Bubinga neck with koa body?

Bass Viking · #1 02-23-2009, 12:01 PM

Has anyone tried this particular combo? I have a Warmoth Dinky P body made of koa that currently has a fretless neck on it (maple with ebony fretboard). Since I never seem to play fretless I was thinking of putting a fretted neck on it. I've had good luck with maple\ebony and wenge\ebony necks but would like to try something different. Warmoth has some bubinga necks with ebony fretboards in their Showcase and I'm intrigued.

All thoughts, comments, and suggestions are welcome.

bass12 · #2 02-23-2009, 01:06 PM

If neck dive is your thing, a bubinga neck might be just what you're looking for! There's a reason maple necks are the norm - I'd stick with those.

mikeyswood · #3 02-23-2009, 01:50 PM

Welcome to the LC.

The are some extremely rare BC Riches out there with similar materials. Warwick Thumbs are also Bubinga necks but with Wenge fingerboards.

Let me be the first to encourage you to try it and remember we are here to help.

Bass wishes,
Mike

UncleBalsamic · #4 02-23-2009, 01:53 PM

Dingwall ABIIs have bubinga necks, never heard anything bad about them, but bubinga does have a reputation of being quite heavy.

Bass Viking · #5 02-23-2009, 04:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mikeyswood

Welcome to the LC.

Warwick Thumbs are also Bubinga necks but with Wenge fingerboards.

Actually, the necks are made of ovangkol. The thumb neck through has a bubinga body.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mikeyswood

Welcome to the LC.

Let me be the first to encourage you to try it and remember we are here to help.

Bass wishes,
Mike

Why thank you! I guess someone has to be the guinea pig.

Bass Viking · #6 02-23-2009, 04:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by UncleBalsamic

Dingwall ABIIs have bubinga necks, never heard anything bad about them, but bubinga does have a reputation of being quite heavy.

Yes, the weight is my main concern and Warmoth necks tend to be heavier due to the steel reinforcement bars. I may wind up going with small tuners.

mikeyswood · #7 02-23-2009, 05:24 PM

...look for the neck through Warwicks before they started using Ovangkol

MM playerrrr EB · #8 02-23-2009, 05:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bass Viking

Has anyone tried this particular combo? I have a Warmoth Dinky J body made of koa that currently has a fretless neck on it (maple with ebony fretboard). Since I never seem to play fretless I was thinking of putting a fretted neck on it. I've had good luck with maple\ebony and wenge\ebony necks but would like to try something different. Warmoth has some bubinga necks with ebony fretboards in their Showcase and I'm intrigued.

All thoughts, comments, and suggestions are welcome.

asking an experienced luthier about it woudl be your best bet. maybe check the weights of the necks against eachother so you can get an idea of how dense they are. personally, i would try it to see how it would turn out and keep it even if i don't like it. everything you make can be put some some good use down the road. like my franken bass, i thought it sounded like utter crap at first. but then i realized the nice jazz tone it gets, like a jaco with more bite.

with those woods together, you'd probably get a rick thick tone with a lot of punch to it depending on which pickups you have. (you say dinky j so i'm assuming a j set of some sort)

best case scenario, sounds amazing. the bass is balanced to an acceptable point, you finally find "your sound"

worst case scenario, sounds okay, you need to add some weights to certain places to balance it and over time the neck bows.

would the bass be string thru by any chance?... [= i love string thru

Bass Viking · #9 02-23-2009, 06:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mikeyswood

...look for the neck through Warwicks before they started using Ovangkol

I thought they were using wenge for the necks before they switched to ovangkol?

I really like my Warmoth wenge neck. I'd consider getting another but I'm looking for some variety.

Bass Viking · #10 02-23-2009, 06:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MM playerrrr EB

with those woods together, you'd probably get a rick thick tone with a lot of punch to it depending on which pickups you have. (you say dinky j so i'm assuming a j set of some sort)

would the bass be string thru by any chance?... [= i love string thru

Oops, I meant to say it's a Dinky P. It has a precision pickup and a jazz pickup (Seymour Duncan Basslines).

It's not a string-through. The bridge is a Gotoh.

mikeyswood · #11 02-23-2009, 07:30 PM

I really wanted to find and early 90s Warwick with a Bubinga neck but I may be leading you on...

Anyway, yes it has been done, yes it is beautiful, and yes you want a w i d e strap.

vbasscustom · #12 02-23-2009, 07:58 PM

you could make a bubinga lam neck, with a lighter wood to off set the weight a bit. just a thought

Barkless Dog · #13 02-24-2009, 06:43 AM

The whole bass overall is going to be be heavy, 10 pounds +

Koa is a heavy wood as well.

Bass Viking · #14 04-04-2009, 07:29 PM

I ordered a Bubinga/ebony neck from the Warmoth showcase. Without hardware, it weighs 2 lbs 9 oz. I installed it on the koa body a couple of nights ago. It's phenomenal! The feel is great, very smooth and it sounds excellent with the koa (even better than I'd hoped). I haven't weighed the bass but I estimate it's between 9 and 10 pounds. The dinky P body helps keep the weight down. Slight neck dive but nothing major. I'm very happy with it!

Unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to weigh the maple fretless neck I swapped it with for comparison purposes.

tdogg · #15 04-04-2009, 07:38 PM

we require pictures!

Bass Viking · #16 04-05-2009, 09:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tdogg

we require pictures!

Look here: Anyone here play a bubinga neck?

and here for a full body shot, front and back: Bass Viking's extended bass family

tdogg · #17 04-05-2009, 10:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bass Viking

Look here: Anyone here play a bubinga neck?

and here for a full body shot, front and back: Bass Viking's extended bass family

nice... bubinga is beautiful.