Tough and hard but easy enough to work. It can move drastically when re-sawing thick material, as kilning tends to lock in tensions, both cupping across and bowing along the length are likely. This is the Maple that sometimes produces bird eye and ‘curly’ figure. Nearly always flat sawn, so quarter sawn has to be a special order. It also looks good when thermally treated, which stabilises and produces a lovely mid brown, although this process tends to make the timber more brittle. Close even grain, straight material, with no re-sawing, results in a cheap strong neck. The pragmatic Mr Fender made necks so simple by using 1” material and scooping out a bit.