Growl From set necks?

[flaxattack]

i have to agree with rami
to me growl is a fretless term and punch for fretted
that being said
direwolf is a neck through with a load of punch thanks to cb and the walnut lam in it- thanks to mica for suggesting it.  
as far as percentage of sound coming from where
'on a neck through 90% is from the neck
on a set neck about 80% = per val
here is a good point
scooter tribute and scarlet tribute bass will have the same neck- but different body woods and will sound a bit different because of the qcb i changed to. but not overly- i will have more punch and slightly better low end
in the end it comes down to wood choices for tonal qualities
rami likes ebony for his particular sound
i like punch with a tight ball rattling low end
so i go coco

[mele_aloha]

Hey Flax,
 
Did you put Coco Bolo in your necks?
 
Thanks, Paul

[Bradley Young]

Maple/PH/Ebony on Direwolf,
Maple/PH/Vermilion/Ebony on Scooter and Scarlet.  
 
No cocobolo in the neck.
 
Bradley

[mele_aloha]

Oh OK. Because he just said in the last post that 80-90% sound comes from the necks and then he mentioned  that he likes punch so he uses coco bolo. But that basically means that only 10-20% of the punch is coming from the coco bolo. No big deal because I am going coco bolo even with my neck through but I was just thinking hmmmm,, I wonder how coco bolo in the neck would be? Have you heard of it being used before in the neck? I know one thing, it would look good!
 
Thanks, Paul

[bassjigga]

If I remember correctly, I think Mica has said something about coco bolo being unsuitable for necks because of it's high oil content. Some trouble with gluing or something. Tone-wise I don't think it would sound drastically different from ebony and ebony can be used in necks.

[tom_z]

Cocobolo is a fretboard option.
http://www.alembic.com/info/wood_fingerboards.html

[Bradley Young]

I think it is widely held that the 10-20% number for the body doesn't completely hold with cocobolo-- it is the secret sauce.  Mojo.
 
Bradley

[dfung60]

Cocobolo is dense and heavy which creates a unique tone, but one of the main reasons that it's popular is that it's highly figured and is visually pretty cool.  If you used it for neck laminations, not much of the grain would be visible, so it might not be the best use of your instrument dollars.
 
Another problem that would arise would be that the shrinkage over time would be quite different than maple or some of the other common neck woods.  There's no physical reason that you couldn't use it, but you'd probably feel ridges where the laminates meet on the back of the neck 10-15 years down the road.  Some people might not like that (I actually think the finish sinking is really cool).  This wouldn't be an issue for a cocobolo fingerboard or elsewhere on the instrument.
 
David Fung

[adriaan]

Surely they could offer coco bolo with low grade figuring, as neck laminates, as a no-charge upgrade from purpleheart? ;-)

[jags]

ummm no i dont think so. not even close,is my guess.  remember purpleheart is just pretty maple. not cocobolo.  
 
i thought coco bolo would be great in a neck too,but then i thought the $ would be outrageaous for 1/4 sawn coco bolo.plus yes it is a designer top,why not use maccassar ebony for laminates instead of normal ebony.....not!! that top is also for show. in a neck laminate 1/4 sawn would be a fortune i would guess.  
 
 
just stay with ebony,mahoghany,cherry,vermillion,walnut,purpleheart,and maple for neck laminates
 
i think my custom neck(if i'm ever lucky enough to get a new custom) would be...blood red vermillion in the center,flanked by two ebony strips,flanked by two maple strips,and two wide mahoghany strips (that the bridge could hopefully be mounted in).  i would like to get a heart stinger cutout(that would have super red vermillion and black ebony through the stinger part),and valentino bird of prey body if it would work with the stinger. with a gold plated bird tailpiece intergally mounted,right next too(obviously) the stinger

[jags]

ummm no i dont think so. not even close,is my guess.  remember purpleheart is just pretty maple. not cocobolo.  
 
i thought coco bolo would be great in a neck too,but then i thought the $ would be outrageaous for 1/4 sawn coco bolo.plus yes it is a designer top,why not use maccassar ebony for laminates instead of normal ebony.....not!! that top is also for show. in a neck laminate 1/4 sawn would be a fortune i would guess.  
 
 
just stay with ebony,mahoghany,cherry,vermillion,walnut,purpleheart,and maple for neck laminates
 
i think my custom neck(if i'm ever lucky enough to get a new custom) would be...blood red vermillion in the center,flanked by two ebony strips,flanked by two maple strips,and two wide mahoghany strips (that the bridge could hopefully be mounted in).  i would like to get a heart stinger cutout(that would have super red vermillion and black ebony through the stinger part),and valentino bird of prey body if it would work with the stinger. with a gold plated bird tailpiece intergrally mounted,right next too(obviously) the stinger

[adriaan]

Just as long as you know that the blood red vermillion turns dark in time. Same with purple heart, by the way.
 
From time to time, they may have some 'less interesting' woods, for instance watermark koa (check out the Spoiler in my profile) - I would guess that it costs less than flame koa, which is right up there with coco bolo, price-wise.

[olieoliver]

This thread has taken a few turns from growl to tone to wood and back top growl.
As for the physics of wood and construction of how they add or remove tone, growl....I am not the man to answer that question.
 
I can say though that I have several different brands of basses and of them all the brand that has the most growl are my Warwicks. And the neck-thru WW?s have more growl than the bolt on WW's.
 
My favorite of all my axes though is my 3/4 MK 4 string. I can get the tone and right amount of growl I like on any rig I plug it into, again a neck thru bass.  
 
I did jam this weekend with some friends, and a guitar player I haven't played with in years mentioned that the sound I got while we jammed was what he called my signature tone. He stated that I've had that sound for years and could tell it was me just hearing it.  This was the first time he'd heard me on an Alembic. So again I surmise that the hands play a larger factor than we may realize.

[bkbass]

Rami, Upon recieving your beautiful bass you commented on the near chorus like sound of the Series II electronics. I as well experience that same sound every time I pick up one of mine. I'm getting ready for the next build and I'm considering a Series I package given space limitations. Without the usual discussion of woods and necks. I'll ask the general question to everybody who owns both S1 & S2'S. Does your Series I also slightly chorus like the S2? Perhaps slightly chorus is the wrong term,ah... depth of field? Clarity? Characteristic voice? I know I can't live without it once experienced. But not having played a Series I for a number of years or having the ability to side by side compare I find myself at a slight disadvantage in the decision process at this time. Hey KMH364 HAAAALP!

[rami]

Hey Barry,
 
The Series II electronics are more about tone shaping with the CVQ's and tone controls.  That chorus effect I experience with my Dark Prince and Black Byrd Basses is more a result of the woods rather than the electronics.  They share identical woods in their construction - Ebony and Pupleheart exclusively. Of the two, only the Black Byrd features Series II electronics.  Dark Prince uses standard Rogue electronics. Mica mentioned that's one of the effects of Ebony neck laminates.  I must clarify my description of the Series II sound which is actually super quiet with great tone shaping.   That's how my Triple Omega Series II sounds.  It has a Maple neck with Purpleheart laminates.  
Clean, crisp sound with infinite sustain and harmonics.  
 
Rami
 
(Message edited by rami on March 15, 2007)