Baritone Back Contour

[J-Building]

Do you think if I ask extra-nicely and bat my eyelashes, that Warmoth can give me a Wizard back contour on a baritone neck?  There isn't an option currently, but has it been done?

 

[TonyFlyingSquirrel]

Not likely, added tension & all.

The Standard Thin is nice & fast on mine though, and I've been playin Wizards for over 20 years.

 

[J-Building]

What a shame.  Why does Warmoth make it so difficult to have a 24 fret guitar without doing weird things to the feel?  I know it's a gripe that's been beaten to death many times before (I would know, I've been lurking for the better part of half a year :icon_biggrin.

 

[Cagey]

I'm sure it has to do with practicality/mechanics/physics. The thinner/longer you make something, the easier it is to bend/break. You don't want a neck that's swinging in the breeze, won't stay in tune and is threatening to snap into more than one piece, do you?

 

[Strat Avenger]

Isn't the longer scale compensated for by the reduced string tension of the baritone tuning??  Obviously if you tuned a 28" scale neck to A440, there would be an insane amount of tension on the neck, but the whole purpose is to make up for the reduced string tension of the lower tuning.

With that said, I would think a Standard-Thin would play just fine.

 

[Cagey]

There's such a thing as leverage. Forces multiply. Even if the pull is less, if it's over a longer span, it ends up being more. The neck needs a certain amount of structural integrity to be reliable, repeatable and stable. I'm going to go out on a limb here and say if such a thing as is being proposed were possible and practical, it would already exist. But, check out some bass necks. They're thick, even though those strings aren't pulling very hard. Thing is, they're long. So, we get back to the leverage thing again.

 

[Strat Avenger]

There's such a thing as leverage. Forces multiply. Even if the pull is less, if it's over a longer span, it ends up being more. The neck needs a certain amount of structural integrity to be reliable, repeatable and stable. I'm going to go out on a limb here and say if such a thing as is being proposed were possible and practical, it would already exist. But, check out some bass necks. They're thick, even though those strings aren't pulling very hard. Thing is, they're long. So, we get back to the leverage thing again.

You make some valid points, but some of the newer Ibanez bass guitars have necks that are 19mm to 21mm in thickness (4 and 5 string models), which is basically the "Wizard-II" guitar neck profile.

I would imagine that if graphite reinforcement rods were used, the "Wizard" profile could be used on a baritone scale guitar (personally, I wouldn't want anything that thin).

 

[Cagey]

I can see where if artificial means of reinforcement were used, you could get away with murder. Plus, I have seen some thin but long necks. The old Rickenbacker basses, the 4000 series in particular, had some ridiculously thin necks that appeared to be barely attached to the bodies. So, it's not unheard of. I don't know how they got away with it. Maybe they were reinforced. Or, maybe I just don't understand all the physics involved. Perhaps the stress isn't as great as I imagine.

 

[swarfrat]

I wish they offered it in fuller neck profiles.

 

[TonyFlyingSquirrel]

The thing about reinforcement rods is, you still have to remove material to put them into.  When you have an overly thin neck, there's not much material left around the area routed to accomodate the rods.  Even though you may route the channel to a depth that doesn't cut through the neck, it's the surrounding area around the route that is needed to provide stability. 

 

[Super Turbo Deluxe Custom]

What a shame.  Why does Warmoth make it so difficult to have a 24 fret guitar without doing weird things to the feel?  I know it's a gripe that's been beaten to death many times before (I would know, I've been lurking for the better part of half a year :icon_biggrin.

A Wizard Baritone should qualify as doing weird things to the feel. :icon_jokercolor:

 

[AprioriMark]

Yeah, from what I've understood about the way Warmoth does things, if it were reasonably possible, they'd do it.  If they have run into integrity issues, it's a "No."  Combine that with a relative lack of interest from the customer base, and they're probably not likely to offer something they're concerned with being stable.

Sure, other companies will offer thinner necks.  I'd bet that those necks will run into issues.  Warmoth's return rate is so low that you can't even believe it.  I doubt you'll see their baritone necks have issues.

-Mark

 

[Cagey]

Sure, other companies will offer thinner necks.  I'd bet that those necks will run into issues.  Warmoth's return rate is so low that you can't even believe it.  I doubt you'll see their baritone necks have issues.

Interesting that you should bring that up. The Rickys I mentioned earlier aren't seen very often. I don't know if it's because the necks twisted up on them and made them worthless, or people just don't resell them. Or, maybe there just weren't that many made.

I do know they did sound unique, so not everybody wanted to play one. Geddy Lee was the rare exception. But, they sure were comfy things. I always thought that if I ever lost my mind and decided to play bass, that would be what I'd look for. As it is, I have a jazz bass that will do in a pinch. Should whip it out one of these days and see if it's still playable. Thing's been sitting in its case for years. Tone worms are probably suffocating.

 

[drewfx]

Bass necks actually have much higher tension that guitar necks because the tension of each string is much higher than on a guitar. Even with 2 less strings, a bass neck might have twice as much tension on it (or more).