NND = new neck day 
I built this Warmoth 32” medium scale on a whim. Just thought another P bass would be cool so I could run both flats and rounds. Turned out to be better than my other Ps so they got sold while this one stayed.
And ever since I’ve been wishing I had block inlays. A neck became available so I bought it and did a swap.
The new neck is wenge (when-gay) with a rosewood fretboard. I was concerned a bit about weight since wenge is more dense than maple. I also wondered how it would look and what it would do to the sound.
During the swap process I made some weighings to get some data. I was surprised that this particular wenge neck is lighter then the maple neck it replaced. Weight is in lbs.
Item: maple / wenge
Bare neck: 1.63 / 1.58
Loaded neck: 2.04 / 1.93
Total bass: 6.87 / 6.76
I also measured the change in center of gravity (balance point)
CG: 19th / 20th
The result is that the wenge neck is lighter than the maple neck and the CG on the bass shifted 1 fret away from the headstock while the bass got lighter.
The sound didn’t change much but I think I can hear a slight change. The wenge neck makes the bass sound a bit more forward, less of a background pillow and a bit more of a barking dog. Just a bit. It is sort of bright with an midrange emphasis. Sounds more aggressive. A minor amp EQ tweak will put it right back in its place if desired.
I like the looks. I’m not totally thrilled with the small headstock but the function it brings to the table will allow me to look past it. I really like the dark wenge look. Makes me want to build a shell pink J bass with a wenge neck.
Here are the before / after pics. Let me know what you think. I’m OK with you saying it is ugly even though forum rules say “no”.
I built this Warmoth 32” medium scale on a whim. Just thought another P bass would be cool so I could run both flats and rounds. Turned out to be better than my other Ps so they got sold while this one stayed.
And ever since I’ve been wishing I had block inlays. A neck became available so I bought it and did a swap.
The new neck is wenge (when-gay) with a rosewood fretboard. I was concerned a bit about weight since wenge is more dense than maple. I also wondered how it would look and what it would do to the sound.
During the swap process I made some weighings to get some data. I was surprised that this particular wenge neck is lighter then the maple neck it replaced. Weight is in lbs.
Item: maple / wenge
Bare neck: 1.63 / 1.58
Loaded neck: 2.04 / 1.93
Total bass: 6.87 / 6.76
I also measured the change in center of gravity (balance point)
CG: 19th / 20th
The result is that the wenge neck is lighter than the maple neck and the CG on the bass shifted 1 fret away from the headstock while the bass got lighter.
The sound didn’t change much but I think I can hear a slight change. The wenge neck makes the bass sound a bit more forward, less of a background pillow and a bit more of a barking dog. Just a bit. It is sort of bright with an midrange emphasis. Sounds more aggressive. A minor amp EQ tweak will put it right back in its place if desired.
I like the looks. I’m not totally thrilled with the small headstock but the function it brings to the table will allow me to look past it. I really like the dark wenge look. Makes me want to build a shell pink J bass with a wenge neck.
Here are the before / after pics. Let me know what you think. I’m OK with you saying it is ugly even though forum rules say “no”.
