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Moses and Status Fretless Necks.


Jase
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I think the Moses Steinberger necks are OK, but I would be inclined to give their jazz necks a miss. Although they've been designed to emulate maple tonally they're just not stiff enough to handle temperature changes. I had a custom jazz with fretted and fretless moses necks once and the bass needed to be kept at room temperature or given at least 48 hours for the neck to straighten out if brought in from a cold room.

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[quote name='Jase' post='349443' date='Dec 9 2008, 10:18 AM']I'm quite surprised actually, always thought graphite was a vey stable material for necks.
Keep it coming :)[/quote]

It has the [i]potential[/i] to be completely stable, but not everyone gets the recipe spot on. Sometimes it varies from instrument to instrument as much as from manufacturer to manufacturer!

Cheers
ped

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I fitted a Status fretless graphite neck to a MIM Jazz (2001). I had 2 MIM jazzes at the time the 2001 and a 1996 - the neck was a crap fit on the 1996 but a great fit on the 2001 for some reason. The neck was excellent, never went out of tune or move in any way and could get a really low action. Somehow didn't feel right to me tho - I came to the conclusion I prefer a wood fb on a fretless.

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[quote name='Jase' post='349443' date='Dec 9 2008, 10:18 AM']I'm quite surprised actually, always thought graphite was a vey stable material for necks.
Keep it coming :)[/quote]
Its all down to the construction. Status, Modulus, Vigier, Schack all design their necks to be stiff using layers of graphite weave impregnated with resin.

Moses designed their jazz necks to sound like wood, so they use basically a construction process that relies more on resin and MDF for structural rigidity without the weave. Both have phenolic fingerboards and its the fingerboard which is key to getting the neck stiff enough. Status and Modulus got it wrong too at various points in the past, as I've mentioned on other posts. The resin based construction is also what allows Moses to offer their necks cheaper, there's less labour involved in their manufacture.

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Hi Jase,

I have been eyeing up a fretless Status neck for my Jazz body for some time now as well- I have an unlined fretless P-bass neck (Japanese) on it at the moment. Don't know whether to get the neck's existing fingerboard coated or go for the graphite neck - I'd go for a P-bass neck profile if I did. Obviously the coating option is cheaper.......

I've noticed on the Status website that the price has come down a bit of late (VAT reduction included) - it's around the £366 mark including postage - you'd obviously have to buy tuners too. I'm sure in the past it used to be around £410 after VAT. So seems a wee bit more affordable.

If you are still in Newport - we'll have to hook up - drop me a line .....

Bill

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[quote name='Jase' post='350117' date='Dec 9 2008, 07:35 PM']Hmm, not looking too good so far![/quote]

Don't get me wrong Jase, the Status replacement necks are great - I would have a fretted one in an instant on my Fender P or Ray4 (or GnL L2500 for that matter if they made them). BUT I would have it fitted by Status. The fretless resin board is a bit marmite to me - I'm sure there are just as many that prefer it to wood - I'd just try one before you buy.

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[quote name='dmz' post='350173' date='Dec 9 2008, 08:49 PM']Hi Jase,

I have been eyeing up a fretless Status neck for my Jazz body for some time now as well- I have an unlined fretless P-bass neck (Japanese) on it at the moment. Don't know whether to get the neck's existing fingerboard coated or go for the graphite neck - I'd go for a P-bass neck profile if I did. Obviously the coating option is cheaper.......

I've noticed on the Status website that the price has come down a bit of late (VAT reduction included) - it's around the £366 mark including postage - you'd obviously have to buy tuners too. I'm sure in the past it used to be around £410 after VAT. So seems a wee bit more affordable.

If you are still in Newport - we'll have to hook up - drop me a line .....

Bill[/quote]

Yeah, cheers Bill. I'm not far from Newport, Tredegar to be exact...I'll drop you a line mate! Coating is a great option Bill, I had my Jazz done by Dave Dearnley, he did a fine job using super glue, around six tubes he reckoned! It would have to be Jazz profile for me and lined!

I'm not too sure what started me on the graphite thing, just noticed my current neck is feeling or rather lacking something....can't quite put my finger on it....possibly needs recoating but if I go down that route I'm pretty sure the board will be taken down ever so slightly for a second time, which means the neck won't feel like that "handfull" Hope I'm making sense, a neck that was built as a fretless seems to have more board than a board converted to fretless.

Thanks for the input guys, great!

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[quote name='dmz' post='351362' date='Dec 10 2008, 11:31 PM']Hi Jase,

Will give Dave a bell in the new year - I have a few bits and bobs for him to do - one of which may be to coat my P-bass fingerboard !

Cheers

Bill[/quote]

Let me know if you decide to get it done.

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