Muzz Posted March 11, 2011 Share Posted March 11, 2011 OK, so I've spent a hatful of time and money narrowing down what I'd really like for a bass, and I can't buy it off the shelf. Life's also too short (as is the money) to wait for a luthier to build it for me, so I'm going the bitsa route, which has so far proved to be very successful with the MM neck/SX/Schaller 3D I've currently got. I was all set for a nice birdseye Warmoth Jazz neck to go on my Wizard-equipped P/J-Bass, but I keep going back to play the Warwick Fortress (which some of you may recall from a previous whinge I can't love because it hurts my eyes to look at it. Not really, but I'll never love the looks, and you lovely people have convinced me I'm not terminally shallow in this). Ugly to my eye it may be, but that Wenge neck is juuuust great to play. Not specifically the profile, but the wood. I love it. Sooooo, the logical step is to trot off to the folk at Warmoth, and then bolt an unfinished Wenge neck with an Ebony or Wenge board onto a P/J, but I'm unsure if that'll radically change the tone of the bass away from the 'normal' (albeit Wizard-enhanced) P/J tones. I know it's bound to change somewhat, I just don't know how much. Anyone replaced a maple neck with a wenge one? Did it completely change the tonal character of the bass out of all recognition? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sifi2112 Posted March 11, 2011 Share Posted March 11, 2011 [quote name='Muzz' post='1158144' date='Mar 11 2011, 02:59 PM']OK, so I've spent a hatful of time and money narrowing down what I'd really like for a bass, and I can't buy it off the shelf. Life's also too short (as is the money) to wait for a luthier to build it for me, so I'm going the bitsa route, which has so far proved to be very successful with the MM neck/SX/Schaller 3D I've currently got. I was all set for a nice birdseye Warmoth Jazz neck to go on my Wizard-equipped P/J-Bass, but I keep going back to play the Warwick Fortress (which some of you may recall from a previous whinge I can't love because it hurts my eyes to look at it. Not really, but I'll never love the looks, and you lovely people have convinced me I'm not terminally shallow in this). Ugly to my eye it may be, but that Wenge neck is juuuust great to play. Not specifically the profile, but the wood. I love it. Sooooo, the logical step is to trot off to the folk at Warmoth, and then bolt an unfinished Wenge neck with an Ebony or Wenge board onto a P/J, but I'm unsure if that'll radically change the tone of the bass away from the 'normal' (albeit Wizard-enhanced) P/J tones. I know it's bound to change somewhat, I just don't know how much. Anyone replaced a maple neck with a wenge one? Did it completely change the tonal character of the bass out of all recognition?[/quote]Not a precision but I've a Warmoth jazz - ash body/maple neck + wizard 84's & sounds great (got as spare for Geddy Lee jazz but ended up selling the Fender) then had a custom made jazz (by the late Paulman rip) this jazz has a very heavy amazaque (ovangkol) body & has a beautiful wenge/ebony neck + Nordstrand Big Singles .. sounds fab, not as bright as ash/maple but warmer/growlier .. if you're ever near Bingley come check it out .. sadly not getting used now I've gone 5 string .. anyway I think it's a nice combination you're after & think Warmoth parts are really nice .. not sure what they cost now as I bought mine a few years ago. hope this helps a bit cheers Si Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muzz Posted March 11, 2011 Author Share Posted March 11, 2011 Thanks for that, I can live with warmer/growlier to a point, it's not as if it's going to get slapped...ever... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markorbit Posted March 11, 2011 Share Posted March 11, 2011 I wouldn't mind trying a Precision (maybe even a P/J) with an Ebony fingerboard. Been thinking about building a parts bass for a little while. Maybe with a P-Retro. But then I remember that I love the newer 2008+ Fender maple necks with the rolled edges and lacquer and wonder if I should really gamble on a parts bass when a nice Fender sunburst / maple is already available. But building your own bass could be very rewarding. I do like how most Warwicks seem to have an acoustic 'soft/warm/absorbent' tone to my ears, which I associate with the Wenge/Ovangkol thing they have going on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MythSte Posted March 11, 2011 Share Posted March 11, 2011 From my experience I can imagine wenge to enhance the natural P growl. I had a custom bass built for me with a wenge neck that had a seymour duncan MM style pickup in the neck (ripped from a modulous) and even that had that great upper mid woody growl that I would expect from a P. Genuinely reckon that was down to the neck wood. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muzz Posted March 11, 2011 Author Share Posted March 11, 2011 Oh, now you're just telling me what I want to hear. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MythSte Posted March 12, 2011 Share Posted March 12, 2011 [quote name='Muzz' post='1158507' date='Mar 11 2011, 07:31 PM']Oh, now you're just telling me what I want to hear. [/quote] I've just re-read what I put, I didnt mean to say the MM pickup was in the neck position, it was indeed in the usual MM position and it STILL sounded precision-y. Sorry bud! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vibrating G String Posted March 12, 2011 Share Posted March 12, 2011 [quote name='Muzz' post='1158144' date='Mar 11 2011, 06:59 AM']Anyone replaced a maple neck with a wenge one? Did it completely change the tonal character of the bass out of all recognition?[/quote] In 25 years of hassling people who claim they can hear wood I've yet to find a single person who can identify wood by the tone alone. From this I've assumed that while different woods may have different tones I've never seen anyone who can tell me what they are. So if you dig wenge go for it. I think it's heavier than hard maple so consider the weight, the Warmoth site is great as they list weights of their stuff. Also I would go with a wenge fingerboard as ebony expands and contracts with humidity differently than other woods and I've found it to be the most unstable fingerboard wood. A wenge/wenge neck with an oil finish on both the back and board should be rather stable and still have a raw feel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Delberthot Posted March 13, 2011 Share Posted March 13, 2011 The gold sparkly 54 p that I had had which is for sale by its current owner has a wenge neck and ebony fretboard for no other reason that it looks nice and if the neck gets a bit sticky you can just take some steel wool down it and its smoothe and quick again. I couldn't tell you if it growls more than a standard maple / mape & rosewood neck but its warmoth so the neck ain't moving anywhere regardless of the conditions I had it in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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