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Neck through bolt on?? (Washburn Content)

timendous

timendous

Jul 1, 2009
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Ohio
#1
I'm looking at picking up this Washburn MB40 in a trade. But, I'm finding almost zero info on it.

Anyone ever seen a neck like this? Looks neck through but also bolts? I don't think those are for pickup adjustment. Also, I'm guessing the electronics are volume/balance/bass/treb/stacked low and hi mid? Maybe stacked mid and mid freq? Interesting string choice as well going with black tape wounds on the outside and what looks like white or gold tapes for the A and D strings.

I'll post in the Washburn club as well but any info would be appreciated. The bass is located pretty far from me, but I'm heading out there this weekend to visit some family so unfortunately I won't be able to get my actual hands on it until then.

I just thought I'd poke the TB bear and see if anyone has any info on this guy! Thanks in advance!
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#3
There were a few makers back in the late-1990's and early-2000's that used a similar construction style, occasionally referred to as a "deep-set bolt-on neck" or something to that effect. The first example I saw of this was from a German company called Human Base on a model called the BaseX, where they refer to this neck joint as a "High-Tension Bolt-On Neck Joint".

Some of the larger manufacturers, like Washburn, got in on this construction method for a little while, but seemingly abandoned it once CNC machining got advanced enough to make comfortable contours on more traditional (and lower cost!) neck joints.

I can't find any specific example at the moment, but I swear Status was doing something similar with their graphite necks for a while...
 
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#5
There is precious little information about this model on the web, but from what I found at this link, it's bolt on.

MB40 Bass Guitar by Washburn Guitars Valuation Report by UsedPrice.com

Valuation Report for Used MB40 Bass Guitar by Washburn Guitars (Specs: Bass, Maple, Solid, Maple, Bolt, Rosewood, 24 Frets, Dot, 4 # of Strings, 2+2, Double, Chrome, Active, Dual, Metallic Gray)
www.usedprice.com www.usedprice.com

I believe @calypsocoral302 is correct on his assessment of the design, it's a really deep set bolt on.

Since this bass was made from 2002 - 2006, I seriously doubt that it has a 4 band preamp. Most likely, it is your second guess of stacked mid/mid frequency.

Let us know more once you've seen this oddity in person!
 
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#6
It's always surprising how some brand treat archieves Washburn is one of the worst in that.
I contacted them about my M12 and they basically denied that it was made by them.

I've seen your model some times ago and this kind of bolt-on neck is supposed to be the best of both world. Neck-thru sustain + servicable bolt-on neck.
It's used by some luthiers and boutique bass builders but most of the time, the neck is top mounted.

Many luthiers demonstrated that using multiple screws on bolt-on neck act like neck-tru design but again as it is not scientifically proven because it demands time and money.... well you just have to believe or just appreciate this bass as it is.


At least it's a nice quirky looking bass. Maybe it plays and sounds good?
 
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#7
Thanks for the replies everyone. That is one super deep neck pocket. I'll hopefully be checking it out this weekend. The seller informed me that the bass works but the preamp wiring has been modified by a tech and "some of the wires are not connected" so who knows how it's functioning. I'd probably end up just dropping a new preamp in it anyway.

I'll report back once I get my hands on it!
 
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#10
BoogieZK said:
It's always surprising how some brand treat archieves Washburn is one of the worst in that.
I contacted them about my M12 and they basically denied that it was made by them.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately they are correct.
Washburn has contracted out their production for decades. They have also been owned and or controlled by many different corporations and individuals since their inception.
Production runs were often very small and short lived as well.
All of this contributes to incomplete or nonexistent records of their builds so it’s not surprising at all that information is scarce and that the current company doesn’t have an answer to what was going on 3 owners, 4 countries and 5 factories ago.
 
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#11
ATLbassist said:
I'm curious to know why the E&G and A&D strings are different pairs. Looks like black nylon tapes on the outside and clear tapes on the inside. Is it just for looks or is there a tonal reason?
Click to expand...
I honestly don't know. My suspicion is that it is just for looks. It *kind of* matches the look from the back of the neck and the body. My experience with black and clear tapewound strings is that they sound significantly different from one another. I would be changing them pretty quickly. Probably DR nickel lo riders.

But, I am intrigued and may put some black tapewounds on there at some point.
 
#12
Roland GR 88 said:
Unfortunately they are correct.
Washburn has contracted out their production for decades. They have also been owned and or controlled by many different corporations and individuals since their inception.
Production runs were often very small and short lived as well.
All of this contributes to incomplete or nonexistent records of their builds so it’s not surprising at all that information is scarce and that the current company doesn’t have an answer to what was going on 3 owners, 4 countries and 5 factories ago.
Click to expand...
Yeah that's wild. Crazy for there to be so little record, even throughout all of the interwebs.

Oh well, its intriguing enough that as long as there are no major red flags when it's in my hands, I'm gonna go ahead and make the trade and give it a shot. I'll hopefully have plenty of photos and details by the beginning of next week!
 
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#14
That is quite strange! HumanBase was the only company I saw doing that design successfully. The Curlee basses had a long tenon, but top mounted, not through the back like that.

I built a bass a few years back with a similar setup. The thing that didn't work in mine was, the neck started to flex at the body joint area, so the action started getting higher and essentially, it would have required shimming the back, assuming it had settled.

With that in mind, if the action on this is not super high, it's likely better designed than mine was and after these years, is unlikely to move very much.
 
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