Chinese necks

[BassChuck]

I see quite a few nice looking fretless necks from China on eBay. Anyone have any experience with Chinese replacement necks?
I have a couple necks from Warmoth and love them, but I'm looking to put a fretless neck on a cheapo bass and getting a $300 neck for a $35 bass just goes against my sense of value.

 

[bdplaid]

With a good neck, you might make that $35 bass play like a $million.

 

[bpc]

Some are good, some are very good, some are junk. You won't know until it arrives. There are other threads discussing this. I've bought two and both were quite good.

 

[JRA]

Anyone have any experience with Chinese replacement necks?

i've purchased 6-7 of them, all fretless, all great necks!
mine:
- the side dots needed to be relocated on all of them.
- the truss rods work great: but some of the TR nuts were more recessed than others.
- they look good, too --- all of mine = the same neck as pictured.
- not as well finished as a $350 neck...but close.
- nuts were plastic: i used some, replaced some.
- very stable necks! caveat: my oldest one is only ~3 years old.

samples:


i've noticed that the TBers who diss them have no experience with them so you'll get a lot "you get what you pay for" comments from those without firsthand knowledge. also, a few were perplexed by the TR and assumed that the necks were faulty vs. user error.

when those necks start to be a waste of money = i'll report it post-haste. until then, they're a real deal! good luck with your own ambivalence, if any, and best of luck with your fretlessness!

 

[ZedLepp]

I have used quite a few of the chinese necks.
Hit or miss on quality. I haven't received anything warped, but knowing how to level, crown and polish is a requirement when dealing with these necks. (good skill to know anyways)
You might have to do a little finish sanding to clean up some tooling marks.
Would buy again.

 

[kodiakblair]

Anyone have any experience with Chinese replacement necks?

My experience mirrors that of @bpc and @JRA .

Some I bought were very cheap , £25, still going strong 3 years down the line, others cost twice that ; still doing great.

One thing about replacement neck is you should prepare yourself , as @ZedLepp says, for some fret and fitting work.
This holds true for a $50 Chinese neck through the $200-300 AllParts/WD necks right the way up to $600 Fender replacements.

 

[Bob_Ross]

Every time I see this thread I sing this tune in my head, w/ the word "necks" instead:

 

[coy garcia]

I have one on a mim fender. Maple with ebonol fingerboard. Plays good, held up but needs a neck adjustment twice a year or if I tune it down a 1/2 step. Done countless gigs with it.
I can't compare it to my handmade custom or high end bass necks in feel or stability but it works just fine.

 

[duanev3]

I actually went this route on my Squire 60's J-Bass. I looked for one everywhere (Lefty with binding and block fret markers) and could not find one anywhere. As a last resort I called Fender and they quoted me $600 and a 6 month lead time.... Screw that.

So I took the chance ($90 plus shipping) and a very nice dual action neck arrived. I had to modify the body neck pocket a little for the neck to fit properly. I also had to cut the grooves on the nut and open the tuner holes a tad to press in the tuner bushings. But over-all and so far it plays great.

 

[BaileyMan]

I've been happy with Allen Eden necks for the most part. I didn't care for the fretless synthetic rosewood tone. It was very glassy and unpleasant to my ears with pickups and electronics I was running. However, YMMV.

Their fretted necks needed some fret end filing, fret leveling, and nut slot filing. Out of the box it might not be the most playable, but with the right tools, you can probably get it playing well. Of course those right tools can easily run you a couple hundred bucks. Sure, you could save money and buy cheapo tools, but they'll be harder to work with and might not have wider tolerance, meaning the nut slot files might actually be the size they say they are, and the neck may ay a bit better, but still not great.

For $35, give it a shot and remember, you get what you pay for...

 

[ARandGenUsrName]

...

What seller did these come from? Or was it a mix?

 

[JRA]

What seller did these come from? Or was it a mix?

it was mixed: six necks from at least three sellers IIRC. TBH: i paid no attention to the sellers, specifically, as i was more interested in price and delivery dates (that said: all the prices and delivery dates were close/comparable --- and the province of origin/manufacture was always the same!).

hope that helps!

 

[rufus.K]

Every time I see this thread I sing this tune in my head, w/ the word "necks" instead:

Never heard this version. Whom is covering whom?

 

[ARandGenUsrName]

it was mixed: six necks from at least three sellers IIRC. TBH: i paid no attention to the sellers, specifically, as i was more interested in price and delivery dates (that said: all the prices and delivery dates were close/comparable --- and the province of origin/manufacture was always the same!).

hope that helps!

Yeah, that does help, thanks! I've been on the fence on one of these necks for years, maybe it's about time to pull the trigger

 

[Bob_Ross]

Never heard this version. Whom is covering whom?

Oh, gosh, that's the only version I've ever heard! Who else played that tune?

 

[iiipopes]

All the Best Cowboys Have Chinese Eyes

 

[JRA]

I've been on the fence on one of these necks for years, maybe it's about time to pull the trigger

i'd really hate to steer you wrong, but: every single neck (#6) i've purchased has been great. caveat: they're all fretless! i'm sure there's an argument to be made that a fretted neck has more things to be 'wrong' if it's not "great" to begin with.

for this long-time fretless player = i'd rather pay less and save some money on these necks, and fix the fretless issues (side dots in the wrong place), than to pay for fender necks (or even fender licensed necks) which we'd expect to be perfect for the money. (i've just always paid for fender necks in the past: way too much money for what they are!)

i would only guess that you might have to address some fret issues (sprout? IDK) for a fretted neck.

in any case, good luck to you while you ponder the possibilities!

 

[rufus.K]

Oh, gosh, that's the only version I've ever heard! Who else played that tune?

It's a Ramones tune