koogie2k said:
Just curious, I have seen a composite neck on some basses before but have not been able to try one out. What are the advantages of having one? How about feel and is there any tone loss/increase with having one? Granted, I play guitar most of the time, but have really been getting into the bass (love my bongo) and was curious.....I'm looking at getting another bass soon and just want to keep the options open. Thanks for any information or suggestions.
I play both wood and composite necks. Some of the wood necks are simple maple, some have darker woods laminated into them, and a few are not maple at all. The composite necks are Moses, Modulus, and Steinberger and they are as different from each other as the various wood necks are from each other.
"Wood" is a nonspecific term, and no one would argue otherwise. But "composite" seems often to be used as a specific term, and that's rather misleading. "Wood" is a composite, and we recognize various woods with differing qualities. The synthetic composites have various recipes and varying fibre structures within them, just like the natural composites [the wood], and so they also vary from type to type.
While synthetic composites vary from one to another, they vary not at all within each type. While you can shop the differences within supposedly identical wooden necks, meaning not all 1998 Turner 4-string necks will sound alike [on same-model bodies], this is not true of composites. All 1998 Moses 4-string jazz necks will sound identical. And if the recipe and construction lay up for the 1998 Moses is the unchanged from 1992 to 2007, then all those 15 years of Moses 4-string jazz necks will sound alike, meaning you don't have to shop for the sweet one. The misunderstanding amongst buyers is to extrapolate that alikeness beyond the make and model. A Steinberger is as different from a Modulus as an ash neck is from a maple or mahogany neck.
Synthetics are immune to seasonal changes. My Moses and Steinberger necks have synthetic fingerboards, and never need adjustment. The Modulus neck has a wooden fingerboard, and needs very minor adjustments, if you want to be really fussy about your action. The 'Berger has no truss rod anyway. The others do have them.
If you like wood but want the benefits of composite, meaning you want to hardly realize you're playing a non-wooden neck [to both hands and ears], I'd suggest going with Moses. But I only know the 3 brands I'm playing. There are others. Also, if you're thinking maybe you'll own one fretless, and likewise maybe you'll own one synthetic composite neck, I'd suggest making them one and the same. With a fretted neck, minor changes in neck relief have no effect on sound, just on playability. With a low action fretless, even the most minor changes in neck relief can be heard, so the stability of synthetic composites is very beneficial. If your FL neck has a DiamondWood or RockWood fingerboard, you've already got an epoxy fingerboard with no further modification.
On balance, some wooden necks with graphite inserts are about as stable as my Modulus neck, needing only the most minor seasonal adjustment, if any. And some of the "graphite neck" bass builders have gone heavily into a sort of wood-graphite laminate neck, with far more graphite in them than necks with just a couple of graphite inserts.
