Question Can I re-shape the neck (make shallower) on 2013 Stingray 5 without problems?

[tonemachine1]

I called Ernie Ball and they have not heard of anybody doing this.

I would be interested in making the neck shallower by shaving off some of the back of the neck on my two maple-necked Stingray 5's. I am not concerned about de-valuing the basses as they are keepers, just interested in making them a little more easily handled by my old hands but without ruining the integrity of the basses.

Does anybody have any input on the cons of doing this or has anyone seen this executed with good results? Please state if you have experience or are just guessing!

Thanks,
Tony

 

[sanderhermans]

I would GUESS this is ok to do as far as you don't overdo it. many manufacturers make way slimmer necks then ebmm does, the trus rod is the main thing keeping the neck from bending. you must be aware not to dig in too deep to not expose the trus rod, but I guess you wont hit this. I personally would not recommend going tru with this but if it really bothers you then go litl bits at a time and see what happens...

 

[bvdrummer]

I don't have experience, just guessing:

To counter the string tension, the trussrod is pushing up (toward the frets) in the middle of the neck, and pushing back at the neck heel and at the end of the rod (I assume to be the last few frets). It is at the last few frets where I would be the most concerned, since the neck is the thinnest.

If you take off the neck and look at where the trussrod goes into the heel, you might get an idea for how much wood is currently behind the trussrod. Keep in mind you need leave more wood than just "not expose the trussrod". The wood needs to have some thickness behind the trussrod to support the force.

If doing research, you might want to check out Warmoth or Carvin, since they allow custom neck profiles, they might have more insight. From Warmoth's site for example:

Standard Contour: 0.872" @ nut and 0.975" @ 12th fret
Slim Taper Contour: 0.790" @ nut and 0.920" @ 12th fret

So if their trussrod is the same in both necks, that could give you some idea of how much you could take off.

Also, if you have 2 basses, I would start with just 1, and wait a few months and see how stable the neck is before doing the 2nd one.

 

[nurnay]

The thought of messing with one of my EBMM necks is spooky.

Best of luck to you if you do.

 

[sanderhermans]

also small differences can make a huge difference in "feel"
my sterling 4 and sr4 slo share the same neck specifications but the sterling is litl flatter, only slightly but it feels quite different, although when measured its not a big difference. so try just to tape up het body and headstock and sand a litl bit of the back of the neck, then re-oil and wax it. play it for a while and see where this gets you. it might just be enough....

 

[liverbird]

I wouldn't do it. Apart from messing with an original neck, there's no guarantee it will solve your problem. Sometimes a thinner (shallower) neck can actually be more stressful on your hand.

 

[bvdrummer]

I wouldn't do it. Apart from messing with an original neck, there's no guarantee it will solve your problem. Sometimes a thinner (shallower) neck can actually be more stressful on your hand.

+1 I used to have an Ibby 6 and a Bongo 6. The Ibby would hurt my hand after a while, but I could play the Bongo for hours.

 

[tonemachine1]

Thank all of you for the input and concern so far (great point about enough wood being left to "hold in" the truss rod). More input welcomed.

I'm pretty afraid of doing it, possibly ruining a bass. I do have a considerably shallower necked bass (but way wider than a stingray) so I know I'm comfortable with a shallower neck and i know some how its possible to have a shallow neck. I have some left hand structural/strength issues so my hand probably has a different tolerance than normal hands. I wouldnt consider doing this if it weren't for that. I'm going to give it more time and see if I can't change my bass and arm position to compensate. Thanks, again.