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Proof that the neck has a big impact in tone.
- Thread starter Spirit of Ox
- Start date
I've got 2 Stingray5s, one from 1997 (all birsdseye maple) and one from 2003 (regular maple with rosewood board). So both have the 3 coil ceramic magnet pickups. The only difference in sound is the newer/rosewood one is louder (preamp?, pickup winding?, IDK). If I boost the signal somehow or just max all onboard controls in the older/maple one it sounds really the same as the newer/rosewood set flat, I mean fully, as in UNDISTINGUISHABLE. Guess in my case both sums of parts resulted in real twin tone personalities. OTOH, they play just slightly different as the older/maple one is in the brink of needing a shim (still OK, but outer saddles are drum down to the plate), so strings/pickup are lower and thumb resting sensation is 2-3 mm off from the newer/rosewood one (my main).
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I have two Mustang PJs. One is the LE version and painted black with a black 'guard, bridge, tuners and ebony fingerboard. I never use bridge pickups. On the P pickup it sounds very full with rich lower mids and lows with just enough highs for some clarity.
My other PJ is Oly White with a mint guard, chrome bridge and tuners and a rosewood fingerboard. On the P pickup it has noticeably brighter highs than my PJ LE.
Based on that evidence, could it be concluded that the color of the paint and hardware determines tone?
My other PJ is Oly White with a mint guard, chrome bridge and tuners and a rosewood fingerboard. On the P pickup it has noticeably brighter highs than my PJ LE.
Based on that evidence, could it be concluded that the color of the paint and hardware determines tone?
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Could be the bridge. Try roasting it. Has anyone seen the bridge? Also the chance of wood density of the bodies being identical is slim. But I like the fact that the same pickups, electronics and strings shows up the fact that there's more than just pickups, electronics and strings to the sound of a bass.
....AND DO IT BLINDLY....because if you know which is which, all bets are off. The brain is a peculiar instrument, indeed.
The Warmouth truss rod has likely more mass. That makes a difference. I've replaced conventional truss rods with double expanding types and the sustain of the instrument did change.
I'll sell you a bridge...
IME the neck definitely makes a difference:
two basses of the same model, same pickups, only difference was the necks
1 with a relatively flimsy neck that fretted out just from down-tuning to D-Standard
the other with a neck so stiff there wasn't much difference between E-Standard & C#-Standard
Yes, the one with the stiff neck sounded FAR better!
I had a similar experience with two similar guitars RGEW & RGT (neck-thru), same pickups, but one had a roasted maple neck & yes it sounded better.
It's not the Density or Mass that changes to make it sound different, it's the stiffness.
Graphite reinforcement bars are lower-Mass than Ti bars, but affect the timbre just as much as a Ti bar.
If you were able to replace the truss-rod with something as stiff but lower-Mass than steel, it would improve the timbre as much, or likely better, than a double-expanding truss-rod.
two basses of the same model, same pickups, only difference was the necks
1 with a relatively flimsy neck that fretted out just from down-tuning to D-Standard
the other with a neck so stiff there wasn't much difference between E-Standard & C#-Standard
Yes, the one with the stiff neck sounded FAR better!
I had a similar experience with two similar guitars RGEW & RGT (neck-thru), same pickups, but one had a roasted maple neck & yes it sounded better.
It's not the Density or Mass that changes to make it sound different, it's the stiffness.
Graphite reinforcement bars are lower-Mass than Ti bars, but affect the timbre just as much as a Ti bar.
If you were able to replace the truss-rod with something as stiff but lower-Mass than steel, it would improve the timbre as much, or likely better, than a double-expanding truss-rod.
About 50 years ago Alembic guys found that the neck type significantly affected tone, and that the body type didn't. So, why are we discussing it in 2020?
Always thought it was a "contributing factor". I have to say though that my '82 Jazz with maple neck and white binding has a LOT more sustain than my '65 Jazz did with the normal rosewood fretboard on maple neck. And yes I did use the big ashtray cover but removed the open foam mute that was clued to the inside of it.
It also has the 70's era pickup spacing (4" center to center) and I can also get brighter sounds out of it than I could with my '65 which had the 60's era pickup spacing (3.6" center to center). The neck itself is the same profile, shape, and radius as my '65 was and it only took me about 10-years to find on with those measurements after my '65 was stolen. Although I miss my '65, I love the way my '82 plays and sounds.
My '65 Jazz with rosewood.
my '82 Jazz all maple neck
It looks like an increasing number of people are noticing that wider/thicker necks sound better.
I once had two PJ basses that both had active EMG p'ups and EMG preamps, and for obvious reasons, they sounded identical. They sounded very different acoustically, and one did sustain a bit better than the other, but they sounded the same through through an amp or recording board.
EDIT: Realized I hadn't made any mention of the basses, one was an entry level Ibanez GSR, maple and rosewood neck on basswood body, the other was a Jackson C4, also maple and rosewood but the body was something else, like Indian Acedro or something like that. It was heavy, a lot heavier than the Ibanez.
EDIT: Realized I hadn't made any mention of the basses, one was an entry level Ibanez GSR, maple and rosewood neck on basswood body, the other was a Jackson C4, also maple and rosewood but the body was something else, like Indian Acedro or something like that. It was heavy, a lot heavier than the Ibanez.
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Alembic also claims they can "tune" the tone like a fine wine recipe if you buy their marketing hype, which I for one do not. They make gorgeous basses and guitars with very sophisticated electronics, but its just nice looking wood and metal in the end. They didn't "discover" much of anything that generations of Luthiers didnt know before them, at least about the nature of wood instruments. Other than being works of art commanding extremely high prices, their isnt anything particularly radical or innovative about their construction methods, and laminated necks and "hippie sandwich" bodies do not necessarily produce a great sounding bass. Their primary innovations were in the active electronics and levels of tone control that approach almost comical levels of complexity on sone of their basses. Dont get me wrong, if I had a huge wad of disposable cash burning a hole in my pocket, id buy a Balance K in a heartbeat, perhaps the most beautiful bass body shape ever made IMO, but physical beauty is no guarentee of superior tone in a bass.
Yes I noticed that too. The Geddy is thin and narrow but sounds great. It's a snappier brighter tone but it doesnt have the tonal heft of the the thicker neck.
Yeah I never knew that. I just wanted to make the comparison myself. I didn't realize there was going to be so many responses.
Roger Sadowsky always said that necks have a big impact on the tone of a bass. That's one guy who should know.
D
