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Small knot in bass neck - OK or avoid?

#42
I have a Nash PB-57 with a knot on top of the neck at the fifth fret. I find it to be a nice natural marker, so it's a beauty mark. It does not bother me and I have absolutely no issues with sound.
 
#43
The fact that the growth rings are so wide (looks to be all of 7-8 years across the width of a bass neck?) that they appear to be laminates at first glance would cause me to avoid this board without the knot. I'm more of wooddorker than a luthier, I have a few thousand board feet of maple in the inconveniently large pile of lumber sawn off my lot, and I have never seen that sort of spacing from a respectable sugar/hard maple. That's very fast growth to the point that it makes me suspicious, (what sort of heavily fertilized plantation does it take to grow that tree?) and I'd expect it to be weak as compared to a more normal growth-rate tree.

We also have an entire thread here in the LC about why a one-board quarter-sawn neck may not be as superior as some folks think. The board in the opening photo of that thread has at least 30 years in it on a quick guesstimate, for contrast with the 8-year wonder board in this thread.
 
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#44
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#45
T_Bone_TL said:
The fact that the growth rings are so wide (looks to be all of 7-8 years across the width of a bass neck?) that they appear to be laminates at first glance would cause me to avoid this board without the knot. I'm more of wooddorker than a luthier, I have a few thousand board feet of maple in the inconveniently large pile of lumber sawn off my lot, and I have never seen that sort of spacing from a respectable sugar/hard maple. That's very fast growth to the point that it makes me suspicious, (what sort of heavily fertilized plantation does it take to grow that tree?) and I'd expect it to be weak as compared to a more normal growth-rate tree.

We also have an entire thread here in the LC about why a one-board quarter-sawn neck may not be as superior as some folks think. The board in the opening photo of that thread has at least 30 years in it on a quick guesstimate, for contrast with the 8-year wonder board in this thread.
Click to expand...
“wonder board” or “Wonder Bread”? It does look rather “soft” to be sure
 
#47
I can't tell from the pic whether it would feel like a bump when your thumb hits it. Still, even if that were true, you're pretty high up on the neck. I don't think I would come up against it very often...
If it feels just like the rest of the back of the neck I don't think I'd worry about it. From what all the posts before mine on this thread agree, it seems like you're in the clear...
 

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