graphite replacement necks for SR's?

[mike jungle]

i'm obssessing about graphite necks right now. i think it's because i didn't realize it was a possibility til i visit the Status website.

other than no warping, what advantages does it offer?
i also would really like an ebony fretboard. the maple looks really nice, but ebony...i dig the sound a little more?

so...do any other companies make graphite necks for Ray's?
does Status make the neck with the 3+1 tuning configuration too?
how much does it cost?

man...i'm gonna nut all over myself.

 

[JB1]

If you'd been on the Status site, how did you miss this?

http://www.status-graphite.com/status/carts3/frames/frame1.htm

Dave (Oldblusbassman I think) has recently had a graf neck put on his SR5, so perhaps he'll drop in and answer your questions.

I'm sure other companies offer graf necks, but Status seem to be 'The One'.

 

[Chet the Jet]

Here is Daves thread on the transplant.

http://www.ernieball.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6259

Beautifull work,awesome looking bass.

Thanks for the status link JB1.

 

[xcental34x]

I really should find someone who is getting a graphite neck to sell me their original Stingray neck.

 

[Chet the Jet]

I am not sure if they laid carbon fiber over his existing neck or if its a new neck altogether.

Dave's was carbon fiber and not graphite I believe.

 

[oldbluebassman]

Hi. here I am.

yes my neck was Carbon-Fibre. It's was made in Status's own mould and it has a slightly shallower profile than the original which suits my small hands.

I've just used it exclusively on a six night tour here in the UK and every night somone commented about the bass sound. Very clear and very deep. Now some of that may be down to my new amp rig but a lot of it was down to the bass itself. Sad to say the only original bits left of this SR5 is the body, pick-guard, bridge and the tuners, however it has a very pronounced MM growl and I love it.

 

[Chet the Jet]

Dave ,you still crankin with the Ashdowns or did you change up?

Also tell Micky that his site has not been working properly if you will.

 

[oldbluebassman]

New rig - BBE BMAX-T, QSC PLX1602, Epifani UL310 - fantastic although I had to modify the BBE.

Re the site, it works fine for me. Does not support Firefox and maybe not Netscape. Can you PM me the problem as I created and run the site. Should not discuss here.

 

[prickly_pete]

New rig - BBE BMAX-T, QSC PLX1602, Epifani UL310 - fantastic although I had to modify the BBE.

Re the site, it works fine for me. Does not support Firefox and maybe not Netscape. Can you PM me the problem as I created and run the site. Should not discuss here.

It doesn't seem to like Mozilla either, which makes sense because Mozilla and Firefox both use the gecko engine. There really is no excuse for a website that doesn't work with a standards compliant web browser. No big deal though.

 

[mike jungle]

damn, it'd cost more than half of what i payed for my bass to get that baby.

if anyone knows of any other companies, can you drop a couple names? oldbluesbassman...i'm sure you did a little research before you bought your neck, no? i'd appreciate it if you shared any info. heh. oh...what else have you done to your bass?

i didn't think to check the 'on-line-shop'. that's why i missed it. i only looked at the retro basses and saw that awesome neck.

so you have to drill your own holes into the neck, correct? how hard is this to do? i'd imagine you'd have to drill your own pilot hole first. man...i want that neck so badly.

it doesn't detract from that trademark stingray tone though, right? it just improves on it a bit?


oh, one more...the fretboard is ebony, correct? i read through the description, but i don't remember reading about the wood of the fretboard.

 

[Chet the Jet]

damn, it'd cost more than half of what i payed for my bass to get that baby.

If its only a little more than half of a SR5,I would ship that baby out in a heart beat.

 

[mike jungle]

haha...i'm still a college student and the purchase of a stingray has left my funds depleted. i will have to scrape about for a little while longer to be able to purchase something like this.

oh, one more question, do you know if they would paint their headstocks black? i think i saw a couple of black painted headstocks on their retro-active basses, i was wondering if they would do that for no extra charge. heh. i want the carbon fibre to show on the back of the neck and headstock, but i think it'd be cool if the front were black.

actually two more questions.

oldbluesman, how does the neck feel compared to your old one? does your hand slide up and down easily on the neck? you said on your thread that it was better for your smaller hand? why? the depth of the neck or the string spacing? i thought the neck was supposed to be an exact replica. is the neck thinner? can you just tell me everything about how it feels?

 

[JB1]

It doesn't seem to like Mozilla either, which makes sense because Mozilla and Firefox both use the gecko engine. There really is no excuse for a website that doesn't work with a standards compliant web browser. No big deal though.

Works fine for me using Mozilla Firefox. You need a plug in somewhere dude.

 

[oldbluebassman]

Hey, so many questions.

This all started because I wanted some side LEDs in the neck because it was difficult playing in very low light conditions. Having small hands I can't span four frets down near the nut so I have to move them quite a bit so I need to see what I'm doing. I had a look at what Sims offered, having talked to a few people I decided that I didn't want a router run down a perfectly good wooden neck and then back-filled. The answer was to have LEDs put in during manufacture. I asked EB if they could build them into my new Bongo, but sadly no. Not an option so I had to think again.

I knew that Status offered side LEDS as a standard option with their basses and I knew that they did replacement Stingray necks and that the LEDs were put in as the neck was made, not after. I contacted Rob Green and discussed it. I also decided that I wanted him to do the whole job, including adding another battery box, fitting the neck and setting the bass up with a new set of DR strings that I provided. He gave me a price and off we went. It took about 5 weeks to make the neck, then he asked to drop the bass over, about a 2 hours drive from me. A week later I collected it finished. I didn't consider any other neck. I knew that the Status quality was good from their basses and I wanted to be able to go and see them and talk it through.

Other mods. When I bought this bass a year ago on Ebay it had already been fitted with a Bartolini and an Aguiller OBP-3 pre-amp so you see there only the body and the hardware left from the original bass. I will shortly be selling the original (4-22-03) neck. The next step is to source a Bart MM5E so I can restore coil switching.

The hand slides very, very easily. I thought my Bongo had a smooth non-slip finish but this is even better. The neck profile is slightly shallower than the factory standard. For example at the 12th fret the Status is 2cm whereas the original EB is 2.4cm. I've also just measured the string spacing and whereas the stock spacing is 9mm between string centres This gives a different gap between the strings (e.g. B to E is 7mm and D to G is 8mm). The Status has a constant 8mm gap between the strings, all strings.

The neck seems to bring out the higher harmonics. For example the G-string is very crisp and clean. There are no dead spots.

Fingerboard is Carbon-Fibre not Ebony.

Finally this was not a cheap modification. It cost more than I paid for the bass but I now have a truly superb instrument that is still in essence a Stingray 5 with that characteristic growl.

 

[oldbluebassman]

It doesn't seem to like Mozilla either, which makes sense because Mozilla and Firefox both use the gecko engine. There really is no excuse for a website that doesn't work with a standards compliant web browser. No big deal though.

It's all a matter of time.

 

[prickly_pete]

Works fine for me using Mozilla Firefox. You need a plug in somewhere dude.

I can see the flash stuff at the beginning fine, but on the main page the formating of the menus is off. Again not a big deal, and there are other sites that have same problem.

 

[JB1]

Mmmm.

I've tried IE6 & MF and both look the same.......

Not sure I can help.....