Sycamore for necks - any opinions?

Posted by Alex Rigby on September 23, 2015 at 1:41pm

Hi all,

I have  some sycamore coming my way, I have never used it. I am considering using it for CBG necks.

Does anybody have any experience of sycamore for this purpose?

I have heard it is very similar to maple (which I have been using recently, quite happy with it), any truth to this?

Any thoughts, opinions, experience welcome.

Thanks in advance.

Alex

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Replies

  • Michael Fred Johnson September 24, 2015 at 8:06am

    As Chris says sycamore is a great hardwood to work with and makes good guitar necks,I prefer it to maple which I think looks grubby next to the creamy colour of the sycamore.You also get a nice wavy effect in the grain making the instrument more attractive.

    This was built in 2011,it has 6 strings in three courses and sh306482351?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024ows no sign of any distortion

    • Alex Rigby > Michael Fred Johnson October 5, 2015 at 4:07pm

      Nice guitar Michael.

      Well I have gone and got the sycamore, enough for approx 25 CBGs, so that should keep me busy for a while.

      cheers for all the advice and opinions.

      Alex

  • Chris Thomas September 24, 2015 at 5:49am

    Hi Alex,

    both replies you have had so far have an element of truth. Sycamore is a great wood to work with and makes great necks, it's used for a great variety of things, frames for aluminium car bodies (known as body-on-frame,Morgan still use it), furniture, pool cues, flooring, plywood and a myriad more things. Sycamore is a hard wood and similar to maple but has a slighter open grain like oak. Truly wonderful wood to work with, fine for necks in my opinion, as with all builds the more strings required the more strength needed, fine for three strings or less, four is better with a laminated structure and six strings may need a truss rod. All people have their own opinions and they vary greatly so you have to "suck it and see" but if you want visual proof my very first build has a sycamore neck which my son plays on youtube

    https://youtu.be/PCi30Fz6QOQ

    good luck, Chris. :) 

  • Alex Rigby September 23, 2015 at 4:56pm

    Yikes.

    Cheers  for the responses.

    Don't you just hate it when advice seems to directly contradict, LOL

    Right, I'm just going to have to give it a go and see.

    Thanks

    Alex

  • Kit Wells September 23, 2015 at 2:07pm

    I felled many sycamores in days of yore. They are VERY sappy trees (butcher's blocks usually have tops made from squares of sycamore because the sap is said to have disinfectant properties) The timber is very springy too so I doubt, sadly, whether the sycamore, even if kiln dried, will be strong enough to resist the heavy forces of tight strings for long without bending. Having said that, if you saw it along the length and laminate with strips of hard wood (or even plywood) you may find it'll do the job. It is a lovely wood and easy to turn on a lathe but my opinion is that I'd rather go with  hardwood. I've sliced down and then planed old oak posts, bed supports and other bits of old and broken furniture bought for practically nothing, or even given away, at garage sales. Good luck with your project anyway!

  • Bill Isherwood September 23, 2015 at 2:06pm

    Hi, Alex,

    I've built three with sycamore necks so far.

    The timber was obtained from an old drawing board, so it was very well seasoned.

    Fairly easy to work & the resulting CGBs stay in tune for ages.

    Maple & sycamore are of the same genus, Acer, but I can't remember the Latin bits tagged on the end.

    I've had no problems with it, so would recommend giving it a try.

    Cheers,

    Bill.

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