The Steel Guitar Forum

Does the guitar sounds different if it has a metal neck instead of a wooden neck? (Like older shoebuds D10 often have)
What would you prefer if you had the choice?

Greetings from cold Switzerland

Greetings from toasty warm Ascension Island!

The aluminium necks are brighter in tone response. The wood necks have that nice mellow sound. Sho-Bud and Emmons of course are the standards that show the differences. But Some metal neck guitars, to me anyway, have different tonal qualities among themselves. I've always wondered how much of that is in how the harmonics are distributed through the rollers and the changer to the body itself. I like the aluminium necks myself and am an Emmons kinda guy. I love the old Lloyd Green sounds especially on the finger-tip Sho-Bud he used on the Panther Hall album. Of course, John Hughey played a wood neck Emmons on the older Conway stuff, and I think Weldon Myrick probably had one too, but that's based on a picture in Winnie Winstons book.

I would love to have a suite of guitars to covedr the gamut of tonal qualities, Emmons for that bright sound, Sho-Bud for that rich mellow sound, and a Fender for that snappy, twangy Bakersfield stuff.

Just my 2 cents worth.

Ricky

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Emmons LeGrande - 8x4
Session 400 Ltd
Dan-Echo, E-Bow, Ibanez Distortion, Boss Comp./Sustain, Ibanez Auto-Wah

Related question -- does anybody know or have an opinion on what, if any, effect a powder coating would have on the tone of a metal-necked quitar. I noticed at least one manufacturer (GFI) has started to offer powder-coated aluminum parts. At first, I thought it was a little stringe, but now I'm growing to like the idea a lot. I was wondering if a powder-coated neck would have a different sound or tone simply by virtue of the powder coating itself. Thanks.

I will share parts of a conversation with you folks. In the spring of '97, Larry Sasser and I had dinner with Ron Lashley (the late president of Emmons Guitar Co.). During this wonderful and nostalgic time (with two pioneers of the PSG), the subject got around to aluminum necks.

My mind was like a sponge, because Ron to me epitomized the world of the aluminum neck guitar as well as the PSG. And what he told larry and I was astounding. I am NOT at liberty to tell you why, but As Ron summarized it, you can take any Aluminum neck on the market and replace the aluminum neck on the Emmons with it; and it will NOT sound the same.

In sincere respect to Ron, what he told Larry and I will go with me to my grave. But as a person with an engineering background, what he said totally wiped me out. And made perfect sense.

God rest Ron Lashley. Truly the most unusually brilliant man I have EVER met.

Carl

I'm going to guess that the Emmons neck is "tuned" in some manner to interact with the string vibrations ?

About the rule "aluminium neck=bright sound, wood neck=mellow sound": I don´t have such a vast listening experience as many others, but I´ve heard at least one ShoBud ProIII (al. neck) that sounded kinda dull, while my own ProII with wood necks, and even more so the one Ricky Davis used to own, sound pretty bright. There must be other factors still that determine whether it´s bright or mellow. Bobbe Seymour claims that on certain types of guitar like the Super Pro it makes no difference at all. Maybe he reads this and can give us some more insight.
Apart from all that, I just think on a lacquer finish guitar wooden necks look better.

Regards, Joe H.

Del Mullen claims his guitars sound brighter with wood necks.

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Lee, from South Texas
Down On The Rio Grande

I would guess that the wood necks are solid but are the aluminium necks solid or hollow or cast with wafer reinforcement or drilled for vibration? I have never seen a neck off of a steel.Some of you guys that have, tell us what they are like. Is an Emmons neck different than a Sho-Bud or any other neck?

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LC. WILLIAMS U12, SHO-BUD PRO1,CARVIN TL60

I'm surprised Bobbe has yet to jump onboard this age-old question/dilemna. Batter up!

Hello Lee
What I didn't explain is the difference between the Mica and Lacquer finishes. It has been my experience that the lacquer finish is brighter than the mica. That is because when you laminate two pieces together it will actually tone it down a bit. As far as the necks are concerned the wood will be a little more on the mellower side. I could live with either. I apologize if I misled you on this one.

Del Mullen


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Thanks, Del. That makes sense.

By the way, my comment was based on the article about you that was in Steel Guitar World Magazine. It could be that your full explanation was edited.

It's good to see you posting on here.

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Lee, from South Texas
Down On The Rio Grande