Why Aluminum necks didn't catch on

[Eric Albany]

Aluminum can be easily bent. Aluminum also conducts heat and electricity easily(almost like copper).

 

[jerrod]

As mentioned earlier in the thread The Electrical Guitar Company is making aluminum basses.

 

[SGD Lutherie]

Aluminum can be easily bent.

Some aluminum can be easily bent. Some of it will crack first. Some of it is also very strong. There are different alloys.

 

[Eric Albany]

Some aluminum can be easily bent. Some of it will crack first. Some of it is also very strong. There are different alloys.

Totally true.

 

[Eric Albany]

I just looked at the standard aluminum bass and have only one thing to say.

Sooooooo shiny!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[randyripoff]

I remember playing a couple at Guitar Center back in the 80's. I just plain didn't like the feel or the tone. I tend to feel the same way about most other instruments I've played with non-wood parts--Ovations in particular. It just doesn't have that right sound to me, nor is it an unusual sound that I enjoy.

Of course, I have an Ovation/Applause AEB, and I think it's just fine, but there I am getting a tone that I like.

 

[SGD Lutherie]

I got to play Larry Hartke's prototype not too long ago. I though it was a very nice bass. Sorry I didn't nab one when they were being made. It had a very nice aluminum neck.

 

[Ric5]

Why Aluminum necks didn't catch on

There is no adjustment ... unless you are strong enough to bend aluminum

 

[Ewo]

Back in the day, I owned a couple of the Kramers with the wood inlays on the back of the aluminum necks. I let the fretted one go, but still have the fretless in my closet.

The wood inlays helped it feel a bit more natural in the fretting hand than a solid aluminum neck, but I didn't play it all that long. (I keep it as a memento, since the factory made it special for me and put my name under the finish, even.)

Lack of a truss rod was a major deficiency. The only way to affect the neck relief was to plane the fingerboard. And for me, anyway, neck relief is every bit as important to the playability as action height.

 

[staindbass]

no truss rods on those? i swore i saw one in the 80's with a wood skunk stripe down the neck. maybe sd curlee ? how is the neck dive ?

 

[staindbass]

thanks ewo.

 

[staindbass]

Aluminum can be easily bent. Aluminum also conducts heat and electricity easily(almost like copper).

aircraft aluminum is very stiff and hard. almost like stone.

 

[Ewo]

no truss rods on those? i swore i saw one in the 80's with a wood skunk stripe down the neck. maybe sd curlee ? how is the neck dive ?

On both of my Kramers, the cross section of the aluminum member of the neck was a T. The fingerboard was glued to the top (horizontal) of the T, and the wood inlays were set into the spaces alongside the vertical line of the T.

So there was aluminum where the skunk stripe inlay would have been.

And no truss rod.

The body was on the heavy side, so neck dive was no worse than my Fenders.

 

[dalkowski]

I wish I still had the Kramer DMZ 5000, just for memory's sake. I don't remember it being all that heavy, but it was top-heavy.

 

[SGD Lutherie]

Why Aluminum necks didn't catch on

There is no adjustment ... unless you are strong enough to bend aluminum

Actually the Hartke neck has a truss rod. You can see it at the end of the fingerboard. Parts of the neck were wood. The aluminum part ran under the fingerboard, and was a T-Bar, and the headstock was welded on. The shell of the neck was maple. I think this was the best aluminum neck design so far.

But just as with graphite necks, if it's set up to play well, you don't need to adjust it. Wooden necks need to be adjusted because they change with the weather. Aluminum necks do not.

That bass I tried played as well as it did the day it was made. It even had the original strings on it.

 

[WalterBush]

Lack of a truss rod was a major deficiency. The only way to affect the neck relief was to plane the fingerboard. And for me, anyway, neck relief is every bit as important to the playability as action height.

While I understand that this bothers a lot of people, I can't think that it's a reason why aluminum necks never caught on; by that rationale, Steinbergers would never have caught on. The only way to adjust relief on my Steinberger is to recrown or replace the frets.

The reason I never liked aluminum-necked axes was neck dive and weight. The Kramer I played in the '90s sounded good enough to leave an impression of good tone on me to this day, I just couldn't deal with the join between aluminum and wood, or the weight pulling the headstock down.

Vigier does a great fretless using an aluminum alloy for about 1/8 of the fingerboard. Great sound, and fantastic feel.

 

[SGD Lutherie]

maybe sd curlee ?

Oh I remember them! SD Curlees were made from wood. The neck ran all the way up to the bridge.

S. D. Curlee - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


[edit]

Oh look... they are back in business!

Link Removed

 

[Z-Bass]

Didn't the Rumblefish basses from Reverend have aluminum stiffening rods in their necks? I used to have one but I can't remember. For some reason, I remember reading that somewhere.

 

[Bobby Machete]

I actually have one that I'm trying to sell right now. I wanted to keep it for recording, because as previously stated a 100 times, the weight makes it unviable for live performance, but every time I play the B string, it slips off the edge of the fretboard. I haven't read any other complaints pertaining to this, I think it just isn't compatible with my hand or style of playing. Also, mine has a ground hum when I let off the neck.

 

[JLS]

A friend of mine had one... the neck was terrible....Unstable as a mental hospital during a full moon

Ooooooh, yeah! Imagine, an aluminum neck on a Dan Armstrong...