New neck day

[oggiesnr]

Well not a new neck but a re-profiled one

The story so far is that I bought Nick's Antonini to see how I could get on with DB as I have small hands. It had done the rounds of York and according to a local DB teacher about half a dozen people had got their start on it. I actually liked it and have spent some money on new strings, the fingerboard being shot, a new tail piece and sound post, about £250 on top of the original price that was £250. Being Ply it works for me as a lot of what I do is outdoors and the odd shower, cold or heat doesn't upset it.

However the neck is really chunky and that's a bit of a problem especially as I'm now working on my classical grades (4 in the Autumn). So in consultation with Peter Elliott in Beverley who did the rest of the work, I've decided to have the neck altered to make it easier on my hand. It's now ready for collection. It's not lacquered yet, the idea being that I'll play it for a few days and if itneeds adjusting he'll do it before the final finishing. So tomorrow I get to collect it and have a play.

The cost of the neck is going to be £100 so in all I'll have £600 sunk in the bass. The deal with SWMBO is that when I pass Grade 5 I can upgrade the bass but I'll probably keep this one for outside work, if not I don't think I'll be that far out of pocket and for the fun it'll have given me it will have been well worth it.

Further report and pics to follow.

Steve

PS apropo another thread, I've just spent three days cutting names in York and my wrist and fingers seem to have survived OK

[fatgoogle]

Brilliant. I've thinking about having this done on mine but I might just have the fingerboard taken down. Pics would be great.

[thisnameistaken]

Great news about your hands Steve. I always liked Nick's old bass, hope it works out for you.

[Hector]

Really pleased your hands are doing ok Steve!

When I was first buying basses, I played a whole shopsworth before being left with two: one had a beautiful feel, the other had a beautiful sound. Man, I still remember how excited I was when Malcolm Healey told me he could profile the neck to get good feel on the good sound bass. My 18 year old self was stunned and Magda and I have enjoyed a happy musical marriage ever since!

[oggiesnr]

Thanks for the good wishes, I've another long weekend coming up so here's hoping!

I've now played the bass for a couple of days (and had a lesson on it) and first impressions are good. I'll post some pics next week but Peter's taken it down about 8 mm and rounded it a bit more so it's less clunky. The plan is for me to play it for a couple of weeks before it's final finish but I think I'll probably stick with where it's at.

Steve

[ubassman]

Steve , just interested to see if the bass tone and volume changed in any way as a result of thinning the neck ?

[oggiesnr]

The E string has come alive a lot more, bags of sustain (mt bass teacher wants to swap that string for hers). The instrument feels more alive and responsive but that may be because I can use better left hand technique on the thinner neck rather than being due to the physical change of the instrument.

Steve

I haven't forgotten the pictures, they will follow.

[ubassman]

Theres a technique know as Mode Matching used by luthiers to tune the vibrations that the air make inside the bass with those of the wood. Thinning out the neck of the bass changes its natural tone ( a bit like the note you would get with a marimba ). Thinning the fingerboard, shorting in it, adding weight to it and thinning the neck are all techniques used to make the instrument resonate better ....sounds like you have got 2 things for the price of one ( better playability + louder instrument ! ) ...dont tell your luthier or he may charge you !!