what is the difference from a older BSR5GN to a new one

[Ken Smith]

Originally Posted by Jason Mendelson

neck construction too?

newer ones, the back of the neck has a cover piece of wood...

older ones dont...

but really older ones have the cover... but those are really old...

I call that 'cover' you refer to as the 'laminated Heel Cap'. It is done in two pieces. The outer piece is figured maple and the inner piece is to match the features of the neck, Bubinga up until last year when we switched to Shedua.

The other difference there is also the headstock is flipped over with a scarf joint rather then cutting it all out of one fat long block.

To get to the point here, the new way is really the old way, the way we made them in New York from 1979-1985. We are back to roots since 1996 BUT we had quite a few neck billets (blanks?) left in the rack that took a few years to cycle thru.

The current/original way allows us to control the 'bend' direction of the wood grain as far as how the neck as a whole is 'breathing'.