New Bloodwood Jazz Bass Neck

[dabluesman]

The wait was worth it!  This custom jazz bass neck is bloodwood/satine back, slim taper contour, Brazilian rosewood fretboard with 6150 frets, abalone inlays and a tusq nut. 
It's raw but I had a luthier spray just the pegface with some satin nitro and rub the rest down with lemon oil.  The body is a '06 Fender Hwy 1 with Bill Lawrence Wilde J-45
pickups.  It's kind of hard to see in the pic's, but the gold knobs are inlayed with a red jewel position marker.  The slim taper feels great, it's just what I was hoping for and the
action is perfect now that I had the frets dressed.

 

[Disco Scottie]

The body color is a great match for the neck. Looks awesome.

 

[lynxpilot]

Stunning.  It looks really great.

 

[JimBeed]

That thing is amazing 
Makes me even more tempted to get a full bloodwood neck sometime, love the feel of the fretboard ive got and if its anything like wenge for a neck then Woop :toothy12:

 

[rapfohl09]

Dang that is a good looking neck! I am starting to love bloodwood more and more!

 

[bob7point7]

First, that is an absolutely beautiful neck!

Second, are those BML Light tuners with clover knobs? I haven't seen those before. Are they available somewhere?

 

[dabluesman]

Thanks for the comments!  I am so happy with how this bass turned out, I wasn't sure how the bloodwood would match the body at first but after it all got put together it seems like the neck was made for the body, almost a perfect color match.  I spent a few hours playing it today and it feels so smooth and the sustain is awesome, comparing it tone-wise to my other jazz basses is similar to comparing a les paul with a strat in how a les paul has more sustain and a darker beefier tone, its very cool!  
bob7point7, those are "F"ender branded Schaller/BML "cast button" Light tuners, they were hard to find but I managed to track some down here:  http://www.guitarpartsresource.com/bass_tunersfender.htm

 

[bob7point7]

Thanks for the link on the tuners. I wish I would have found those before I bought the tuners for my jazz bass.  :doh:

I guess it's time to start saving my pennies again!

I'm glad to hear that you're happy with the bloodwood neck performance.  :icon_smile:

 

[Nando Vallart]

Awesome bass! =)

 

[RIPeturs]

I'm not usually a fan of gold hardware, but you pulled it off tastefully, nice bass

 

[Torment Leaves Scars]

Wow!  VERY nice!  I can't say I've ever seen a neck using that wood, let alone ever seeing wood like that!  Simply amazing.  The neck compliments the body very nicely.

 

[30Hz]

I know it has been a while since you posted this but I was thinking of doing the same thing with the Bloodwood shaft.  From my understanding Bloodwood is the heaviest wood.  The hope is that the mass would help minimize dead spots.  Some people are more particular and sensitive to dead spots than others but what do you think of the sound of that neck?

 

[Steve_Karl]

Wow! Great build. You just made me wat to build a bass and I'm a guitarist.

 

[Tipperman]

Great looking bass dude. Love the look of that bloodwood on the red body.

This gives me an idea for a Gecko.... hmmm.....

 

[BigSteve22]

Outstanding! Congrats on a great build!  :icon_thumright:

 

[Cagey]

Great looking bass dude. Love the look of that bloodwood on the red body.

This gives me an idea for a Gecko.... hmmm.....

If the idea includes a bloodwood neck, I'm not sure how good an idea it is. Of all the necks I have or have had here, the bloodwood parts are the heaviest. I have an Ebony over Bloodwood standard thin Warhead neck that weighs an even 2lbs. That's a heavy neck. Roughly twice as heavy as a Maple neck. I can't imagine making a bass neck out of it. It would probably end up in the 3.5lb range. Even with something like a Precision body, you'd have neck dive to the point where you'd want a chainfall to hold the thing up while you're playing.

Pau Ferro necks are like that, too. The one I have here now is 3.05lbs. Coupled to an Ash body, it's gonna make Ghotiphry's shoulder wonder what it did wrong to deserve such treatment  :laughing7:

 

[ghotiphry]

Great looking bass dude. Love the look of that bloodwood on the red body.

This gives me an idea for a Gecko.... hmmm.....

If the idea includes a bloodwood neck, I'm not sure how good an idea it is. Of all the necks I have or have had here, the bloodwood parts are the heaviest. I have an Ebony over Bloodwood standard thin Warhead neck that weighs an even 2lbs. That's a heavy neck. Roughly twice as heavy as a Maple neck. I can't imagine making a bass neck out of it. It would probably end up in the 3.5lb range. Even with something like a Precision body, you'd have neck dive to the point where you'd want a chainfall to hold the thing up while you're playing.

Pau Ferro necks are like that, too. The one I have here now is 3.05lbs. Coupled to an Ash body, it's gonna make Ghotiphry's shoulder wonder what it did wrong to deserve such treatment  :laughing7:

Over three pounds, eh?  Well, well.  All I can say is you guitar guys are wimps.  :bass:  This is why God invented 4 inch straps.

I've got a thing for PF, but that bloodwood next to my roasted ash trans red body might have been just what the doctor ordered.  Fabulous choice.

 

[Cagey]

I suppose you can get used to anything. When I used to play out a lot, it took some time to get used to standing with just a typical Strat-style guitar. I got to where I could handle that for hours without any problem, but then while a Les Paul was only a pound or two heavier, it felt like an albatross around my neck. But, you get used to that, too.

You're right about the strap - get the right thing, or you'll suffer endlessly.

 

[kimbass]

Nice Jazz. Regarding the Gecko idea, Warmoth won't make one with bloodwood mains (though they do offer it for fingerboards), due in part to the difficulty in gluing the wood for angled headstocks.