Aluminium necks on bass?

[Hellzero]

2 hours ago, BigRedX said:

No problem with neck dive on any of them except the Kramer XKB10, but that was down to the body shape rather than the aluminium neck. Both Kramers were fairly weighty but again due to the body woods used rather than the neck.

Are you kidding @BigRedX, all Kramer basses with aluminium neck that I owned, except The Duke, had serious neck diving problems. And I owned or played a lot ! The last three (450 B fretless with new lightweight tuners to better balance it, DMZ 6000 B and The Duke Deluxe) were sold last year through this very parish. They are also on the very heavy side for 4 strings basses, ranging from 4.5 to more than 5 kilos for some of them...

[BigRedX]

2 minutes ago, Hellzero said:

Are you kidding @BigRedX, all Kramer basses with aluminium neck that I owned, except The Duke, had serious neck diving problems. And I owned or played a lot ! The last three (450 B fretless with new lightweight tuners to better balance it, DMZ 6000 B and The Duke Deluxe) were sold last year through this very parish. They are also on the very heavy side for 4 strings basses, ranging from 4.5 to more than 5 kilos for some of them...

AFAIK there appears to be a lot of variation in the early Kramer basses. It's a pity the Kramer Forum no longer exists as it was a mine of information with several ex-employees from the days of the aluminium necks posting there. My 450B was fine for balance but it was relatively heavy (although not unbearably so for me). I can imagine that one with lighter body woods might have been a problem.

The Kramer XKB10 was a problem for balance but again that was entirely due to the body shape and strap button positions than the fact it had an aluminium neck. A wooden-neck bass of the same design would have been just as bad.

Basses made with unusual materials and less conventional designs tend to be very polarising. Also many of them date from a time when there was a distinct lack of consistency from one example to the next of the same instrument. All I can suggest is that if anyone is interested in one of these that they try the actual bass they want buy for themselves, and make a decision about that particular bass only on their experiences.

[Jono Bolton]

3 hours ago, BigRedX said:

As some who plays Bass VIs only in one of my bands I'm very interested. What neck width have you gone for?

A friend of mine bought a Squier Bass VI with an aluminium neck from EGC a couple of years ago.

[BigRedX]

1 minute ago, Jono Bolton said:

A friend of mine bought a Squier Bass VI with an aluminium neck from EGC a couple of years ago.

The main problem for me with the Super is that the neck is narrow even by guitar standards, let alone when fitted with Bass VI strings! I've settled on the Shergold Marathon/Eastwood Hooky neck width as being the ideal for me.

[mononick]

8 hours ago, BigRedX said:

As some who plays Bass VIs only in one of my bands I'm very interested. What neck width have you gone for?

I believe it’ll be a similar width to the Bass VI width which I really like but probably too narrow for you.

Hopefully I will have it soon so I can give exact measurements.  

 

[Vin Venal]

I'd love an Aluminium necked bass. Big fan of Shellac, who used Travis Beans I think.

[BigRedX]

14 hours ago, mononick said:

I believe it’ll be a similar width to the Bass VI width which I really like but probably too narrow for you.

Hopefully I will have it soon so I can give exact measurements.  

 

Brilliant, thank you!

[barrycreed]

Anyone ever try those bolt on conversion necks? Pricey things to experiment with I suppose...

[bartelby]

On 15/04/2021 at 21:59, Vin Venal said:

I'd love an Aluminium necked bass. Big fan of Shellac, who used Travis Beans I think.

They also use Electrical Guitar Company stuff for backups.

[cocco]

I'd love an Alu necked P bass

[barrycreed]

Worth going all in for a neck through or any experience with bolt on conversions?

[obi 2 kenobi]

Has anyone tried an Alusonic bass?

 

[itu]

Wooden neck, Al body. Different.

I have tried few, but was in need of the 2 x 12" cab, which is light and powerful. You have a question, Polly is very helpful.

[Ted59]

I Have an Alusonic Django 5 string on sale.

[Richard Lamell]

Love Ali necks. I've owned a number of Kramers and have a Vaccaro 5 string. It's a question of (lack of) taste

[jd56hawk]

Instead of graphite?

[MoonBassAlpha]

2 hours ago, Richard Lamell said:

Love Ali necks. I've owned a number of Kramers and have a Vaccaro 5 string. It's a question of (lack of) taste

Cool! These must be pretty rare!

[NancyJohnson]

2 hours ago, Richard Lamell said:

Love Ali necks. I've owned a number of Kramers and have a Vaccaro 5 string. It's a question of (lack of) taste

 

This is up for sale somewhere, isn't it?  Saw it earlier today.

 

[Richard Lamell]

On 15/04/2021 at 21:59, Vin Venal said:

I'd love an Aluminium necked bass. Big fan of Shellac, who used Travis Beans I think.

Have you seen how much Travis Beans are? I saw one in my local music shop for under £500 years ago, and I let the sales guy talk me out of buying it because it was pink. Still kicking myself. I've got a Vaccaro 5 string for sale if you're interested

[Richard Lamell]

15 hours ago, NancyJohnson said:

 

This is up for sale somewhere, isn't it?  Saw it earlier today.

 

 

15 hours ago, NancyJohnson said:

 

This is up for sale somewhere, isn't it?  Saw it earlier today.

 

Yes, I'm trying to fund a Travis Bean

[Richard Lamell]

16 hours ago, MoonBassAlpha said:

Cool! These must be pretty rare!

Very rare in the UK. These, Kramer and Travis Bean are getting really pricy, especially with shipping and import taxes going through the roof

[Richard Lamell]

On 14/04/2021 at 17:58, Skybone said:

Kalv from Heresy had an aluminium neck Kramer XL8.

 

I sold Kalv my XKB10. I've got an XL8 now

[alyctes]

I have (still) a Kramer The Duke.  (I've tried to sell it twice now...  both times screwed up, not either buyer's fault.)   I suppose I'll post it again at some stage.  It sounds more like an octave-down electric than a "conventional" bass - I don't know how much of that is the pickup, I suppose the aluminium neck must have some effect.  I did find it hard to keep in tune, but the design is not great and that may well be part of the problem.

[dangerboy]

On 14/04/2021 at 22:42, MoonBassAlpha said:

@dangerboy had some aluminium bass thing going on.  Haven't seen him in a while. He bought my Kramer 450b ages ago and  had an Electrical Guitar Company one iirc

Hello! I've been selling aluminium stuff like crazy. But there are still more of them lying around this house than I should mention.

We spend a lot of time talking aluminium at https://www.facebook.com/groups/735285233160228