buzzbass said:
This is something that they had been doing the last few years.From what i heard they were replacing alot of the 5 strings birdseye necks because of warping.
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Figured maple necks and stability
- Thread starter MAJOR METAL
- Start date
This is something that they had been doing the last few years.From what i heard they were replacing alot of the 5 strings birdseye necks because of warping.
I've got a re-fin 1965 Jazz bass with slight flame in the neck. It's very stable; no warpage/buzzing. When I pull it out at practice sessions after about a week or two, it's always in tune, all strings end up being either sharp or flat the same way, just like my old 1963 P-bass.
I've got two StingRay5 basses. One has Birds-Eye figuring in the neck, the other doesn't. They are both seem very stabile.
I've recently aquired two new Rickenbacker 4004/5Cii basses. They both have flame pattern figuring in the necks, one more so than the other. Time will tell how well they hold up, but I do expect them to hold up well. They seem exceptionally well built.
I've recently aquired two new Rickenbacker 4004/5Cii basses. They both have flame pattern figuring in the necks, one more so than the other. Time will tell how well they hold up, but I do expect them to hold up well. They seem exceptionally well built.
If there are stability issues with using flame maple for a neck why is it pretty much the "standard" for violin family instruments and double basses? Does the roundness of a violin neck make the difference?
Those are much thicker and shorter, so any warping will be less obvious. Also upright basses have much higher action, hiding minor flex. Generally speaking.
It seems many people have great luck with figured necks but most of the warped necks I've encountered have warped where there is flame figuring.
It seems many people have great luck with figured necks but most of the warped necks I've encountered have warped where there is flame figuring.
- Mar 1, 2002
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- Owner: Ken Smith Basses, Ltd.
It's all about the individual piece of wood. I have an English Double Bass completed in 1811 and it still has it's original non-laminated, non-reinforced, Flat sawn Flamed Maple Neck. If you count the Aging period before it was made, the Neck is over 200 years old. See it here; Invalid Link Removed
From this page; [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
Most old Double Basses have had their original necks replaced from either accident or to conform to modern Bridge heights. This Neck was so Beautiful and so Perfect that when the Bass was converted to a modern Double Bass in the late 19th century, the Restorer didn't have the heart to replace the neck with a new 'Graft' in order to move it out and attain the modern Bridge height needed for the Louder Orchestra volume required instead of it's former use as a Chamber Music Bass. Instead, the restorer used the old Ebony Fingerboard and 'pitched' it back to the Scroll to add lift and then placed a new Ebony Fingerboard on top of it. The Ebony 'wedge' added about 2 or more inches to the Bridge height.
A good stable neck is a "Good Stable Neck'. Curl, Flames or Birdseye may make it look prettier but only propper drying of straight Growth Grain can provide you with a Stable neck. We do NOT buy Curly/Figured material for necks since the early 1980s. If the board 'has' Figure, we still use it and hope it stays straight in service. It will most likely be a 3 or 5-piece laminated neck with Morado 'Stringers' and Graphite Bars inlaid to even out the tone and keep it stable. Kiln Dried Lumber is less predictable in our times than Well aged Air Dried Wood of 200 years ago...That is just a fact, not an opinion...
From this page; [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
Most old Double Basses have had their original necks replaced from either accident or to conform to modern Bridge heights. This Neck was so Beautiful and so Perfect that when the Bass was converted to a modern Double Bass in the late 19th century, the Restorer didn't have the heart to replace the neck with a new 'Graft' in order to move it out and attain the modern Bridge height needed for the Louder Orchestra volume required instead of it's former use as a Chamber Music Bass. Instead, the restorer used the old Ebony Fingerboard and 'pitched' it back to the Scroll to add lift and then placed a new Ebony Fingerboard on top of it. The Ebony 'wedge' added about 2 or more inches to the Bridge height.
A good stable neck is a "Good Stable Neck'. Curl, Flames or Birdseye may make it look prettier but only propper drying of straight Growth Grain can provide you with a Stable neck. We do NOT buy Curly/Figured material for necks since the early 1980s. If the board 'has' Figure, we still use it and hope it stays straight in service. It will most likely be a 3 or 5-piece laminated neck with Morado 'Stringers' and Graphite Bars inlaid to even out the tone and keep it stable. Kiln Dried Lumber is less predictable in our times than Well aged Air Dried Wood of 200 years ago...That is just a fact, not an opinion...
KSB - Ken Smith said:It's all about the individual piece of wood. I have an English Double Bass completed in 1811 and it still has it's original non-laminated, non-reinforced, Flat sawn Flamed Maple Neck. If you count the Aging period before it was made, the Neck is over 200 years old. See it here;
What Ken said?
Someday a wide neck KSB. will be mine/
MikeBass
Supporting Member
- Nov 4, 2003
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I've had Fodera, Fbass, Spector, Music Man and a few Jazz basses with either birdseye or flame in the neck and of fingerboard. Most with both and never once had a problem.
The same goes for an active/passive switch. Never had a battery die on me in over 20 years of gigging.
I think both fall into the "could happen" catagory for most of us, hence the nervousness.
I don't play neck thru basses anymore because I had two seperate problems where the neck problem turned the bass into something un-playable.
I've only met/know one other person who ever had a problem like this.
Again for most it falls under "could happen".
The same goes for an active/passive switch. Never had a battery die on me in over 20 years of gigging.
I think both fall into the "could happen" catagory for most of us, hence the nervousness.
I don't play neck thru basses anymore because I had two seperate problems where the neck problem turned the bass into something un-playable.
I've only met/know one other person who ever had a problem like this.
Again for most it falls under "could happen".
