A detachable neck

[MIKMAN]

I'm going to play in Italy for a couple of gigs and i'll pay for one more time a ridiculously high price to transfer my DB with my airliner. This makes me to wonder if a bass with a detachable neck is the solution, since it can be loaded as normal baggage, avoiding extra charges etc.
Has anyone any experience how the detachable neck affects the sound of a bass? In other words is it possible to have a decent instrument with screw(s) in the neck joint? How does this affect the sound?
Any input will be appreciated.
Mike

[Ken McKay]

I am absolutely certain that the bolt on neck and its hardware have no effect on the sound of the bass versus gluing it on.

There are some complications however with a bolt on that you might need to realize. The set up can change when the strings are let down and the bridge removed. Even a slight difference of the bridge location can make it seem like a different bass. I am able to set up the bass I made with a removable neck in about a half hour including resetting the post. My advice would be to arrive a day early at least in order to be able to get the bass set up properly before the gig.

I am not sure what would be best regarding the flight cases. A single big one to carry both body and neck or two separate ones. I know for shipping UPS, two cases are much cheaper because a single case, carrying both, goes over the limit and ships as a more expensive form of cargo.

Have a nice trip!

[chop_1992]

I just had a bass built for me by Jean Auray, and it is fantastic. You can check out his detachable neck system here.

He has made basses for Charlie Haden, Renaud Garcia Fons, Henri Texier, and many orchestras in Europe. He makes very high quality instruments. The neck is very secure and it seems like a solid system. Very easy to take apart/put together.

The sound of the bass he made for me is fantastic, plus he made it exactly to my specifications. He sells it with a flight case, which is about the size of the body of the bass. The neck, strings and tailpiece go in a separate case that attaches to the main case. With bass, the whole thing weighs just under 30 kilos, which is about 65 lbs. It is oversize, but not overweight. With other trunks, my old bass weighed around 100 lbs.

The only problem is that Jean has quite a waiting list at the moment. He lives near Lyon, in Ville-Franche-sur-Saone. If you are going to be in Italy, it might be worth a trip north.

[pasta4lnch]

fwiw I don't know anything about DB but I did see an ad in BP for a bass where the neck folded into the body (fret board came off I think)... thought that was pretty cool.

[Dr Rod]

I have a bass that had a normal neck and then we put on a bolt and made it collapsible: no change whatsoever, for the better or worse.