New neck day - Warmoth roasted maple = WOW!

I have a 2016 Fender American Standard P bass and, while I generally like the bass, the Fender modified C neck profile just doesn't work for me. I thought that I could get used to it but the modified C shape is just too round and chunky for my playing comfort. I prefer a thin and flatter profile like my original '65 P, my USA Lakland Scheff 5, Ibanez SR and BTB 5 strings.

I've been curious about roasted maple and it's attributes so I took the leap and ordered one from Warmoth. It's a Maple/Maple P - 10" radius, Slim Taper w/ steel rods, tusq nut and 6105 frets.

I just can't believe the excellent quality of this neck. The feel is perfect, the slim taper is thinner than their standard but is still substantial and exactly what I was looking for. It requires no finish and the construction and fret work are impeccable. I installed the tuners and mounted it myself, the neck pocket is a perfect fit.

I took it to my bass tech to lower the slots in the factory installed nut and to generally look it over. He put a straight edge to the frets and they required no leveling and the edges are perfectly cut and beveled. The frets are a tall vintage type and the bass has zero dead spots, lots of sustain and no neck dive.

I used it last night on a rehearsal of the musical Newsies and it feels effortless to play. It's the fastest neck that I've ever owned and makes the bass sound generally more even.

Warmoth necks are worth it, great products and excellent customer service.
Their prices are premium but in the case of the roasted, since they require no finish, they are an excellent value.

I'll probably be selling the original neck.

 

I took a couple and they weren't very good.
I will take some more in a day or so.

 

The truss rod adjustment is on the heel of the neck and does not have the "micro-tilt" (which you may be referring to) which adjusts the neck angle in the body's neck pocket. If you have a properly sized neck pocket and neck, you don't need micro tilt, which is essentially a mechanical shim adjustment. If you need to shim the neck angle, you can buy commercially made shims from Stewart McDonald or use a guitar pick or business card.

My particular neck has an extra fret (up to an E natural on the G string). It extends the fretboard a little bit and it looks just fine. With that extended fret board, I have to remove the neck to get to the truss rod adjustment, which is no big deal to me. You can order these necks without the extra fret so it's 100% identical to a Fender.
I could have ordered that way but I didn't want to wait 6 weeks for delivery.
Mine was an "in stock" neck on their web site and when you order it they then finish it with your choice of frets and for a $30.00 up-charge, I had them install a TUSQ nut. It took a week to arrive including the Thanksgiving holiday. Warmoth makes their stuff under license and are approved by Fender so they are a cut above most guitar parts suppliers.

 

Here are pics of the neck before it was finished and fretted from the Warmoth site.

 

Finished meaning completed. There is no finish on it, and it feels great!

 

I was not aware of that device, that's a cool feature, great for guitar necks that react to temperature changes or move a lot. The Warmoth bass necks are also loaded with 2 steel rods on either side of the truss rod which makes them more stable and lessens the need for frequent adjustment. The only time that I find myself adjusting the truss rod is if I change string gauges. Using balanced tension strings also helps even the pull on the neck making the relief the same on both sides of the fretboard.

 

Fortunately, it did not change the tone. I'm using the EMG passive Geezer Butler Alnico 5 pickup in this bass and its a dead ringer for a 1963 P pickup, it is excellent.

The reason the I switched is that Fender pickup has raised magnets with sharp edges and I was hitting them with my fingers when I played over it. When I lowered the pickup enough to get the magnets out of my way, it killed the output volume.

The EMG magnets are flush with the cover.

EMG just had a 20% off sale and I ordered the new EMG P pickup with Alnico 2 magnets which is essentially a vintage '57 P pickup.

With the EMG quick release wiring all you do is plug it in, no soldering at all. So, I can trade pickups out easily depending on the sound I want.