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Warmoth necks: How much heavier than others?

R

RBrownBass

Thoroughly Nice Guy
Aug 22, 2004
3,430
1,369
#1
Looking into a Warmoth Neck for a Geddy body I have. Warmoth can build me a maple/rosewood/pearloid blocked for less than $300. No binding in that price quote, but binding isn't an issue for me.

Thing is, I keep hearing these stories about neck dive and/or overall weight issues with their necks due to the steel reinforcement rods. My question, to all who may have the numbers (or just an opinion/estimate), is: How much more does a Warmoth neck weigh than necks with graphite reinforcement or none at all but a truss rod? I should state that I have owned three Warmoth necks in the past decade but never installed them on anything due to constant changes in my project plans.

The Geddy body weighs 5 pounds, FWIW, and I'm in pretty good shape with no back issues, so I have no real concerns about ending up with an ungiggable bass due to weight. But I AM concerned about potential neck dive. I would prefer not to deal with Ultralights as they do not resemble standard 70s tuners from the front.
 
#2
It really depends on what kind of neck you get, but the one I have certainly has some weight to it. It's a goncalo alves Jazz neck with an ebony fretboard. But on my Jazz bass I don't have any neck dive problems, and I doubt you would either. You will thank your lucky stars for the reinforced neck, as once you set the action you won't have to touch it again for years. I'll also add that swapping out the neck had a HUGE influence on the tone of my bass. I briefly switched out the neck on my new Jag with the warmoth, and the tonal differences were night and day. The stock neck had a sort of hollow, woody tone, while the warmoth neck was really smooth and thick. You won't regret the change.
 
#3
Out of the five Warmoths I have, every one sits at a 40 degree angle when hung by just the forward strap button. I can't really compare weights as they're all either bubinga or wenge. Those woods are much heavier in themselves, so I can't imagine that a maple neck would dive any more.
 
#4
Of my several Warmoth necks, my Bubinga/Ebony necks are noticeably heavier than my Maple/Rosewood or Maple/Ebony necks.

IME, a Warmoth can weigh about a half pound (or more) than a "standard" Fender style neck depending on the necks in question.

However, that weight is distributed along the entire neck so (IME) while neckdive may not be increased per se, a Warmoth necked bass will be heavier on the strap than the same bass with a standard Fender style neck.
 
#5
With a body weight of 5 pounds I doubt that you will have any neck dive issue that is worth to mention. I have three Warmoth JB's and the one that weight wise will come closest to your project has a walnut body (5.2 lbs) and a rosewood/ebony neck (2.3 lbs), and standard vintage Schaller BML tuners. This is my heaviest configuration and I have never thought about any neck dive issue with this bas (nor with the two others).
IMO you will need to have a very light weight body in order to run in to any serious unbalance as a consequence of the steel bars in a Warmoth neck. The specifics is that steel extra weight for a Warmoth neck is 5.6 ounces and as pointed out by mongo2 this is distributed along the neck. The 5.6 ounces is from this earlier post by Brian Goode from Warmoth: http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showpost.php?p=2410206&postcount=19

I agree with you that it is a shame that you can not get a real vintage looking lightweight tuner. The Schaller's doesn't have the clover shape and Hipshot's are not wide enough to fill the original BML size. Anyway, if you ever feel a neck dive problem then lightweight tuners is the solution since all weight will be released from the head.
 
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#6
I am also curious about this question. I might have a TB trade that involves a custom bass that has a defretted bubinga Warmoth neck with ebony fretboard. The body is mahogany. Link to pics below.

http://s48.photobucket.com/albums/f245/ImSuperPoor/Basses/Fretless Custom Jazz/

Seller says that the bass is under 9 lbs. and I don't have any reason to doubt him, but I wondered what others thought about neck weight and neck dive. Thanks guys!
 
#8
For what it's worth, I have a project bass I was working on that has a Warmoth standard Jazz body; ( Koa top/Black Korina back) and a Warmoth 4 str. Jazz neck; ( Maple w/ Wenge neck) Schaller stnd. size tuners. Even w/o any pups or electronics in it, do not notice any neck dive.
 
#12
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the Jazz body was quite like, a hair over 4 pounds. No neck dive even on a cheap nylon strap. The whole bass is only like 1/2 pound heavier than my Am Std Jazz. The Warmoth neck is superb, super stiff and the right size for my hands (it is a P neck)
 

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