aluminium necks

[aitkenaudio]

Does anyone know anyone in the UK who is currently making these? I'm getting bad gas for one and struggling to find people who aren't in the states

[Shaggy]

Old Kramer necks do occasionally pop up on Evilbay, may be your best bet.    Is this to fit a body you already have?   Otherwise I'd just buy an entire cheap Kramer 

[3below]

58 minutes ago, Shaggy said:

Old Kramer necks do occasionally pop up on Evilbay, may be your best bet.    Is this to fit a body you already have?   Otherwise I'd just buy an entire cheap Kramer 

Like Shaggy I am fortunate to have a Kramer Alu neck bass.  IMO Cheap Kramer Alu, not these days unless you are very lucky!  Great basses, hard to explain but mine just 'plays itself', the string response is unlike any other bass I have (in a good way). Keep looking, you may get lucky.

[Shaggy]

54 minutes ago, 3below said:

Like Shaggy I am fortunate to have a Kramer Alu neck bass.  IMO Cheap Kramer Alu, not these days unless you are very lucky!  Great basses, hard to explain but mine just 'plays itself', the string response is unlike any other bass I have (in a good way). Keep looking, you may get lucky.

True, cheap ones are much fewer and far between than they used to be, although I still think they're one of the more affordable vintage marques that are also actually good 

If this one doesn't go much above start bid price (which I doubt it will) it could be worth putting a R/H body on it.  Strange bridge though! https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Cramer-Custom-Bass-Guitar-L-H-Strung-R-H/293087580917?hash=item443d6192f5:g:8~0AAOSwfRhc0H88&frcectupt=true

Edited May 17, 2019 by Shaggy

[aitkenaudio]

2 minutes ago, Shaggy said:

True, cheap ones are much fewer and far between than they used to be, although I still think they're one of the more affordable vintage marques that are also actually good 

If this one doesn't go much above start bid price (which I doubt it will) it could be worth putting a R/H body on it.  Strange bridge though! https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Cramer-Custom-Bass-Guitar-L-H-Strung-R-H/293087580917?hash=item443d6192f5:g:8~0AAOSwfRhc0H88&frcectupt=true

ooh, thanks for the heads up, what are the scale lengths on these? I wonder if it'll fit a fender body haha

[Shaggy]

3 minutes ago, aitkenaudio said:

ooh, thanks for the heads up, what are the scale lengths on these? I wonder if it'll fit a fender body haha

I think they're 32" (medium scale). 

It certainly won't be a direct fit for a Fender neck pocket, but there would be a way of doing it - worst case by gluing a block of wood into the existing pocket and then re-routing for the new neck

[Richard R]

OK - so what's the advantage of an Alu neck? Yes you could make a truss that is light and stiff, but the thermal expansion is way higher than wood, so surely the thing will need constant retuning? 

[aitkenaudio]

2 minutes ago, Richard R said:

OK - so what's the advantage of an Alu neck? Yes you could make a truss that is light and stiff, but the thermal expansion is way higher than wood, so surely the thing will need constant retuning? 

They have a different sound, Also needing to retune going from hot to cold isn't any worse than wood. Basically it's just a different sound, no better or worse

 

[3below]

22 minutes ago, aitkenaudio said:

They have a different sound, Also needing to retune going from hot to cold isn't any worse than wood. Basically it's just a different sound, no better or worse

 

Have played mine in a brewery in winter (yes really) which was a vast hanger type industrial building. Big temperature changes as the industrial sized heating powered on and off.  Not a problem with tuning.  The sound is different: clarity of notes, evenness of response and no dead (or super live) notes on mine.  Disadvantages - it is heavy and a neck diver.

[Richard R]

Interesting, not what I would have expected at all. I shall have to keep an eye and ear out.

[BreadBin]

I have picked up a Travis Bean bass, it was the heaviest bass I've ever hefted by a considerable margin.

[Shaggy]

1 hour ago, BreadBin said:

I have picked up a Travis Bean bass, it was the heaviest bass I've ever hefted by a considerable margin.

You're lucky to have one!

I have a TB2000 too - most of the weight is the solid koa body, plus the neck is solid alu (rather than a T Section with wood inserts like Kramer necks) and continues into the body almost like a neck-thru, with the p/ups and bridge mounted directly onto it.   Fabulous basses, mind....

Advantages of alu necks are (1) the stability (no truss rod), and (2) the sound - produces ringing harmonics that are different to a wood or carbon neck in a way that's hard to describe!   As 3below describes above.   Disadvantages (with the Kramer necks) is (1) even with the wood inserts they are a tad cold on the hand at first, and (2) they can bend with heavy / high tension strings - ok if you're careful with string type.

 

[BreadBin]

I don't own one, have merely hefted it for a moment 🙂

[BigRedX]

10 hours ago, Shaggy said:

I think they're 32" (medium scale). 

It certainly won't be a direct fit for a Fender neck pocket, but there would be a way of doing it - worst case by gluing a block of wood into the existing pocket and then re-routing for the new neck

Kramer aluminium necks are either 34” scale for 20 fret necks, or 30” scale if they have 24 frets. The necks are exactly the same, just the finger boards cut for the appropriate number of frets. The one in the eBay link will be 34” scale.

Edited May 18, 2019 by BigRedX

[fleabag]

15 hours ago, Shaggy said:

 https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Cramer-Custom-Bass-Guitar-L-H-Strung-R-H/293087580917?hash=item443d6192f5:g:8~0AAOSwfRhc0H88&frcectupt=true

Very informative description.

Excellent bunch of photos

[BreadBin]

1 hour ago, fleabag said:

Very informative description.

Excellent bunch of photos

My favourite kind of listing 🙂

[TheGreek]

I know somebody who owned an alu necked bass - complained that his hands stank of metal for hours after every time he played it.

[Stub Mandrel]

2 hours ago, TheGreek said:

I know somebody who owned an alu necked bass - complained that his hands stank of metal for hours after every time he played it.

The problem is all the aluminium necks or bodies I've seen are polished alloy which tends to feel horrible.

Anodised aluminium feels lovely, but doesn't have the same look.

[Shaggy]

10 hours ago, BreadBin said:

I don't own one, have merely hefted it for a moment 🙂

Ah, apologies - I was reading posts faster than my brain could process (as usual ).  

Must have been a bit strange for Bill Wyman going from a Vox Wyman bass (probably the lightest bass that I've ever picked up) to the TB, which as you say is rather a weighty old beastie.

10 hours ago, BigRedX said:

Kramer aluminium necks are either 34” scale for 20 fret necks, or 30” scale if they have 24 frets. The necks are exactly the same, just the finger boards cut for the appropriate number of frets. The one in the eBay link will be 34” scale.

Blimey, I never knew that and I've got 2 of them!  Thanks 

5 hours ago, fleabag said:

Very informative description.

Excellent bunch of photos

Not great is it - but sometimes that's where the bargains are, especially when the key word is mis-spelled in the listing title.

3 hours ago, TheGreek said:

I know somebody who owned an alu necked bass - complained that his hands stank of metal for hours after every time he played it.

That's why Daleks have no sense of smell.   Honestly 

[floFC]

I have never really seen a cheap Alu neck Kramer, I’d be curious to see how much it goes for. One thing to be aware of is that the nut is built into the neck, so you won’t be able to flip the nut around on the lefty neck. Maybe not too much of an issue since it has a zero fret.

The Dukes used to be cheap enough, not seen one for a while.

[3below]

4 minutes ago, floFC said:

I have never really seen a cheap Alu neck Kramer, I’d be curious to see how much it goes for. One thing to be aware of is that the nut is built into the neck, so you won’t be able to flip the nut around on the lefty neck. Maybe not too much of an issue since it has a zero fret.

The Dukes used to be cheap enough, not seen one for a while.

I could cause some envy by admitting what I got mine for on BC - 2011 ish I think

Mine has a nut that is held down by an Allen bolt.  However it would be interesting how the nut has been turned round or adapted on the 'well known internet auction site' one.  Whatever it is, it can be sorted.

At the opening price it would be a worthwhile buy with the view of getting a body made for it (DMZ4001 style which is nicer IMO).  If you did, make the upper horn much longer and get the strap balance better.

[aitkenaudio]

I Think i'm gonna take a punt on it and make a new body for it, hopefully the neck route wont be to much of a ball ache.

I also play in a# so i'm wondering if it's going to be under to much tension or not

 

[alyctes]

On 18/05/2019 at 19:55, floFC said:

I have never really seen a cheap Alu neck Kramer, I’d be curious to see how much it goes for. One thing to be aware of is that the nut is built into the neck, so you won’t be able to flip the nut around on the lefty neck. Maybe not too much of an issue since it has a zero fret.

The Dukes used to be cheap enough, not seen one for a while.

I have a Duke (and a Hondo Alien).  eBay sellers seem to be trying for £400+ , which is about twice what I paid for mine, and seems to be more than people will pay.  There aren't many about though.

It definitely makes a different noise to a wooden neck; IMO it's more like a Les Paul stepped down an octave than a conventional bass.

 

[NancyJohnson]

EGC (Electric Guitar Company) necks do come up on eBay periodically, although these things are turned from solid billets, there's no natural board on these.  

Aside from the aesthetics and as a past owner of a Travis Bean, I don't really see the point of a metal neck over wood; sure they're very stable and when new they look great, but I don't remember any advantage tonally over a 100% natural neck.  Travis Bean bass necks (the originals) weren't solid either, they were routed with a paid of channels to keep the weight down (I had the fingerboard done on mine, off with the old, on with an ebony board, there's photos somewhere in my loft).  Any tonal shaping described in previous posts could easily be achieved in the signal chain and in a blind test I doubt you'd be able to tell the difference.    

 

[bloke_zero]

I'd be a bit wary of an auction where they spell Kramer right in the description but not in the title - I guess it's pick up only @aitkenaudio - good luck - the neck looks awesome!  I saw mogwai playing last year and I think he might have been playing one - neck certainly looked the same.