New Neck Day - MusicMan Stingray

[Killerfridge]

A buddy of mine was telling me he didn't like the chunkiness of the beautiful flamed and birdseye maple neck on his Stingray. By chance I have a Stingray with a thinner Status Graphite neck that looks a bit out of place on my honeyburst Stingray, so I offered to switch them. I don't have any photos of the red Stingray before, but I think they both look phenomenal now:

[Mrbigstuff]

Do they sound much different? I’d expect a bit more warmth from the wood neck. Totally agree they look right though now, especially with the clear/ no PG.

[Killerfridge]

5 hours ago, Mrbigstuff said:

Do they sound much different? I’d expect a bit more warmth from the wood neck. Totally agree they look right though now, especially with the clear/ no PG.

Honestly, they sound pretty much identical. The feel is significantly different though; I've always found the carbon fibre neck a bit 'sticky' compared the to the sanded maple neck. I've also now realised that every single one of my basses has a maple neck/maple fingerboard (apart from my currently out of action Warwick)

[Chienmortbb]

That necks could sound much different is a moot point. During the To d Ward much was made of the body material without realising that the string passes the neck for we over 50% of its playing length. 
 

While I suspect that the pickups and  other electrics have most effect it is interesting to hear other people’s opinions. 

[HeadlessBassist]

The hardness of the fingerboard mainly makes a difference to the percussiveness of the sound. A graphite neck with phenolic fingerboard will sometimes add a "shimmer" to the sound too. But you do often find that there's a big difference in attack and percussiveness, for instance when one maple fingerboard is glossed and another isn't. There are a huge amount of variables at play.

 

So are you keeping the "chunkier" maple neck on your 'Ray, KillerFridge?

Edited December 9, 2025 by HeadlessBassist