Help me decide on a neck for this guitar

[Snake Aces]

I have a new solid swamp ash Warmoth carved top Regal on the way. It is finished in transparent blue similar to this:



I have a set of WLH for the pickups but it's time for me to order a neck in the next few weeks. I originally wanted an all bocote neck but Warmoth does not trust the scarf joint with such an oily wood so it's back to the drawing board. The neck will be a 24.75" conversion scale, 59 roundback profile with stainless steel frets. These are the four options I am considering:

1. All roasted maple
2. Roasted maple with Indian rosewood fretboard
3. Wenge with Indian rosewood fretboard
4. All Indian rosewood

I currently have an Indian rosewood neck on a chambered mahogany body and a wenge neck with a ziricote fretboard on a chambered black korina body. I love those necks but a lot of people have told me great things about roasted maple necks too, so I'm curious about them a bit. What neck would you choose and why?

[Agileguy]

I may be biased here, but I think you should go for an IRW neck with an Ebony board. I've got that combo on my D'avanzo (also with SS frets) and it's the best neck I've ever played, hands down. It's just such a fast neck because of the wood combos. And it sounds amazing too.

Mine is on a Mahogany body with a maple cap though, so I can't say how it'd sound on swamp ash (probably on the bright side) but you're pretty experienced in these matters.

[Snake Aces]

I've thought about going with an IRW with an ebony board. It's quite expensive. I love IRW for sure, before tuners an IRW neck with the options I want would run me $438. If I were to get an IRW with an ebony board the price would jump up to $470+. A roasted maple neck would be $298 with my options and a wenge with IRW fretboard would be about $360. So, price is a bit of a factor at the moment thanks to some unexpected turmoil in the economy over here.

An IRW neck with an ebony board or even another all IRW neck is really my choice for the WLH set. That being said, the price difference could mean waiting an extra month or so to order the neck versus getting a roasted maple.

In the past I have loved the voodoo Les Paul from Gibson. Minus the subtle differences between the bolt on versus set neck... an IRW neck with an ebony board would be somewhat similar (but richer IMO) to the mahogany/ebony necks found on the voodoo LP's. I know I like that tone so really it's just a question of patience to complete this guitar in terms of cost versus funds.

[kinnikuman]

A standard maple fretboard would go well on that and really set off the blue.

[kinnikuman]

like this

[Snake Aces]

I like it, I'm really leaning towards roasted maple. That looks nicer than I thought it would with a blue body.

Not sure if I would get black inlay dots or something else. If I could see the board fist I would get something that pops a bit and go with no inlay but I don't want to pay a $65 upcharge just to pick a nice maple board.

[lreese]

What degree of roasted maple? Chocolate brown or something lighter?

[Snake Aces]

What degree of roasted maple?  Chocolate brown or something lighter?

Most examples I see from Warmoth are lighter in nature. I have only seen one example of a chocolate brown roasted maple from them. Of course, the kicker is you'll never know what you get until it arrives most of the time. 

[Snake Aces]

I'm pretty sure I have my choices narrowed down to a roasted maple neck or an Indian rosewood with an ebony board.

I would be tempted to toss another all Indian rosewood neck in the mix but since I already have one I can always use it on this guitar if I decide that's what I want on it. It's currently on a chambered mahogany body with a maple cap but nothing is set in glue with swap-able necks.

[GoldenVulture]

I recently got this/these as a replacement for my Framus LP. I had the neck replaced around ten years ago but I never really jelled with it. The new one is a different profile and has an Ebony fretboard. I got some Kluson tuners for it and I have a bone nut blank that I'll cut myself.