My 'Neck' of the 'Woods'!

[Ken Smith]

Originally Posted by Rainer Bastian

I own and owned a lot of BTs, BMTs and BSRs and I found that the newer BSR necks feel thicker, beefier than the older BT and BMT necks. What was the reason for this change ? Customer demand ? Construction issue ? Ken's personal feel ?

It's not about pro and con of the neck thickness in common. I feel comfortable with both. I'm only interested in the reason for the change at Smith basses.

I would also like to know when exactly the transition to the beefier necks has started.

About 10-15 years ago or so we started making the Fingerboards thicker to have a longer life in fretting and re-fretting as boards get sanded and re-leveled once in awhile. If you start out thinner, the life of the board is way less. Changing the board is a huge job and requires refinish as well. It could easily cost half the price of a new bass for such a huge project.

The rear of the necks are more consistent now as well to ensure that the area under the truss rod entrance and nut is not weak in case of a fall.

Thin necks or overly thick ones can promote bad technique in ones playing. Many people are self taught and may not know the difference but comfort is the goal here. Straining your hand, wrist or fingers for over or undersized necks can promote injury as well over long periods of time.