Proof that the neck has a big impact in tone.

[Spirit of Ox]

I just did a really accurate A/B comparison on the neck affecting the overall tone of a bass
My basses are stock 2016 Geddy Lee Jazz bass.
2009 mim body with Warmoth roasted maple jazz neck (standard profile), Kluson high mass bridge, 2019 mim Geddy lee pickups, and both have fresh DR Fat beams.
Comparing the tone only with the front pickup since the Geddy has 70s spacing and the custom doesnt.
The Geddy is noticably brighter and snappier and the custom is darker, and woodier sounding with more low mids. The sustain was about the same but of course the Warmoth has no dead spots and a more even tone compared to the Geddy lee.
So with two basses with the same pickups, strings, body wood, and similar bridge, it seems like the neck has a big impact of tone. More than I would've thought.
Can anyone else elaborate on this?

 

[wvbass]

Could be it isn't just the neck. Pickups could be wound a little different. Capacitors and pots could be at different ends of tolerance limits. Bodies will be of different densities. One neck joint could be a more solid connection than the other.

A bass is the sum of its parts - all of them, and you've got all different parts.

 

[Lownote38]

Is your tone cap the same in each bass? Pots?

 

[two fingers]

Yeah it's the whole package. Now, record one bass. Take the neck off the other bass and put it on that one. Record again.. THEN, and ONLY then, will you know how much of the puzzle is neck.

 

[SB300]

I have struggled to understand how a maple neck could sound different than a maple neck with a rosewood fretboard. But perhaps there could be a reason.

Here is the best A/B test I can imagine on the subject using a P bass. The gent simply swaps necks on the same body/strings/pups/bridge. If there is indeed a difference it is subtle. I would opt for which neck feels and/or looks better.

 

[Spirit of Ox]

Is your tone cap the same in each bass? Pots?

Yes same electronics.

 

[jmattbassplaya]

I’ve been wanting to swap necks between my Fender J and P to see what tonal differences arise. My guess - not much even though one neck has a rosewood board. I’ll likely run the experiment tomorrow and will report back.

 

[Spirit of Ox]

I have struggled to understand how a maple neck could sound different than a maple neck with a rosewood fretboard. But perhaps there could be a reason.

Here is the best A/B test I can imagine on the subject using a P bass. The gent simply swaps necks on the same body/strings/pups/bridge. If there is indeed a difference it is subtle. I would opt for which neck feels and/or looks better.

My basses are both maple but the Warmoth is roasted.

 

[Spirit of Ox]

Could be it isn't just the neck. Pickups could be wound a little different. Capacitors and pots could be at different ends of tolerance limits. Bodies will be of different densities. One neck joint could be a more solid connection than the other.

A bass is the sum of its parts - all of them, and you've got all different parts.

In this case I believe it's the neck with the greatest overall effect on the tone.

 

[MYLOWFREQ]

Yeah it's the whole package. Now, record one bass. Take the neck off the other bass and put it on that one. Record again.. THEN, and ONLY then, will you know how much of the puzzle is neck.

Even that, there's the human factor. A robot has to play the bass the same way for a fair comparison.

 

[Bryan R. Tyler]

Yeah it's the whole package. Now, record one bass. Take the neck off the other bass and put it on that one. Record again.. THEN, and ONLY then, will you know how much of the puzzle is neck.

Yep. There can be differences in every single part of the bodies even if they’re made with the same materials. Sorry but this isn’t proof at all. Even if you switched the necks and strings onto the same body, you need to have the instrument played by a machine that would not be prone to changing how it plays when the instrument changes. And then even after that, you would need many, many versions of each kind of neck to determine if the differences are between the neck materials or just between those particular necks. You might find that many necks that are theoretically identical sound noticeably different from each other and many necks that are fundamentally different sounding the same as one another. Unfortunately science is nowhere near as easy as your test.

 

[TheReceder]

I'm convinced with bolt on necks that it's actually the screws that attach the neck to the body that have the largest impact on overall tone.

I've found if you removed the screws the tone becomes horrible and the bass becomes unplayable.

 

[Killed_by_Death]

If you really want to prove it, swap the necks.

Bodies will be of different densities.

It's not the density that affects the timbre, it's the stiffness.

 

[REV]

How do the basses compare when played unamplified?

 

[Spirit of Ox]

How do the basses compare when played unamplified?

The Geddy is brighter unamplified. I really think its the neck and not the body.

 

[Spirit of Ox]

If you really want to prove it, swap the necks.

That would really prove it. I'm probably not going to do it but I do think I would get the same results. I think the Geddy lee neck just yields a brighter tone.



It's not the density that affects the timbre, it's the stiffness.

 

[james condino]

What made you think the neck didn't have a big effect on tone?

 

[Spirit of Ox]

What made you think the neck didn't have a big effect on tone?

I always knew it did but this test really showed how much. Yes I know there are other factors but the neck seems to really bring out the timbre of the instrument.

 

[Juststanley]

Sorry Sox...I believe your test is flawed....unless you only change one variable. the necks

 

[drumvsbass]

Another song for the deaf...

same bass different neck. same neck different bass.
pick fingers. back to back comparison with frequency analyzer.