Do you think the thickness of a bass neck affects tone? How?

[Painy]

This is from a physics website:-

"Light can indirectly affect sound: since sound must travel through a medium (air) made of particles, those particles could absorb energy from light. When the particles absorbe energy, the temperature of the medium goes up. This will increase the speed of sound through the medium. This will in turn change the refractive index of the substance and could cause a change in direction of propagation of the sound. So since light interacts with matter, and sound must travel through matter, light will affect sound. This effect would be hard to notice under normal atmospheric conditions, but might be significant under some experimental procedure."

If light can affect sound then I'm sure any change in the mass (bearing in mind a thicker neck made of much less dense wood could actually reduce rather than increase the mass) of a stringed instrument is bound to have some effect.
Having said that, I'm with BigRedX on this one. What that change in sound actually is and how much of it is actually down to neck thickness (not to mention whether the human auditory system is capable of detecting that change other than through a placebo effect) is something that you'd be hard pushed to demonstrate definitively.
For me personally, neck dimensions are a consideration of playability rather than tone.
On the other hand, there's an old episode of the Simpsons where the residents of Springfield are suffering from a flu outbreak and demand a cure. When Doctor Hibbard tells them the only cure is bed rest and anything he gave them would only be a placebo, they simply start demanding that he give them the placebo!
If it sounds better to you then by all means chunk away - it's all entirely subjective anyway!

(Incidentally, as colour is simply the part of the light color spectrum reflected by an object, does this mean that different colored basses might actually sound different - and do black ones sound darker?)

[gjones]

I changed the neck on my Geddy Lee Jazz with a quite chunky Allparts neck. The sound was much deeper and rounder with the Allparts fitted.

[stingrayPete1977]

[quote name='gjones' timestamp='1473893684' post='3134014']
I changed the neck on my Geddy Lee Jazz with a quite chunky Allparts neck. The sound was much deeper and rounder with the Allparts fitted.
[/quote]
Which proves nothing at all

[chris_b]

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1473930938' post='3134189']
Which proves nothing at all
[/quote]

Other than changing the neck does alter the sound of an instrument.

[stingrayPete1977]

Which we know and afaik no one disagrees with? Even two maple necks the same cut I the same cnc machine would have differences, changing necks totally would no doubt change things. The only way I could see this bring proven would be to rig up done kind of computer driven playing device with the bass clamped in ay a set nm torque then shave the neck without removing the neck or strings then retest it, maybe even shave the neck with the bass clamped in place.

The results would be of no interest and totally pointless after so I'm struggling to think of a university or lab that would take the task on!

[BigRedX]

[quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1473931328' post='3134198']
Other than changing the neck does alter the sound of an instrument.
[/quote]

It could be that simply removing and replacing the same neck will change the sound of the instrument if you don't put it back on exactly how it was before.

[BigRedX]

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1473935095' post='3134256']
Which we know and afaik no one disagrees with? Even two maple necks the same cut I the same cnc machine would have differences, changing necks totally would no doubt change things. The only way I could see this bring proven would be to rig up done kind of computer driven playing device with the bass clamped in ay a set nm torque then shave the neck without removing the neck or strings then retest it, maybe even shave the neck with the bass clamped in place.

The results would be of no interest and totally pointless after so I'm struggling to think of a university or lab that would take the task on!
[/quote]

Even if you did this, the only thing it would show is how altering the thickness of that particular neck attached to that particular instrument at that moment in time alters the sound.

[TrevorR]

I hate to be a huge self publicist and quote myself but...

[quote name='TrevorR' timestamp='1473865731' post='3133690']


...You can conceive of an experiment to test this where a bass is rigidly mounted in a jig and tested repeatedly while mass is sequentially shaved off the neck. But there is no reason to believe that the resultant effect on the overall frequency response of the output would be linear. In fact it's much more likely that different frequencies would increase and decrease at different rates as the complex vibrational reflections and resonances caused the equivalent of diffusion fringes within the bass.

The answer to the first half of the question is relatively straightforward, the second half very complex.
[/quote]
[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1473948040' post='3134421']

It could be that simply removing and replacing the same neck will change the sound of the instrument if you don't put it back on exactly how it was before.
[/quote]
[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1473948140' post='3134425']

Even if you did this, the only thing it would show is how altering the thickness of that particular neck attached to that particular instrument at that moment in time alters the sound.
[/quote]

But of course that's right, but repeated experiments across different necks, bodies etc would allow you to assess whether any consistent patterns emerged across the range of tests... Not that I can imagine anyone actually carrying out these experiments. But then again, it could be perfect IgNobel Prize fodder!

[BigRedX]

[quote name='dood' timestamp='1473766316' post='3132886']
Long detailed answers very welcome!
[/quote]

So dood, care to enlighten us on the purpose of this poll?

[christofloffer]

i think i would say yes it does, except not simply because of the physical diameter of the wood. a thicker or thinner neck surely allows or encourages different holds and then variations on finger placement and strength. i find my old cheap bass with a thicker neck lends itself to a much more thumpy feel and i naturally grip tighter, but my newer yamaha has a thinner neck and i find it much easier to play fast and i dont grip so tight. i know its largely down to me but its wasnt even a consideration until i read this thread and got thinking and had a play of each to see. the same goes with my guitars, i really struggle to play intricate fingerpicking on my electric but the acoustic is a world of difference. my friend even calls my acoustic "the bus" because its a chunky thing.

physically speaking, different woods have different characteristics at different thicknesses. easily observed with handmade archery bows. oak is a lovely sturdy timber but its terrible for a bow as it just gets weak when its thin, but yew is one of the best (if not the best outright) as its can be made much thinner yet retain strength. so to various degrees i would imagine it would have some bearing on a bass neck. i think it would be more of a difference between different woods at different thicknesses, combine that with the player comfort and preference then i would imagine it could easily affect tone. but then, i am not a luthier and i have not played that many different basses.

[EliasMooseblaster]

I know it's not the guitar's tone [i]per se, [/i]but several guitarists I know have argued that thicker necks give better sustain - supposedly Paul Gilbert's most recent signature model has quite a deep neck profile for this very reason. None of them have been able to provide a physical explanation for this (ofr course), and unfortunately, among my basses no two are sufficiently similar for me to conduct any meaningful investigation, so I'll have to put myself in the "Don't Know" camp for now.

[Dood]

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1474019099' post='3134938']


So dood, care to enlighten us on the purpose of this poll?
[/quote]

Ahhhh BRX, the reasons are two-fold! One to generate some proper bass related discussion but also, i wanna try a bass with a huge neck and there's nothing to get my hands on locally to test the theory - Although my local music store is getting a Mike Dirnt Road Worn in for me. Tonally, I would love to see if a big ole bass neck has a bigger low end etc.. Stuart Spector believes that larger necks do improve tone - one of the reasons why he was a little reticent to shave wood off Doug Wimbish's beloved 'number one bass'. A story Doug retold to me. Anyway, I wanna try a big neck and if there's tone advantages, then great. Just wanted to know what the readership thought!

[stingrayPete1977]

My most 'bottom endy' bass I've ever owned was an SGC nanyo 320, it weighed less than a packet of crisps and the neck was like a match stick, fantastic bass.

[Spoombung]

To complicate things somewhat, I've noticed that a thicker FINGERBOARD can often make a bass sound brighter and more lively and I've heard luthiers say the same thing.

[FinnDave]

I firmly believe that the wood has no effect on 'tone'. Location and type of pick ups, strings and technique count for everything. All the wood does is look nice and keep the various bits and pieces firmly located.

[miles'tone]

I had a Fender American jazz with a maple fingerboard (posiflex graphite rods) which I played for a decade so I knew it well. I then put a MIJ 62 Precision neck on it. Sounded like a different bass both acoustically and amped up.
I voted 100% yes obvs.