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Old 02-18-2007, 09:19 AM
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Ken Smith Ken Smith is offline
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Join Date: 01-18-2007
Location: Perkasie, PA
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Kraig Gregory View Post
Ken,

You stated you know what works best and what just doesn't work. In terms of sound quality, stability, and visual appeal; is there a noticeable difference between a 5 and 7 piece neck?

Also most of the time you either see bubinga or purpleheart laminates. Are these woods used for their sound characteristics or other factors? What has been your experience of using rare woods like shedua, cocobolo, or morado as laminates on a neck?

Maple is the standard as the base of all necks. Just wondering if you have found any exotic woods that work as well or better than maple. Also you don't see a lot of photos of flamed maple necks coming out of your shop, is that on purpose?

Bottom line with everything factored in, if you were to make a neck thru bass what materials would you use and how many pieces would it have to maximize tone and stability.

Thanks for your time.

Ok, this is a lot to answer in one post so I will do it as a Q and A thing.
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Q:is there a noticeable difference between a 5 and 7 piece neck?

A:Yes, to my ear the 7pc nk is slightly brighter and tighter sounding BUT both necks need to be tested using the exact same woods like Maple/Bubinga.
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Q:most of the time you either see bubinga or purpleheart laminates. Are these woods used for their sound characteristics or other factors?

A: I would say more for their strength and grain as these woods can be had in long lengths with no defects in them. I have found pin knots in Purpleheart but Bubinga is cleaner to work with and equally stiff.
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Q:What has been your experience of using rare woods like shedua, cocobolo, or morado as laminates on a neck?

A:Never used Cocobolo for neck strips but Morado is my all time favorite for strength and tone. Shedua is rare at this this time buy may have a limited comeback.
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Q:Just wondering if you have found any exotic woods that work as well or better than maple. Also you don't see a lot of photos of flamed maple necks coming out of your shop, is that on purpose?

A:Maple has been used for instrument necks for over 400 years. It has the best strength-to-weight-to-elasticity of all the woods I have seen. A neck needs to bend a little and if dropped or mis-handles be able to bounce within rather than crack like some more brittle exotic hardwoods. For making necks we buy 4/4, 5/4, 6/4 and 8/4 thick rough lumber for the various necks we use in our 4, 5, 6, and 7-string Basses made as 3, 5 and 7-piece laminates in either Bolt-on or Neck-thru. The Neck-thru gradually tapers from end to end the way we build them so we need some wide stock for some models. Maple is the only Neck grade wood we can get in long clean white lumber in the various thicknesses we use.
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Q:Bottom line with everything factored in, if you were to make a neck thru bass what materials would you use and how many pieces would it have to maximize tone and stability.

A:My answer is in the models and woods we use currently. If I thought I could do something better, we would. Years ago we mixed Shedua with Bubinga in the BMT 7pc necks. We ran out of Shedua back then and could not find any so we settled finally on just the Bubinga for that model neck mixed with Maple. Now we have some stock in Shedua that is not figured so I am planning at this time to use it in the necks in place of Bubinga when our current supply runs out. When the Shedua is all gone, we will buy more Bubinga as Shedua is not always available but Bubinga is quite plentiful. This change to Shedua will not take place for a few years as we have 100s of neck billets glued up with Bubinga and still some supply left. When we start making Maple/Shedua Necks, they will sit and acclimate for at least 1-2 years before going into a Bass which is our standard practice with all neck stock.
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