pores are really small, it can be hard to tell it is not the real thing, at least until the dye wears off. Turners and carvers also like pear, for its uniform, poreless qualities.

[Mario Proulx]

Seasoning isn't the only factor with regards to stability. The "cut" is actually more important, and it's actually there that you'll run into problems when trying to source local, or uncommon, woods. You'll do fine, if you can 'read' the wood well, and of course, are able to hand-select the wood. But if you're relying on a supplier, its best to stay with the more common choices, as these will more often be cut and chosen correctly for you.

You don't mention where in Europe you are, but another possible choice would be birch. Lighter than maple, carves beautifully, is practically pore-free and reasonably stable(at least as stable as maple). I've even seen a steel string guitar neck(and apparently the builder has made many others like it) made with aspen(commonly called poplar here, though that term gets applied to wayyyyy too many species of trees). Shoot, spruce, and fir, have been used by some makers....

Good wood is just that; good wood. In the end, -you- need to be the judge of whether any individual piece of wood is good or not.

[Michael Lewis]

To find charts of information of the mechanical properties of wood try using a search engine like Google. There are a number of sites with such information, many of them connected to universities and government departments.

[Paco Jimenez]

Seasoning isn't the only factor with regards to stability. The "cut" is actually more important, and it's actually there that you'll run into problems when trying to source local, or uncommon, woods. You'll do fine, if you can 'read' the wood well, and of course, are able to hand-select the wood. But if you're relying on a supplier, its best to stay with the more common choices, as these will more often be cut and chosen correctly for you.

Great advice, Mario.

You don't mention where in Europe you are, but another possible choice would be birch.

Spain. Local walnut is relatively easy to find, but not birch. The Swedish makers used baltic birch quite a lot, but not seen about anywhere else. In the northern Europe the common choices for necks were beech, maple or pearwood. Here in Spain you know. It's cedar. Steel strings were ignored for so many years around here. I'll check german suppliers and see what I can find.

To find charts of information of the mechanical properties of wood try using a search engine like Google. There are a number of sites with such information, many of them connected to universities and government departments.

Yes, I've found some. but most are from american sources and normally doesn't include these European spices. I think I'll better google in my crap german a bit.

[Alain Bieber]

Hi Paco, Bernard Michaud " Le bois de lutherie" in Fertans near Besançon usually has nice guitar necks planks in Walnut (I suppose from South West France where there are a plenty. Also somewhat expensive but very nice maple cuts. Curly or "moucheté"... I do not know the English word for that.

[Paco Jimenez]

Hey Alain. Thanks so much. I'll check that french supplier.