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6 strings with these specs?

#41
MDH bass said:
something of note: as dingwall 6'ers get more expensive, their necks get thinner.
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I was wondering. Have never tried a combustion, but when I saw that the Dingwall neck was listed as too thick - I only have 5'ers, but my AB1 and ABZ - I can't imagine a neck much thinner and still structurally sufficient. You answered my question.
 
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#42
MDH bass said:
something of note: as dingwall 6'ers get more expensive, their necks get thinner.
back-to-back compairing; NG, ABZ, and Z necks, the NG feels like a baseball bat.
if you could find a good used deal on a ABZ 6 string and are comfortable with the multi-scale, the neck will be noticably different from a combustion/NG2/3.

Have you tried out the LTD B-206SM? played one years ago in a shop and its neck has always stuck with me as slim, wide but not too wide, and easy to play. got no idea on the string spacing but after a quick search i found someone saying they'd installed a new bridge giving them 17mm spacing. the pickups and preamp should be easy to replace if you do that sorta thing and find the stock ones offensive, but they should be ok. it's 35 not 34 but to some extent, that can be partially solved with string selection.

another, more expencive, option would be Maruszczyk custom shop. if you dont go crazy with options you should be able to get what you want for about 2k (this suggestion might be null if you're outside of europe, idk what shipping and conversions and insurance would be?).

used post-2009 CS warwicks 'should' have a thinner (not 'the warwick' neck) profile by default. i believe the rockbass 6'ers have the same default. i've read somewhere that people have pushed the adjustable bridge out to 17mm on their warwick 6'ers - so maybe thats a possibility.
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yeah, I too read that the nicer Dingwalls have thinner necks, so I’ll try to find one to try. But out of $$ range for now.

ESP LTD is another contender if ignore a couple specs. I contemplated the wider bridge mod, yeah. Might be able to push the spacing a hair wider than Ibanez SR…

Maruszczyk is on my radar for a custom build, yeah, tho would wanna confirm neck profile. The configurator only lists the C shape which I think I’m not bonding with, but they may be able to do more than what’s in the configurator.
 
#44
micguy said:
Necks change shape due to stresses. There are 2 sources of stress:

1) Internal stresses in the wood - over time, even without strings on the bass or torque from the truss rod, if there are internal stresses, the neck will warp - and in an unpredictable direction.

2) Stresses from the strings or truss rod. The strings pull it one way, the truss rod the opposite way. If those forces are balanced, the neck will stay put.

The type of wood in the neck and the cross section and length of the neck affect its stiffness, which, under a given amount of stress, determines how far it will move. Stiffer is better. A thicker neck is stiffer. A shorter neck is stiffer (one place where a 35 inch scale works against you).

Making a neck multiple pieces helps mitigate #1 - if the grain directions are managed properly, it helps with that. It does not, however, make the neck stiffer or help with #2. On a 6 string, that might be an issue. That's why many of them have dual rods. My point is that your logic of a 3 piece neck not needing dual rods is not correct - the two have nothing to do with each other.
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thanks for clarifying! so lamination wouldn’t help neutralize the twisting from string tension differences? My understanding was that treble strings typically having higher tension than bass strings might cause a neck twist. The logic was that such twisting can be countered with dual rods or proper lamination. In other words, that a single truss rod can handle the overall stiffness of the strings, as long as aided by lamination (and/or stiffening bars) to counter twisting along the rod axis.
 
#47
sikamikanico said:
thanks for clarifying! so lamination wouldn’t help neutralize the twisting from string tension differences? My understanding was that treble strings typically having higher tension than bass strings might cause a neck twist. The logic was that such twisting can be countered with dual rods or proper lamination. In other words, that a single truss rod can handle the overall stiffness of the strings, as long as aided by lamination (and/or stiffening bars) to counter twisting along the rod axis.
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Lamination doesn't help with twisting forces - all the fibers are still going the wrong direction (straight, hopefully) to help with that.

Neck twist isn't really the issue - you can, with a decently balanced set of strings, get the same tension on all the strings. Dual rods are a good idea because there's so much string force on a 6 string, and it's nice to not have to put all the stress on one rod and the walls It's acting on. Rods put forces on the wood as they try to unbend it - with 2 rods, the crushing forces from the rods are half as much on the wood.
 
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#50
Drzejzi said:
I have a 6 string with 19mm string spacing and I can assure you that it is not a good idea. The neck is so wide that playing the money notes is super uncomfortable.
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good to know! This also why I wanna try a (used) production model or two before committing. I figured 18mm may be a good spot to aim for, but maybe I should just give 16.5-17mm basses a try for a few months, see if my fingers adjust. Hmm, maybe I can leverage a good 30-day return period…
 
#51
sikamikanico said:
excellent! do you ever pull strings off the fingerboard, particularly the high C (or whatever is your first string)? That’s my biggest concern with the setup, but I presume it doesn’t affect you…
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I haven't had that happen. Being the width is adjustable, you could compensate a little if the string is too close to the edge. Mine is actually spaced closer to 19mm.
 
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#52
I've been playing 6s for years. One thing about 6s, they tend to be heavy. I have an older Carvin that is the lightest of the 4 I have. My main 6 is a Bongo and my backup 6 is an older Ibanez BTB. Of the 2, I prefer the neck on the BTB.

For sound and playability they are comparable. I've slowed in playing 6s only because of the weight. 3 and 4 hour gigs are getting tough with them. But, I love playing 6 strings. Ive fallen back mostly to my 5s. Anyway, as far as specs, I have found that no matter what they are, the neck was my main focus. I have long fingers and prefer a "flatter neck". Most people adapt quickly. After a short time though, you will either love or hate a 6 string.
 
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#53
micguy said:
Lamination doesn't help with twisting forces - all the fibers are still going the wrong direction (straight, hopefully) to help with that.

Neck twist isn't really the issue - you can, with a decently balanced set of strings, get the same tension on all the strings. Dual rods are a good idea because there's so much string force on a 6 string, and it's nice to not have to put all the stress on one rod and the walls It's acting on. Rods put forces on the wood as they try to unbend it - with 2 rods, the crushing forces from the rods are half as much on the wood.
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MY BEB-6 has only 1 truss rod. But it is a 3 piece neck and ebony fretboard, plus it is 36 inch scale and 19mm spacing.

I bought this in Cali and our townhouse there was 1 mile from the Pacific ocean and I brought it back here to New Mexico, in the winter where we heat our house with a woodstove. In the summer, we use evaporative cooler which is basically pumping in wet air into the house. No problems with twisted necks. Some fret sprout in the summer during it's first season here but no issues. I also travelled with it to Wisconsin 2 weeks ago and my buddy's house was next to a lake. Stable. I did not need to adjust it.

And I used stiff strings GHS Brite flats (recently switched to pressure wound which is as stiff) in medium -- there is more tension on this bass because it is a 36 inch scale (not multi-scale). They are not a balanced set by any means.

It only needs one truss rod. Tune (Japan) knows what they are doing. Tokyo after all is a humid city in the summer ( was an expat there in 2006 - not just wikipedia). I may have adjusted for lower tension strings no more then 1/2 turn and less than 1/2 up when I used GHS. I calculated it and it was more tension than the Thomastik and Fodera it came with
 
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#54
Drzejzi said:
I have a 6 string with 19mm string spacing and I can assure you that it is not a good idea. The neck is so wide that playing the money notes is super uncomfortable.
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That all depends on what angle you play at.
The closer to horizontal,the more difficult it is to play the B and E on the lower frets strings on a wide neck.

I play at approx 50 degrees.
I have no problems.
86F34CFF-8B88-4550-813E-31F70742ACB9.jpeg
 
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