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What's the fastest neck out there?

#43
In my personal experience it's what string spacing works for you and most importantly setup that makes a neck fast. My wife with small hands finds our ibby soundgear really nice but hates precisions. I'm quite tall and have really long fingers and find the soundgear string spacing a bit tight. The neck I have found fastest for -me- is the spector rebop with the satin finish.

Despite all of this I believe setup makes the biggest difference. I like p style necks but have picked some up at the music store with really high action that were pretty much impossible to play accurately.
 
#45
I tend to interpret "fast" as "least tacky." By that definition, the best necks I've played have been attached to USA Hamer Cruises, Music Man instruments with the oil/wax finish on the neck, and Skjolds-Pete's proprietary neck finish is amazing.

All of these instruments had fantastic setups when I played them, which furthered the "fast" perception-there was nothing about the neck getting in the way or holding me back.
 
#46
solomon707 said:
Hope this isn't off-topic enough to warrant making its own thread. How would you go about making a neck feel lass tacky/sticky?
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As the others mentioned, clean it and wax it if you have a gloss or satin finish. If it's oil, smooth it out and re-oil it. One thing to note is that if you have less surface area contact on the neck, you might notice that finish or a lack thereof is no longer an important factor. With the bulk of my technique being transferred from classical guitar, only the thumb print area of my thumb contacts the neck. If you're wrapping more of your hand around the neck, there will be more surface area contact and the gloss will add more resistance.

I personally prefer a satin finish because it feels kinda like an oiled neck, but is much less work overall and less sensitive to the elements. I still have a few oiled necks, but decided I have enough because it's a lot of work when I need to oil several necks and one entire body. I still have a few gloss necked basses, but I notice they don't feel as clean sometimes and I tend to polish and wax them more often, even though a little funk won't slow me down.

cigi said:
Right on. I allways get anoyed when people think they need a toothpick ibanez neck to play fast.
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I'll agree that neck profile isn't as critical as many make it out to be. One advantage of a thin neck is that it will force you to play with your thumb down the center because wrapping your hand around the neck becomes more difficult and uncomfortable. The ideal hand positioning still works on thicker necks, although neck dive more or less forces the left hand to shift into a position that supports the bass and will use more of that undesired thumb over technique, which can drastically slow down the left hand and add fatigue with other joint/neural issues. I could definitely see a thin neck being somewhat painful on a neck-diver. On a wide 5 or 6+ string bass, thinner simply becomes a necessity due to the overall size of the neck.

I personally prefer a thin neck, but a lot of that is for weight reduction. It weighs a lot less if there's less wood out there. ;) My Rob Allens have some pretty beefy necks, but the overall shape is still comfy, especially with the reduced reach.

.....so you see, it's all related some way or another.......
 
#52
I've owned many basses so far and played even more. The fastest necks are Dingwall necks (Prima, Prima Artist, Z1, Z2, Z3 in no particular order). I can play very complicated things that are difficult to play on other necks. Honorable mentions go to Ken Lawrence Brace and Warrior
 
#55
Good fretwork, fairly flat fretboard radius, and not much relief are the things that make a neck feel "fast" to me. It's definitely not just "skinny"--I wouldn't have called the Geddy Lee jazz I owned particularly fast, mostly because of the vintage-style fretboard radius.

Curbows are my favorite, but there are plenty of other great necks out there, too.

Mike
 
#58
I concur with all the posts stating that set up and technique contribute hugely... I find playing speed for me depends upon the right hand technique... high pickups or a ramp and the left hand generally flows well if the action is lowish and the neck in a good position... not diving, however I find my standard fender jazz very very playable and my yamaha bb605 the perfect balance of thickness and board radius between the relatively thin fender, chunkier P and huge flat Ibanez BTB 556 bass.... its a thoroughly playable bass!:bassist:
 
#59
For me, it's Jerzy Drozd. He takes Mike Tobias' asymmetrical profile, puts it on a strict diet, and gives it a satin finish that seems positively frictionless. My hand feels like it's running on roller-bearings when I play my fretless JD six.

And speaking of fretless, nothing slows down an otherwise effortless neck like two-dozen metal humps. Those nasty things present your tender pink digits with a real obstacle course:

Fret Warning! Severe Flow and Tone Damage! Do Not Back Up! :) ​
 

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