Which neck, and why?

[jeff62]

I like the first neck better. The head stock on the second neck doesn’t seem to go really well with the wood the body is made of.

This.

 

[ELG60]

This.

Well Jeff, considering I got the second neck from you, I appreciate your comment. You've spent more time with that neck than any of us. If I do decide to go with the first one, I'm sure that there's a solid colored body somewhere that I can install this one on.

 

[themarshall]

Tough call, but I mostly associate 60’s J’s with rosewood boards and dots. Maple B&B says 70’s to me.

 

[ELG60]

Rosewood brings out deeper, richer colors from that body

Can't go wrong either way, that bass is going to be a beaut. Good luck with the build

Thank you.

 

[ELG60]

Tough call, but I mostly associate 60’s J’s with rosewood boards and dots. Maple B&B says 70’s to me.

That's a good point, and I feel the same, but I'm not trying to capture the retro look so much as I am the sound although I've always thought that the stack-knob configuration was the beez-kneez. Even back in the day, I could never afford one. Now there's no way I can justify the cost of acquiring an original in any kind of decent shape.

 

[BassholeKI]

First neck as long as the PG and HW are black.

 

[Cowboy in Latvia]

Nice looking bass body there. One neck blends seamlessly with the body. The other one looks like it was thrown together with woods that were laying around. Me? I prefer the maple because it looks like it belongs there. The darker woods look like an afterthought.

 

[Bass V]

Maple with dots would look nice.

I'm a maple luvr and that's what I thot too, the bound and blocked looks too garish IMO
but the dark one looks great and may be even better when loaded, depending on the parts choices

 

[EagleMoon]

My first inclination is to go with the Rosewood but I agree with the other posters who said the headstock kind of throws it off. You really can’t go wrong with either one.

 

[Mark76]

Maple.

 

[ELG60]

First neck as long as the PG and HW are black.

I'm planning on going sans pickguard, or maybe clear. Also, the control plate is chrome with combo black/chrome stack knobs. My tech talked about fabricating a clear plate for them... we'll see.

 

[Sparkl]

My tech and I are building a Jazz-style bass. I'm using 1960 stacked and improved controls, a Hipshot Kickass bridge and Klein '62 pups.

Which of these 2 necks do you prefer, and why?View attachment 2974496 View attachment 2974497

I am an eternal lover of blocks and it makes no difference to me whether it’s brighter or darker wood in question. Fender jazz looks just awesome with blocks and neck binding. OTOH a block pbass would look just silly.

My fav combo though is a maple neck with white pearl blocks and white cream binding (marcus miller style) with a close second black pearl with black binding, and I also love rosewood with white pearl blocks.

Me being a visual type of guy big blocks make a nice big visual “dot spot” and I find ot nicer and easier to structure my patterns over the board for this exact reason.

Haven’t had any serious trouble with dots also, though the feeling is certainly better to me with blocks.

 

[Jrussblues]

Maple for sure, I’ve had the b&b maple necks on 2 different Basses and I think it’s just the coolest “dressing” for a fretboard. Rosewood doesn’t look bad, just not very interesting.
I don’t think the sound of the materials would affect it negatively enough from one to the other. I’ve a/b same or similar Basses with diff necks and I’m sure there’s something there tone wise, it’s just never been so greatly different that I’ve used material as a measuring stick for performance.

 

[jeff62]

Well Jeff, considering I got the second neck from you, I appreciate your comment. You've spent more time with that neck than any of us. If I do decide to go with the first one, I'm sure that there's a solid colored body somewhere that I can install this one on.

It’s a beautiful neck for sure. I think it just needs a different partner. That maple looks great on the spalted. But my opinion counts for about $.000000001.

 

[klejst]

I have nothing against maple necks, however I personally have always been more of a Rosewood neck guy. In your current predicament I'd say Rosewood, to me it just looks better to me with the flow of the natural look of the body.

 

[ELG60]

I have nothing against maple necks, however I personally have always been more of a Rosewood neck guy. In your currently predicament I'd say Rosewood, to me it just looks better to me with the flow of the natural look of the body.

I hear you, and my personal favorite ascetic is maple with black blocks, but I prefer the feel and playability of rosewood . That being said, I'm not terribly bound (pardon the pun) to playing either one and I'm functional with either material.

 

[Paulabass]

Maple with dots would look nice.

I love that, you are offered options A, and B.... so you pick C. Creative thinking!

 

[klejst]

I hear you, and my personal favorite ascetic is maple with black blocks, but I prefer the feel and playability of rosewood . That being said, I'm not terribly bound (pardon the pun) to playing either one and I'm functional with either material.

Sure and with that said then I'd say if it's not a tonal (some say maple is brighter) thing or a playing thing then I'd put on whichever you find more good looking to your eyes.

 

[JRA]

i voted "rosewood" for no better reason than it's what i know and have used (besides ebony), forever. as i play fretless: the dots vs. blocks is not a 'thing' for me. so: my bias towards the rosewood is baked in.

great luck with your build ---it's going to look great! --- and i'm sure you must be excited to get this instrument together (and played)!

 

[ELG60]

Tha

i voted "rosewood" for no better reason than it's what i know and have used (besides ebony), forever. as i play fretless: the dots vs. blocks is not a 'thing' for me. so: my bias towards the rosewood is baked in.

great luck with your build ---it's going to look great! --- and i'm sure you must be excited to get this instrument together (and played)!

Thanks much! I'm quite looking forward to it, but at my age, I've developed patience. I'm using a stack knob control which @Gord_oh built, and I'm thinking of installing a series/parallel micro switch between the knobs. Should be cool.