SR4 30th Neck Color Question

[BobKos]

Hi All:

Last month I bought a SR4 30th Anniversary bass at GC. It's a really nice bass. I like it alot.

Last week, I had the opportunity to buy another one through my sales rep at the GC. This bass was bought sight unseen from another store. I received it today.

It's not as nice out of the box as my first one. It has setup issues and the fingerboard is somewhat dried out. Nothing a little TLC won't fix. Of minor concern is that the fret wires are protruding from the edges and will need cleaned up. I'm wondering if this can be accomplished without damaging the gloss finish which is on the back of the neck and runs up into the edge of the fingerboard?

My main concern about the new 30th is the neck color. My first bass has a gorgeous birdseye neck that perfectly matches the body in color. It looks fabulous. My newest one doesn't even come close to matching the body. It is a bright cherry red neck installed into a rich crimson body. The pic below shows the contrast. The front and back are the same shade and it is visually distracting compared to my first bass.

I'm asking those who know or own these 30th basses - Is this mismatch of colors common on these instruments? I have a return window on this instrument that I may use if this color issue is not the way this bass is supposed to be.

Please share your knowledge and advice.

Thanks,
Bob

[Brim]

It is really red...maybe contact Customer Service and email them some pics?

[bovinehost]

It is really red...maybe contact Customer Service and email them some pics?

I'd say this is better taken up with the dealer. The difference in color is not unheard of but if it bugs you, take it back to the dealer.

Fret sprout (almost always due to excessively dry environment) can be fixed easily, but I wouldn't make a 30th SR4 my test case if I were you.

[oli@bass]

Looks odd. Maybe there had been a neck swap going on. I'd check the SNR with EBMM and ask whether there had been a fretless neck on that body.

BTW, it's especially strange that the neck is so much ligher than the body. Until now, I had the impression that the necks are generally more consistent in colour than the bodies. My fretted 30th (which has fret sprout as well) is a perfect match of body and neck, my fretless has about the same dark neck colour but the body is lighter. It's not as distracting as in your, though.

Unless it has an absolutely phantastic tone, I'd take advantage of the return policy.

[danomar]

Doesn't look right to me. Neck swap?

[the unrepentant]

Am i the only one that thinks that looks pretty nice?

[mathewsanchez]

Am i the only one that thinks that looks pretty nice?

+1

I think its pretty cool, just my opinion though.

[Kirby]

My 30th matches perfectly. I would agree this may be a swap. It still looks like a beautiful neck from what I can see, but if it bothers you that much, yes take it back.

The fret sprouting can be taken care of, but it takes much more time and finesse when dealing with a sprayed neck. You would need to mask off the finished areas and file each end individually rather than being able to file multiple ends at once with a non-finished neck. If you do haze the finish doing this, the good thing is you should be able to buff it out without too much problem. Hopefully, it is a few frets in question and not the whole neck. If it is the whole neck, I would take the bass back. Too much work for a new bass.

[Baird]

My 30th matches perfectly.

+1.

My 30th is a thing of beauty.

Is the front of your headstock as red as the back of the neck? You mentioned it is the same as the back, but it would be interesting to see a frontal pic. If it is lighter, THAT would drive me crazy.

If the headstock matches the body (there is a dirty bass related joke in there somewhere) and the back of the neck is the only thing lighter, I would only keep it if I absolutely loved the sound/playability of the bass.

[BobKos]

Thanks for all the replies.

I have posted a photo of the front of the headstock comparing my older SR4 30th with the new one:

http://bkos.home.infionline.net/SR30_HS.jpg

I'm thinking this bass has too many minor issues plus the color really DOES bug me. I'll try to re-negotiate a different price on this bass, but it looks like it will end up returned.

Thanks again for all the helpful responses. This forum really is cool.

[Raimond S]

Perfect color match on mine. And for apparantly no good reason when I read this thread I took the strings off mine and put some lemon oil on the fingerboard. Boy it needed it. Thanks for the reminder

[bassmonkey]

I'm personally not that fussed how my basses look. If they are played often enough then eventually they will acquire scratches and dings. My main concern is how they play and sound. My 30th plays and sounds lovely.