Hi,

After the acquisition of my beloved S2, I sort of have a redundant Fender MIA Jazz. I'm also on the lookout for a fretless, and my original plan was to ditch the Jazz and buy a dedicated fretless.

However, one suggestion that was put my way was to keep the Jazz and instead buy a replacement neck - by far a cheaper option!

So my questions really are:

1. How straight forward is it to install a replacement neck? I do have a local luthier if needed, but it would add a bit to the cost.

2. What sort of fretless sound can I expect from a graphite neck? My preconception is that it may be a bit too 'bright' for fretless playing, but would this necessarily be an issue if EQ'd properly? Has anybody actually A/B'd a graphite fretless against a maple/rosewood fretless?

Thanks in advance!

Mark

Hey Mbassm....

Warmoth has great replacement necks that should fit just fine on your bass. They have a pretty wicked site, to:

http://www.warmoth.com:80/Default.aspx

Also, another option is to have your current bass neck epoxied (much like Jaco's famed J-bass). I've not had any dealings with the guy but he seems to be pretty good at the process (an affordable):

http://www.hisreflection.org/dontfrettt/index.html

Expect a brighter, yet much more consistant sound with a graphite neck.

Hope this helps!

-jp

Pretty sure the Status necks are designed to go straight on, although you'd need to check the number of frets as not all Fender necks are the same. Best to check with Rob before ordering.

If it's a direct replacement, fitting will involve drilling 4 holes for the neck bolts to go into.... it's important to get them in the right place and not drill too deep. Fitting the tuning pegs will probably involve 4 tiny holes per peg.

There then may be some adjustments required to the bridge to get the action and intonation right. A luthier probably wouldn't charge much to do this work, you may feel happier letting him order the neck for you so that if it doesn't fit well he can't blame you for providing the wrong neck!

A graphite neck with a phenolic board does sound brighter than wood, you can tame the sound by using flatwound strings, or have a brighter tone with halfwounds. Roundwounds would be very bright and risk marking the fingerboard if you press fairly hard.

As said above, check with Rob about neck pocket fit, scale length and number of frets.

Installing it is easy with a drill press. You can manage without one tough. You just line up the holes and drill trough the carbon fiber shell. The instructions you get with the neck are great.

As far as sound goes, I think the pickups make much more of a difference than the materials in the neck. I don’t feel I lost anything by replacing the neck on my old F*****, I think it gained an extra dimension and it gets alot more use after the transplantation. :)

I use HotWire halfwounds BTW.

I assembled a Warmoth body and a Status fretless neck: it turned out really nice.
I did have to route out the neck pocket a little bit, but I believe that is because the Warmoth is not identical to a F**** body.
You can see some pictures here: http://www.statii.com/forum/forum/vie...ad_id=2781

It does have a slightly brighter sound than wood, but it is easily mellowed with eq and it makes for a great "High Definition" effect on the notes... it feels more responsive and snappier that wood.
Like Emmett Chapman commented on my graphite Stick: like cracking nuts :)
The stability is of course beyond comparison: this neck just doesn't move!
To hear what it sounds like, you can check out the song Testify here: http://www.myspace.com/francescohp
I have a nice recording of a concert played mostly with that instrument: PM me and I'll send you a download link

Thanks for all the responses.

I think I'm now pretty set with getting a fretless Status neck, so no doubt in a week or two I'll give Rob a call ;)

I've also been toying around with replacing the PuPs and EQ anyway, so from what you guys are suggesting I shouldn't have a problem with tone at all. Once it's all assembled I'll post some pics...hopefully it will all turn out how it looks in my head!

Mark

Awesome, Mark, I look forward to the pix! :)