Description
Port Orford Cedar has a very similar stability and strength to weight ratio when compared to Honduran Mahogany, and yet it weighs far less. The average dried weight of POC is 29lbs per cubic foot, compared to Honduran Mahogany at 37lbs per cubic foot.
If you’ve ever wanted to build a guitar that feels weightless in your fretting hand, then Port Orford Cedar is the way to go. Port Orford Cedar is criminally underused and underrated, and it is my personal favorite for neck wood.
This product is one piece (24-1/2″ x 3-3/16″ x 13/16″). For an acoustic guitar neck, you will need to stack a heel block underneath, so don’t forget to also purchase a heel block. My preference is actually to use a Mahogany block as the heel, because it takes a knife threaded insert (for a bolt-on mortise and tenon style neck) better than cedar. Of course, this gives the neck a certain look with the contrasting colors of the two woods.
– Eric Schaefer
Example of endgrain on AAA Grade necks
Example of endgrain on AA Grade necks 
Example of endgrain on A grade necks
Common Name(s): Port Orford Cedar, Lawson’s Cypress
Scientific Name: Chamaecyparis lawsoniana
Distribution: Pacific northwest United States
Tree Size: 150-200 ft (45-60 m) tall, 4-6 ft (1.2-1.8 m) trunk diameter
Average Dried Weight: 29 lbs/ft3 (465 kg/m3)
Specific Gravity (Basic, 12% MC): .39, .47
Janka Hardness: 590 lbf (2,620 N)
Modulus of Rupture: 12,290 lbf/in2 (84.8 MPa)
Elastic Modulus: 1,646,000 lbf/in2 (11.35 GPa)
Crushing Strength: 6,080 lbf/in2 (41.9 MPa)
Shrinkage: Radial: 4.6%, Tangential: 6.9%, Volumetric: 10.1%, T/R Ratio: 1.5