Help Wanted: Getting a new Pbass neck and looking for some advice and opinions

[Stephanheimer]

Hey all

I have a mid 70's P-bass, 3-color sunburst that I have not played much recently due to the state of the neck.

The original neck is a non-slab rosewood fingerboard, the frets are fairly worn and the neck has a twist in it. Most luthiers I have spoken too indicated that major work would need to be done to get the neck back into more playable shape so I have decided to replace it with a Warmoth.

Here is my dilemma, I love the look of the Maple neck/Rosewood board combo but I also love the sound and feel of woods that do not require a finish (like wenge for example).

I am currently leaning towards a wenge neck/rosewood board combo but would like some opinions on how that would sound and if anyone has opinions about wood combos.

It will definitely be a 20 fret Pbass neck, 6105 frets, cream dots. I like something that sounds warm/earthy/organic with good dynamic range. I don't like a very bright or HI-FI sound (this is why I am leaning towards rosewood instead of ebony).

[dmusic148]

I suggest you call USACG and get what you REALLY want.

[Stephanheimer]

Well i'm trying to get some opinions on different woods at the moment before I call anyone.

Why is USACG better than warmoth?

[Stephanheimer]

Did I post in the wrong section?

[testing1two]

You can certainly experiment with tonewood combinations but I can't see any reason to deviate from the tried and true maple/rosewood combination with a nice satin finish on the back of the neck. Also remember that woods like wenge are heavier than maple and can affect the balance of the instrument (i.e. neck dive). This is also a reason to consider USACG over Warmoth as Warmoth uses steel reinforcement rods which make their necks somewhat heavier than USACG's which uses graphite rods (or no rods at all in some cases).

Also if you want darker, woodier tone consider using smaller fret wire (like mandolin wire).