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T40 neck

Bass.

Bass.

Jan 23, 2006
607
24
San Diego
#1
Does anyone else find this neck to be unreasonably "chunky"?

i mean fretboard width, at the nut and twelfth it doesn't seem to get thinner as it gets to the headstock.
so it feels very "chunky" around the "typical bass note" section
(1 - 12) hah.
 
#4
I don't play Pbass, don't like the feel, but i never attributed my lack of enthusiasm for them due to a wide neck.
this neck is almost half a cm bigger than my ibanez (just finding out)

and mine appears to be in two pieces. Two slabs (long way) pressed. anyone elses like that?
 
#6
well, i knew that manufacturers (didnt know about luthiers) made necks made of up to 5 (if i'm correct) different pieces. but this is on the fretboard. it is exactly two pieces of wood. no different wood for fretboard etc. just two long pieces of wood.

by the way how do they (makers) force wood together like that. so seemlessly?
 
#7
Bass. said:
well, i knew that manufacturers (didnt know about luthiers) made necks made of up to 5 (if i'm correct) different pieces. but this is on the fretboard. it is exactly two pieces of wood. no different wood for fretboard etc. just two long pieces of wood.

by the way how do they (makers) force wood together like that. so seemlessly?
Click to expand...
They use a jointer, and clamp it when they glue it up. No magic, they just make sure it is perfectly smooth and flat, glue it, and clamp it. Lots of clamps. High pressure.
 
#8
Bass. said:
well, i knew that manufacturers (didnt know about luthiers) made necks made of up to 5 (if i'm correct) different pieces. but this is on the fretboard. it is exactly two pieces of wood. no different wood for fretboard etc. just two long pieces of wood.

by the way how do they (makers) force wood together like that. so seemlessly?
Click to expand...


There is no "fretboard" on a maple T-40, it's one piece front to back. The T-40 neck was cut down the middle, the trussrod added and then glued back together. The only other manufaturer to do this that I know of is the US G&Ls. The theory is that since a proper glue joint is stringer than the wood around it, the neck is actually stronger than a normal 1 piece. G&L has now patented the process.
 
#9
Bass. said:
well, i knew that manufacturers (didnt know about luthiers) made necks made of up to 5 (if i'm correct) different pieces. but this is on the fretboard. it is exactly two pieces of wood. no different wood for fretboard etc. just two long pieces of wood.

by the way how do they (makers) force wood together like that. so seemlessly?
Click to expand...

Mine has a rosewood board, so it's a little different, but the neck is made of two pieces of wood. The reason they did that, IIRC, is that the two pieces of wood are oriented opposite of each other, so that the natural tendency of wood to bend/warp in one direction (not the tension created by string tension or trussrod) is counteracted by the opposing piece of wood that is oriented in the opposite direction. :hmm:

Anyway, I've found the string spacing to be wide on my T-40; wider than I'm used to as a (primarily) 5-string and Ric player. At first, it bugged me like crazy, and slowed my playing dramatically, but now I'm getting more used to it.

As vintage instruments, they are a steal, and they are pretty well made, as well, for such inexpensive basses.

I'm considering replacing the pickups with Dark Stars on mine, and possibly epoxying the extra T-40 fretless neck that I have.
 

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