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That is a really nice looking neck! Do you know how old it is? My first guess would be rosewood, but I'm no expert. Based on the shaft wood options currently selectable for custom necks on the Warmoth site, rosewood seems like a good guess (if it was produced fairly recently).
Also, welcome to the Warmoth Appreciation Society
Yrs ago Warmoth had a page on their site that talked about the steel vs graphite bars. The steel bars were intended to combat dead spots, hot spots, ski jumps, etc. They claimed that graphite did not offer the same level of dead spot reduction but they provide them due to strong customer demand.
All my Warmoth 34" scale necks have been steel reinforced and all did a great job controlling dead & hot spots. I currently have three 32" scale necks from them (with no bars) and each has more dead spots than any of the 34" scale steel-reinforced necks.
I replaced 2 maple Warmoth necks with wenge Warmoth necks and the weight of both went down.
That is a really nice looking neck! Do you know how old it is? My first guess would be rosewood, but I'm no expert. Based on the shaft wood options currently selectable for custom necks on the Warmoth site, rosewood seems like a good guess (if it was produced fairly recently).
Also, welcome to the Warmoth Appreciation Society
Thank you for kindly welcoming me and for sharing your thoughts, thisheregiraffe! I appreciate your input very much. I'm not sure how old the neck is, but I love the way it feels and I'm pretty sure it has steel reinforcement rods within. Their necks feel sooo solid to me, and I find them to be such a joy to play.
Hi Murphy, thank you for your input! I'd be happy to find out that it's Mahogany. I love low mids in my sound, so that might help bump up those frequencies. Whatever it is, it sure feels nice and solid!
Forgot to post my NBD here. I now have a holo flake alder G4 body, which is just fantastic.
link to thread: https://www.talkbass.com/threads/nb...part-is-it-still-the-same-instrument.1623454/
One pic which makes it look way more subtle than it is.
link to thread: https://www.talkbass.com/threads/nb...part-is-it-still-the-same-instrument.1623454/
One pic which makes it look way more subtle than it is.
I went with steel and still have a dead spot on the fretless neck I ordered. Very disappointed
If it had more red in it, I would say Padauk, the grain is very similar.
As the second guess might be Ovangkol
Getting ready to embark on my 4th Warmoth build.
1-piece swamp ash body at 4.2 lbs. MM sweet spot routing, no finish, no pot holes, drilled for a side jack.
Roasted maple neck, vintage small fretwire, Tusq XL nut.
I've got a SBMM Ray that I like, but don't love. It neck dives like crazy even with Hipshot Ultralite tuners. The maple neck is all stained with grime from the former owner. I swapped out the stock guts for passive electronics and a Nordstrand 4.4 with series/single/parallel switching.
I'm going to go dead simple on this bass. Series/parallel switch, on/off switch, tone switch (to mimic a tone pot at minimum and maximum). I plan to mount slide switches to the control cavity plate on the back in order to show off as much of the grain as possible. Also, because I just want to try something different on this next build.
It's slightly inspired by the EBMM Joe Dart series of basses.
Not entirely sure what pickup I'll go with. Maybe the Nordstrand MM4.2. Likely to go with Hipshot bridge and Gotoh's lightweight tuners.
For the body, I'm debating just going super simple with Howards Feed n Wax or slightly more involved with Rubio Monocoat. I've used both on two separate Warmoth builds and like the finish results I got with both (though not the color I mixed with the Rubio).
1-piece swamp ash body at 4.2 lbs. MM sweet spot routing, no finish, no pot holes, drilled for a side jack.
Roasted maple neck, vintage small fretwire, Tusq XL nut.
I've got a SBMM Ray that I like, but don't love. It neck dives like crazy even with Hipshot Ultralite tuners. The maple neck is all stained with grime from the former owner. I swapped out the stock guts for passive electronics and a Nordstrand 4.4 with series/single/parallel switching.
I'm going to go dead simple on this bass. Series/parallel switch, on/off switch, tone switch (to mimic a tone pot at minimum and maximum). I plan to mount slide switches to the control cavity plate on the back in order to show off as much of the grain as possible. Also, because I just want to try something different on this next build.
It's slightly inspired by the EBMM Joe Dart series of basses.
Not entirely sure what pickup I'll go with. Maybe the Nordstrand MM4.2. Likely to go with Hipshot bridge and Gotoh's lightweight tuners.
For the body, I'm debating just going super simple with Howards Feed n Wax or slightly more involved with Rubio Monocoat. I've used both on two separate Warmoth builds and like the finish results I got with both (though not the color I mixed with the Rubio).
I built a Warmoth fretless Jazz bass about 12 years ago, and it was a very nice bass, especially considering that I really was pretty clueless about what I was doing, and what I wanted the finished bass to sound like, play like, and look like.
So I am preparing to build another Warmoth fretless bass. It will be a solid Walnut P body with an unlined fretless neck, probably a roasted Maple neck with an Ebony or Pau Ferro board. I will be using LaBella tapewound strings. Not entirely sure if I will go with a 34” or 30” scale.
I will have one pickup, magnetic, passive electronics.
Just a tone and a volume knob.
Hopefully an acoustic style bridge with a single bridge saddle for all 4 strings adjustable in height at each end, and fore-aft adjustment for intonation at each end.
My last set of decisions involve the pickup to be used.
I am considering a Novak Dark Star ( I had a bass with a dark star and I really liked it), a Q-tuner, a Lace Aluma Bass Bar, or a Delano extender.
I am hoping some of you here can provide some insight into the pros and cons of these pickups with the configuration of woods I have listed.
I will not be slapping or popping, and I do not use a pick. Fingers only, and I would love to be able to go from a nice rich fretless muah sound to a very woody, airy, acoustic sound.
I realize that technique has more to do with tone than almost any other single aspect of tone, but since I will be building a one off custom I am going to try to give myself as much help as possible within the constraints I have chosen.
So I am preparing to build another Warmoth fretless bass. It will be a solid Walnut P body with an unlined fretless neck, probably a roasted Maple neck with an Ebony or Pau Ferro board. I will be using LaBella tapewound strings. Not entirely sure if I will go with a 34” or 30” scale.
I will have one pickup, magnetic, passive electronics.
Just a tone and a volume knob.
Hopefully an acoustic style bridge with a single bridge saddle for all 4 strings adjustable in height at each end, and fore-aft adjustment for intonation at each end.
My last set of decisions involve the pickup to be used.
I am considering a Novak Dark Star ( I had a bass with a dark star and I really liked it), a Q-tuner, a Lace Aluma Bass Bar, or a Delano extender.
I am hoping some of you here can provide some insight into the pros and cons of these pickups with the configuration of woods I have listed.
I will not be slapping or popping, and I do not use a pick. Fingers only, and I would love to be able to go from a nice rich fretless muah sound to a very woody, airy, acoustic sound.
I realize that technique has more to do with tone than almost any other single aspect of tone, but since I will be building a one off custom I am going to try to give myself as much help as possible within the constraints I have chosen.
Just got this today. Going to try a Lee Sklar style dual reverse P
Stay tuned
Stay tuned
I also got a body and neck in today, but was too busy to get any pics.
A Sklar style double P is high on my GAS list.
A Sklar style double P is high on my GAS list.
"Mwah" is generally increased by lowering the action. Raising the action tends to increase "thump" or "woodyness."
Since you plan to use an acoustic bridge and saddle, I'd recommend a piezo pickup in addition to the magnetic pup. You might also consider a chambered body with a resonant top wood. This way, you should be able to get the mwah with low action and the acoustic sound from the chambered body, piezo pup and technique.
I know this eliminates the simple electronic design you'd specified, but to my limited knowledge, it seems like the way to go. Looking forward to seeing your build.
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This is my latest project. Not pictured is the roasted maple 2+2 headstock neck I bought with it.
One-piece light swamp ash. Going to get a simple oiled finish and the controls will be mounted to the rear control plate to show off all that nice grain. Got a Bart pickup coming for it and already have most of the hardware, so should be able to get this one together over the next couple of weeks!
One-piece light swamp ash. Going to get a simple oiled finish and the controls will be mounted to the rear control plate to show off all that nice grain. Got a Bart pickup coming for it and already have most of the hardware, so should be able to get this one together over the next couple of weeks!
I think I was looking at that body in the showcase recently… It looks awesome!
Hi! Sorry you haven’t had a reply yet. I think it was just a lot of detail and quite a complex question. I don’t really know those specific pickups but have been wondering about using a Delano Xtender for a fretless project of my own. Certainly, that combination of woods that you mention will likely sound amazing! Since walnut is quite heavy, will you opt for chambering? I think it makes a fretless sound great.
