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Birdseye maple necks

hankSRay

hankSRay

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 5, 2004
Messages
848
Location
Yonkers, NY
Hey guys, I was just wondering how many of you have a Musicman with a Birdseye maple neck. My stingray does, but Ive noticed that all the other stingrays or sterlings I've played in GC have the regular maple necks. Is this because of a certain year that they only used Birdseye for the neck, or did I just get lucky and find a rare bass?
 
My Sterling I just bought new has a Birdseye neck. For what it's worth my bass w/ the Birdseye feels better than the non-birdseye. One other note is my Sterling with the birdseye is lighter than my other with the regular maple neck.
 
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I call it "Bird Anus" but that's just me.

Birdseye is actually a fault in the wood. Now whether that makes it more or less stable is up for discussion - I've had a bunch of em with bird's anus and no problems at all with stability.

Why do some MMs have birds anus and some don't? Availability.
 
Putting aside wood that may be especially selected for special edition Basses, I think it's merely a matter of what wood EB has in stock at any given time. The birds eye and other figured wood seems to have been plentifull from around 1986/7 up to 1994. Examples of it can be found on some Pre_EB Basses and on current EB Basses. I think it's really a matter of luck of the draw.

Jon will know for sure.

.
 
>>>>whats the difference between birds-eye maple and regular maple?


37981174-d9e7-020000FF-.jpg



Circles with a dot in the centre. Some necks are literally coved wth them.


.
 
If I recall correctly, Jon said birds eye is less stable than the reg. maple.
 
I have basses with regular maple necks, and my stingray has Birdseye, I dont see any difference in stability. I did notice that on warmoth.com to buy a birdseye maple replacement neck is more expensive than a regular maple neck, thats why I figured the birdseye might be special or sumthing.
 
"Sales gimmick"
In order to get rid of; maybe, less expensive material at a higher price.
Sounds good, don't really know if it's true, can't prove it, or, disprove it.
 
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If my understanding is correct (which is what a couple of lutheriers told me years ago), the bird's eye is cause by mineral deposits in the wood that cause the deformation causing the "eye" as the wood grows around it. From a stability point it is fine. From an appearence standpoint it falls into the catagory of flamed and spalted Maple (harder to find quality specimens of good wood, so it is more expensive to the consumer). Then it just comes down to personal taste. Some people love it, others don't. You are paying extra for the look.
 
There is no "Sales Gimmick" on our part. In my experience, birdseye is less stable. Not all of the time, but it is a factor. Believe what you want, but we don't have secret sales meetings where we decide how to dump plain maple on the masses. There are a few birdseye bass necks that go through. even some with flame. Luck of the draw people..thats all
 
jongitarz said:
There is no "Sales Gimmick" on our part. In my experience, birdseye is less stable. Not all of the time, but it is a factor. Believe what you want, but we don't have secret sales meetings where we decide how to dump plain maple on the masses. There are a few birdseye bass necks that go through. even some with flame. Luck of the draw people..thats all
Click to expand...
I don't beleive the thread said anything about EBMM.
hankSray's thread spoke of Warmoth.com, not EBMM. my reply was in reference to his remark, besides it was a pun.
Don't take it so personal :D
 
oddjob said:
If my understanding is correct (which is what a couple of lutheriers told me years ago), the bird's eye is cause by mineral deposits in the wood that cause the deformation causing the "eye" as the wood grows around it. From a stability point it is fine. From an appearence standpoint it falls into the catagory of flamed and spalted Maple (harder to find quality specimens of good wood, so it is more expensive to the consumer). Then it just comes down to personal taste. Some people love it, others don't. You are paying extra for the look.
Click to expand...

I believe spalted wood is often soaked in water as well.

Flamed, tigerstripe, fiddleback, quilted and birdseye are all defects in the lumber and yes most defects like this are due to mineral deposits. They are mostly refered too as "desireable defects", which simply means people like the appearence and will pay more to get it. Couple that with availability and the price climbs. I have know idea whether those defects affect stability and strength. If I had to guess, I'd say a piece of regular hard maple would be stronger and more stabile than a heavily birdseyed piece. The question really becomes how noticeable would it be? Hard Maple is an extremely hard and strong lumber and I'd find it hard to believe most would notice the difference between a birdseye and regular maple neck with their eyes closed.
 
Yeah, me too.

A guy who laid a wooden floor for me told me that birds a$$es are where little sprigs sprouted in the tree and the flaming effect was due to a kind of bending of the wood in windy conditions that led to the 'stretched' grain or flame look.

BTW I have a '97 with a rose board and the back of the neck is birdy butt.
 
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