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another bee stinger thread

neptoon

neptoon

Jul 25, 2000
7,941
1,157
49
Kings Bay, GA
www.7atband.com
#1
got started on this guy a couple months back, so i've still got a couple of months...specs are as follows"

5 string
ash body
walnut top
ebony accent veneer
graphite neck
acrylicized birdseye maple board
single delano mm style pickup
3 band bee pre
black hipshot hardware
flush dunlop straplocks

i'm pretty stoked! the top wood is going to be a bookmatch and is from the same piece of walnute that jonki's 6 string was cut from, so it will look quite similar in that regard...
 
#5
Waiting for mine as well. Worker, not a Stinger.

There's been some delay in receiving the pickups I guess, originally mine was supposed to be done about a month ago. Not complaining, just anticipating. :)
 
#8
neptoon said:
got started on this guy a couple months back, so i've still got a couple of months...specs are as follows"

5 string
ash body
walnut top
ebony accent veneer
graphite neck
acrylicized birdseye maple board
single delano mm style pickup
3 band bee pre
black hipshot hardware
flush dunlop straplocks

i'm pretty stoked! the top wood is going to be a bookmatch and is from the same piece of walnute that jonki's 6 string was cut from, so it will look quite similar in that regard...
Click to expand...

Execellent, neptoon! Really cool that we have kinda twin basses, mate!

Cant wait to see the finished product! :hyper:

Peace
Jonki
 
#12
My 5 now has a wooden neck. The graphite was awesome for about a month/ then, it twisted / warped/ moved/ became unplayable.......being a prtotype, it may have been the one in a million that moved; not sure.....I'm happy with the wooden neck. It is a better representation of Fred's outstanding woodwork. Fred's basses keep getting better & better. One can expect the wait time to increase. You'll find this with other great basses built by great luthiers.....Jerzy Drozd, for example....you wait a good while for one of those. Fred is a one-man operation.
 
#14
The Zon necks are a whole different animal. They're quite good. They're made differently than the one used on Edo's bass & the defective one I got. If you're going to get a graphite neck bass, I would suggest a Zon/ or, if any other brand/ go to the bass store & play it a ton before you buy it. Graphite has its share of quirks...dead spots/ inconsistantcies/ ect.....
I'm pretty sure that the graphite neck I had was one of those which had inconsistant thickness throughout....thicker spots/ thinner spots....it caused a weak point (or, atleast a more flexible point) in the neck.
Others have had great success with graphite necked basses. Who's to say they're not a great option for some players. ?? I went with a wooden neck with dual truss rods. That way/ if it moves, I can dial it in how ever I need to. Wood (in my opinion) is more predicatable than graphite.
 
#15
go with an Acrylized neck and get the best of both worlds :smug:

If Fred isn't offering the option... he should! My Bee has the best neck I've ever encountered. I set it once to my preference and again when I went to thinner strings. Other than that it's been stable throughout the NJ humidity & temp cycles. NO dead spots and feels awesome.
 
#16
that's a great idea...

brado...fred offered to send me your old graphite neck for me to check out...i'm hoping that your neck was one of those necks that just happened to go bad, as i told him i was thinking about going ahead and proceeding with the graphite...i still have a wooden neck (ash) in the back of my head, though...
 
#17
See what you think. As far as the look & feel of the graphite necks, they're fine. If you don't mind a grey'ish-black headstock, you're good to go. I suppose Fred could put a top wood on the headstock to match the body...it would just be thicker than usual, as the necks were made from a master neck carving/ molded/ same shape & thickness every time. I, personally, would go with something tested & prooven....5 piece wooden neck....maple & purpleheart. You can't go wrong with that combination. The graphite, at this point, would be a coin toss.
 
#18
i agree with you, and i'm not normally a risk taker, but i think i'm going to go with it this time...i don't mind the look and feel at all...if something goes wrong with the graphite neck, i'll have an ash neck made...i had an mtd with one and it felt great - had an awesome tone with a maple board, too...what did you think of the tone of yours before you developed that nasty bump at the 12th fret?
 
#19
It was good. Very articulate in the top end. The low end response was interesting in that; it was more transparent to what the string was doing/ rather than the neck ringing along with the string.....especially with the E & low B. There was, however, a bit of super deep/ sub response (almost artificial sounding) that you could hear on the lower notes. The wooden neck is working better for me & what I'm doing. It's "warmer"...(I know....that's a word that shouldn't get tossed around)...the response is a bit more even throughout all of the strings/ the top end is a little bit chilled out. That actually has been helpful. Now, I can actually set the treble flat (on the bass), or even boost a little if needed instead of always cutting like I had to with the graphite neck. Oh yeah...another thing I noticed about the graphite neck..... the lower strings had more of a piano like growl. Either way/ I had great tone. I've settled into the wooden neck
& I think it's better for what I need (atleast in the here & now). Before the warping, it was great. Every note sounded like a note. Great sustain from open strings all the way to the 24th fret. All in all/ I thought this would be the last neck I would ever need on this bass. It was quite a supprise to find out that it moved....quite a bummer too.....You might have great success with it. I certainly hope so.
 

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