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Purpleheart for neck material...

KAOSBass

KAOSBass

Mar 10, 2005
520
190
Dallas Texas
#1
I've got some Ash laying around and was thinking about building a new bass, What do you guys think about using Purpleheart as neck material, not strips, but the whole neck, I was reading about it on the warmoth site, and they say it can be used as neck wood, but I've never seen anyone build the whole neck out of it.

Experiences?
Pics?

Thanks.
 
#3
I've made necks out of purpleheart. . . be ready for very sure bottom and bright top end. It's stiff.

But, I'm a purpleheart fanatic. I just made my recording studio floor out of it :hiding:

finishedfloor.jpg
 
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#5
not a great picture but this one's my bass . . . solid purpleheart neck through. . . 2 truss rods are still flopping loose after 7 years they never needed to be tensioned. The neck is stiff enough to hold back those 6 strings. Tone is punchy to the extent of "too much". You can, however do well with subtractive EQ'ing on this bass which sometimes makes it work well in the studio. All frequencies are present and full which let's you shape.

A meaty tube pre is a must on this bass.

6string.jpg
 
#8
I really don't know 'cause I haven't done any maple fretboards. I'm just a beginner in this bass building, and am not all that good at sound speculation yet. These are my personal experiments. You'd laugh if you saw me carving this thing in my room with an X-acto knife and aluminum baseball bat.

I would guess it would be fine. Kindof reverse of normal necks that have softer neck material with more rigid fretboard. This is just crazy guessing, but I think it might mellow out the purple heart's attack a bit on the treble side. . . decrease your sustain a bit.

Again, don't listen to me. . . someone else with real experience should chime in. I'm amateur and don't know enough to speak with any authority. I'm just a sucka who tries to make too many things from purple heart. if you want a more traditional tone though, purple heart works great as a fretboard material.
 

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