More bass neck options

[597feetdown]

I'm brand new to this forum and went through quite a few pages of suggestions, but I didn't see anything quite like what I'm suggesting.

I'd like to see more bass neck construction options.  It'd be great if, at least for the 4-string bass necks, there were "vintage" options like they have for Strat/Tele style guitar necks.  While I do like the "Super Bass Construction" necks, I'm in the process of converting a parts bass to a 1958-style P-Bass, and it'd be nice to have the vintage correct options for the neck (7 1/4" radius, single action truss rod, no stiffening rods, etc).  I'm sure others would like to also have flatter radius options like 12"-20" for 5 string players & fans of Warwick necks.

What say you?

 

[Cagey]

Usually when you can imagine options that seem doable but don't exist, it's because there's not enough of a market for the manufacturer to justify their development/implementation/support. There's a non-trivial cost associated with making an option or feature available, so a manufacturer has to be able to see how they're going to recover that cost, otherwise it's self-destructive to offer it.

Sometimes that logic may seem counter-intuitive, such as in this case where eliminating stiffening rods or using a simpler truss rod would imply a lowering of manufacturing costs. Everybody likes lower prices, so why not do it? In that case, it may be that the design improvement that you don't want was a cost-reducing measure. Not reinforcing the neck or using a less effective compensation mechanism may lead to early failure or poor performance, which increases the cost of doing business due to excessive warranty obligations or lost sales due to a negative perception of quality. I don't know if that's the case here, but it may be a consideration.

 

[Pelagaard]

For things that would have a potentially negative impact on quality, I totally agree with Cagey.  But I can't agree that there's no market for some of the more aesthetic options they don't offer.  Specifically things like an Hombre bass neck or 12-string.  Or even an Vortex 12-string option.  There'll never be a ton of money in the 12-string market, but out of the two options, one is very specific to a particular instrument, and the other is just boring.

I think it might be worthwhile for Warmoth do a trial run, say 10 necks, and see what happens.

 

[Cagey]

I don't know, but I suspect there's no such thing as "trial run". That would involve all the development/testing/machine reprogramming that full production would require, so it's probably a "do it or don't" proposition.

 

[Pelagaard]

I get that.  I just wonder how much of the "there's no market" theory is because people don't bother asking because they assume that if a company like Warmoth doesn't make it, it simply can't exist.

I find it hard to believe that an Hombre 12 wouldn't outsell the two current 12-string options combined.

 

[line6man]

Building a neck with a single action truss rod and no stiffening rods seems like the opposite of progress, to me. That's going back to primitive old designs that have long since been improved upon.

I've heard some people argue about tonal differences, but having a stable neck should be more important than whatever nuanced differences we arbitrarily deem to sound better. Vintage-correctness doesn't make much sense, either. It isn't going to be a Fender, anyway.

 

[swarfrat]

Yeah - those old necks are notorious for stability and dead spot issues. I'm guessing that this is likely a case of people who shell out for custom built necks don't like to play roulette with their money. (ie could be expensive in terms of making customers happy)

 

[amigarobbo]

All this is true, but I'd still like a 7.25" radius fretboard.  :bananaguitar:

 

[swarfrat]

On THAT point, you got me too. Unfortunately by the time you draw the Venn diagram for fatback baritone with 7.25 radius you might as well call it "The Swarfrat Model"