My Suhr Modern w/ new vulcanized neck... wow

[petethorn]

Guys, Ive had this Modern since 2008... it's alder, root beer metallic, scraped binding, yadda yadda. Had an old growth maple neck.... in the standard modern shape. I loved the guitar, but after playing Guthrie's one day at the Suhr shop, I wished I'd ordered his neck shape, it was just a hair thicker. Anyways.. this is the guitar, back when I got it:

I was having a bit of trouble setting up the guitar awhile back, it just seemed like it had shifted in a weird way.... I took it out to the shop and showed it to John and to Mike, and Mike kinda looked it over and he made the determination that the neck had gone south. Now, by most people's standards, it was fine- I couldn't see any major issues, I've certainly had problem necks on guitars that twisted, etc. over time but this neck, it wasn't apparent what Mike was seeing- but that's why he's da man. He suggested I re-neck the guitar with vulcanized maple... I was like huh? Mr Spock? Anyways, from what I've learned, it's wood that's been in a kiln and essentially it makes it very stable and it also comes out dark brown. That sounded cool to me, because the guitar was brown (I wanted a brown shred axe!!!), so I figured it'd look cool. AND I could now get the Guthrie neck shape I wanted...

Well, I went to Suhr's yesterday to pick up a Suhr PT100 proto John, Chris and I have been working on for tour, and the guitar was ready. Holy smokes....

I can't believe how cool it looks! And feels! And sounds! The neck is smooth as glass, the shape is just awesome, and the guitar plays better than ever, it's just amazing. And the look is so damn cool, it almost looks like a glue-in or something, as the vulcanized maple just blends so good with the root beer metallic, scraped binding, etc.

Yes I'm a Suhr artist but as you all know Suhr would do the same for anyone that had an issue with their guitar- because they are an AWESOME company. Thanks Mike, thanks John!!! It's better than ever! Josh took some proper pics, maybe he will post them on the Suhr .me page... Crappy Iphone pics:

 

[dpeterson]

cool... looks like a solid rosewood neck... great service... about the only brand of guitar i havent owned.

 

[Phrygian]

Wow, looks uber smooth and tight!

 

[carl roa]

Wow, that's awesome. I like the match with the body ... I am very interested in the "vulcanized" neck ... last I spoke to Ed they were working on vulcanizing a mahogany neck. Mahogany necks tend to move around a bit, and according to John once it would be vulcanized it becomes a lot more stable. Would be nice to not have to adjust the neck every time the weather changes! Hoping to get my next Suhr with a vulcanized mahogany neck! If not, I may go with the vulcanized maple.

 

[Rev]

That is pretty sweet combo. Looks similar to a Pau Ferro neck which always looks good with a lighter color top.

 

[gibson5413]

Awesome Pete! I love mine so much on the Anderson Drop Top that I ordered an Anderson Classic last week with the Chocolate Maple (vulcanized) neck too. Best feeling neck I have played on by far. I think it looks sexy with the Burnished Orange Burst finish. My Classic will have a Desert Sunset finish. Should look amazing with the vulcanized neck too.

 

[Mudder]

Neat-O!

 

[locoed]

I love the way the back of the neck looks,seems it would be
smooth to play. Looks cool too.

 

[petethorn]

I love the way the back of the neck looks,seems it would be
smooth to play. Looks cool too.

ya the feel is incredible. really perfect.

 

[fek]

That looks sweet! I have not heard of vulcanized maple before.

On another note, what tour are you talking about? I saw you rock with Chris Cornell a few years ago when you first started touring with him and I was in love with your tone.

 

[van hellion]

Wow, that's awesome. I like the match with the body ... I am very interested in the "vulcanized" neck ... last I spoke to Ed they were working on vulcanizing a mahogany neck. Mahogany necks tend to move around a bit, and according to John once it would be vulcanized it becomes a lot more stable. Would be nice to not have to adjust the neck every time the weather changes! Hoping to get my next Suhr with a vulcanized mahogany neck! If not, I may go with the vulcanized maple.

sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but last time i spoke with brother Ed he said it was determined that mahogany coudnt withstand the vulcanizing process.


congrats on the guitars makeover Pete! Im sure its fantastic!

A Wood

 

[petethorn]

That looks sweet! I have not heard of vulcanized maple before.

On another note, what tour are you talking about? I saw you rock with Chris Cornell a few years ago when you first started touring with him and I was in love with your tone.

headed out with Melissa Etheridge for a summer tour.....

 

[Random Hero]

That does look really great man! Really matches the body well and I'm sure plays incredibly. What a great company too. I know, as you said, you're Suhr artist but they do treat everybody really well as I've also experienced. I've e-mailed John personally a few times about setup hints/tips and whatnot and he's always been so quick in his reply, always so informative and generally comes across great. I've been really impressed with them and can't wait to order my next Suhr - most likely a Classic T

Curious, did Mike go into detail what the issue actually was other than it was going south or was he just seeing something 'not right'?

 

[carl roa]

Wow, that's awesome. I like the match with the body ... I am very interested in the "vulcanized" neck ... last I spoke to Ed they were working on vulcanizing a mahogany neck. Mahogany necks tend to move around a bit, and according to John once it would be vulcanized it becomes a lot more stable. Would be nice to not have to adjust the neck every time the weather changes! Hoping to get my next Suhr with a vulcanized mahogany neck! If not, I may go with the vulcanized maple.

sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but last time i spoke with brother Ed he said it was determined that mahogany coudnt withstand the vulcanizing process.

A Wood

Oh no!!! Well ... I still love the tone of my mahogany neck ... tough call on the next Suhr!

 

[technomancer]

Awesome Sooner or later Suhr GAS is going to get the better of me...

 

[Mark Day]

That looks great Pete. I really need a second Suhr

Please tell us about the PT100 proto???


Mark

 

[fearhk213]

Wow, that's awesome. I like the match with the body ... I am very interested in the "vulcanized" neck ... last I spoke to Ed they were working on vulcanizing a mahogany neck. Mahogany necks tend to move around a bit, and according to John once it would be vulcanized it becomes a lot more stable. Would be nice to not have to adjust the neck every time the weather changes! Hoping to get my next Suhr with a vulcanized mahogany neck! If not, I may go with the vulcanized maple.

sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but last time i spoke with brother Ed he said it was determined that mahogany coudnt withstand the vulcanizing process.

A Wood

Oh no!!! Well ... I still love the tone of my mahogany neck ... tough call on the next Suhr!

I'm really wanting another Suhr & was really considering getting one of the set-necks (when available) with mahogany body, maple top, & vulcanized mahogany neck. Hmm, I wonder if korina would hold up or if that's too close too mahogany as well....

 

[Digital Jams]

The nerd in me is having a hard time grasping this process, I see both positive and negative aspects in this process.

I would think you are drying the neck out TOO much but can also see a sealing process which would help the neck stay stable through season changes. I could see the neck perhaps being easily split due to the drying process maybe? You are changing the cell structure of the wood by doing this.

Anyone have a link to a post of John or Tom explaining this process? I am sure they have somewhere.

Congrats on the guitar Pete

 

[Gainfreak]

Now that neck will live long and prosper......



Sorry, I couldn't resist. My bad

 

[mysticaxe]

The nerd in me is having a hard time grasping this process, I see both positive and negative aspects in this process.

I would think you are drying the neck out TOO much but can also see a sealing process which would help the neck stay stable through season changes. I could see the neck perhaps being easily split due to the drying process maybe? You are changing the cell structure of the wood by doing this.

Anyone have a link to a post of John or Tom explaining this process? I am sure they have somewhere.

Congrats on the guitar Pete

Tom was all excited about the Chocolate Maple when I toured his shop around Christmas. He had been beta testing (in secret) a guitar with the neck for a while before he started talking about it for customers.

My understanding is that you are caramelizing the sugars in the cells by heating them up to about 400 degrees in the absence of oxygen and holding them. There is no burn. After the wood is vulcanized, it does sit around a while before the raw boards are cut up into necks, so I would guess that it does soak back up moisture to some equilibrium level over a couple/few weeks.