New Warmoth neck contour?

i was interested in these as well.
if they are of the same warmoth quaility i bet they are awesome!

I just completed my 4th Warmoth build and I got the new slim profile for the neck I ordered. I like it a lot. I never had any real issues with their standard necks - I have 4 and the "biggest" relatively speaking feels like the bound and blocked all Maple Jazz. One of the necks is an all Ebony Jazz that feels markedly slimmer.

The new profile is very comfortable. Not a drastic change, but noticeable. It's not like going to a Geddy for example. More like a Sterling. Weight has never been an issue for me in any case so I can't make an evaluation in that regard. All of the basses balance very well so the weight doesn't come into play for me.

It has been settling in for just under 2 weeks and doesn't need any adjustment yet. It will eventually I'm sure, but I feel confident it will be just like the others. After installation and the "settle in" period I've never had to make any adjustments to any of them for years now (I do keep gauges and tunings consistent - YMMV).

So, IMO it IS awesome and going forward I will get that on any necks in future.

I don't know whether they can add it to a Showcase item - that would be something to find out.

The big complaint with me was that the steel reinforcement makes the neck heavy and respond strangely (compared to what I'm used to). If they switched to graphite I'd be more inclined to use them.

I have an older one and I just got a slim profile. The difference after a month or so of steady rotation between the two has me wanting to ditch the chunkier neck. Warmoth has a super nice product. Plays like butter.

Kael said:

Seems like the majority of issues people have mentioned with warmoth necks (thickness/weight) would be directly addressed by this newer profile. Slimming it down would help with the weight some.

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I disagree.

I've never had issues with the thickness. I liked the shape of the two Warmoth necks that passed through my hands: (Maple/Ebony, All-Maple). The thinner profile would be nice, but I doubt it would effect the overall weight.

It's those pesky steel rods. Both of my Warmoth necks were 10-12 ounces HEAVIER than, say, a stock fender neck from the 70s. (that's 3/4 of a pound heavier, kiddos). It doesn't make too much difference on a nice heavy Fender (my '79 Jazz weighs almost 12 pounds, so no trouble there), but if you try to build a bass out of Swamp Ash or Alder, forget it.

And it's not just the weight. The rigidity of those steel rods takes all the character out of the sound.

I'll never forget the first time I swapped out a Warmoth neck for a USACG neck on the same bass. The sonic difference was night and day. Tommy (USACG) uses graphite instead of steel, and you can feel the notes. The bass sounds warmer, notes have more "bloom," whatever you want to call it.

I tried a Warmoth neck on my '71 P-bass and it just sucked the life right out of the bass. Turned it from the best sounding bass I have to a generic, soulless doorstop. I think that neck was on there for about 7 minutes before I put the original (warped, beat up) neck back on. I'd rather fight for a good sound than effortlessly get an anemic sound.

What frustrates me about Warmoth is that they offer 100,000 options for guitar necks (compound radius, 8 custom back contours, vintage construction) and they don't offer any of those options for four string bass: Two back contours (now), two nut widths, one fingerboard radius (10"). That's it. Why can't I get a 7.25" radius Jazz neck with a U-shaped back contour? A compound radius? Vintage construction? Why are bass players second-class customers?

(I know, I know. They are trying to eliminate dead spots, and they want to be able to warranty their necks 'til after the apocalypse. And they're running a business. Volume, volume, volume, least common denominator, etc.)

I'm not a Warmoth hater... I want to love Warmoth. I desperately want to love Warmoth necks. The necks in their "for sale showcase" are gorgeous. They get amazing woods. And I do love their bodies. I just wish they would get rid of those damn steel rods.

<rant>

Dear Warmoth,

Offer me a vintage construction bass neck with no warranty. I don't care. I know it will warp eventually. OR OFFER GRAPHITE RODS. I know it says on your website that you tried graphite before steel, and there were still some dead spots. BIG WHOOP. My Fenders are rampant with dead spots, BUT THEY STILL SOUND GREAT. I'll take the risk. I know there will be dead spots. I'm a big boy.

I know the "super bass construction" necks will last forever, regardless of temperature and humidity changes. But it doesn't matter how long they last if I can't stand how they sound. Make them out of solid brass! Stainless steel! Carbon nanotubes! Then they'll NEVER warp!

</rant>

(To be fair I can actually see some cases where the super rigid necks would work: for a fretless perhaps, and maybe for really dense (heavy) bodies if you're going for more of that "piano" tone. I just wish they would offer steel OR graphite AS AN OPTION. Why do guitar players get to have all the fun?)

pickles said:

The big complaint with me was that the steel reinforcement makes the neck heavy and respond strangely (compared to what I'm used to). If they switched to graphite I'd be more inclined to use them.

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Wow. Pickles managed to nail exactly what I was trying to say in two sentences. Brevity is the soul of wit.

Has anybody asked warmoth why they dont offer graphite or if they could offer it? Im just wondeirng since people are more inclined to complain about something then try and get that something changed.

well the neck contour option is nice to have, we should have at least as many options as guitar players, I agree.

As far as sound, my Warmoth neck is warm and vintage-y sounding to me, it is maple/maple on a light 4 lbs swamp ash body with a maple top, if I close my eyes, I would swear I'm playing an old Jazz Bass, and no neck dive whatsoever, I have a picture in my build thread to prove it! And vintage necks use those 1+ lbs worth of tuners, I use ultralites and they make up for the slight increase in weight. And I like going from desert dry in El Paso to humid NOLA and back and the neck does not need tweaking

I find USAG necks too thin front to back, at least the ones I tried and they were second hand so I don't know if they have different contours, the shape of the headstock is a no-no also, but they do use nice top notch wood.

The neck contour option on applies to certain bass necks, right?

fu22ba55 said:

I'll never forget the first time I swapped out a Warmoth neck for a USACG neck on the same bass. The sonic difference was night and day. Tommy (USACG) uses graphite instead of steel, and you can feel the notes. The bass sounds warmer, notes have more "bloom," whatever you want to call it.

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+1000

That's precisely why I switched to using exclusively USACG for all my custom builds. I couldn't be happier with their stuff.

joeyl said:

And vintage necks use those 1+ lbs worth of tuners, I use ultralites and they make up for the slight increase in weight.

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I've tried ultralites, but they didn't solve the issue for me. I bought both of my Warmoth necks about 8 years ago, so maybe they've gotten a bit lighter lately.

joeyl said:

I find USAG necks too thin front to back, at least the ones I tried and they were second hand so I don't know if they have different contours...

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USACG specifically asked me how thick I wanted mine.

My '79 Jazz is .9" front-to-back at the first fretwire, my Warmoths were .870", and my USACG is .9" So my USAGC is actually beefier than the beefy Warmoth profile. (and still 14oz lighter!)

Bass-Adrenaline said:

The neck contour option on applies to certain bass necks, right?

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They offer standard and (now) slim on 4 string necks

They offer an asymmetrical profile on 5 string Fender and Gecko style necks

And they offer a fatback on 8-string necks only.

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They really need to offer more neck profile options on all the bass necks.

I've always re-profiled Warmoth necks to a slimmer contour. Maybe this new profile would save me some work.

Bass-Adrenaline said:

Has anybody asked warmoth why they dont offer graphite or if they could offer it? Im just wondeirng since people are more inclined to complain about something then try and get that something changed.

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They still didn't offer it 8 weeks ago when I asked.

I've asked them twice in the past three years.

They experimented with graphite when developing their "super bass construction" but they still found dead spots with graphite, so they went with steel.

That's funny... graphite appears to be "good enough" for Lakland. I hear their basses are pretty good.

I wonder if tuning down to E flat or D would be a problem with a 32" bass? Like floppy strings, I mean.

Kael said:

Not trying to negate your complaint, but not sure what you are disagreeing with me about. For every one person griping about steel truss rods, I've seen ten or so griping about weight or thickness.

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Apologies. My bad... You're right. I guess I'm not disagreeing with you. I guess I'm just disagreeing that the new slim contour will solve the Warmoth issue for me. My bad.

I like a chunky neck, so that's never bugged me about Warmoths. But for those that like a slimmer neck, their day may have come.

I'm just bummed out that they decided to offer the new back contour and not deal with the rigidity issue.

Frustration. That's all it is.

You bring up another good point too though: the double-expanding truss rod. That truss rod combined with the steel reinforcements... that's the whole weight issue right there.

They offer single-expanding (vintage construction) and double-expanding on their guitar necks, but only double-expanding on their bass necks.