A bass guitar neck is an integral component of its instrument; it can drastically impact playability and fretting sensation. Think carefully about factors like thickness, headstock shape and radius when selecting your neck.
There is an assortment of bass guitar necks on the market. Selecting one may prove challenging, yet it is essential that you find one that meets your personal requirements and offers optimal playback.
String Tree
String trees are small pieces of hardware attached to a guitar headstock designed to apply downward pressure on strings near the nut, helping prevent them from slipping off tuning pegs and helping maintain tuning accuracy more reliably. Some bass players believe string trees enhance tone; others don’t notice an appreciable change.
String trees are constructed out of metal materials and designed to provide the right amount of downward pressure on strings as they pass over nut slots. Most commonly, string trees support only two strings (E and B). But occasionally they’re also used to support three and four highest strings as well.
Some string trees feature built-in rollers that move with the strings as they’re bent and stretched by a whammy bar, so as they bend and stretch they don’t snag against any components, such as string trees. This feature can be particularly helpful for users of excessive tremolo or string bending as it helps minimize friction that arises when scraped strings come into contact with metal surfaces, leading to their going out of tune and creating instability in tuning.
String trees come in all sorts of shapes and sizes on the market today, from barrel-like designs to butterfly forms. Perhaps the most widely-used style, however, is found on Fender bass guitars: disc-shaped string trees have grooves either side of their central screw that allow strings to pass underneath. These string trees offer great versatility compared to their more intricate counterparts but remain very easy to use and maintain.
Fretboard Dots
Fretboard Dots or Fret Markers on a bass guitar help the player navigate its neck. These dots serve as reference points that enable players to locate frets and notes quickly without counting, saving valuable time during rehearsals or live performances.
Fretboard dots serve as a visual reminder that each musical note corresponds to a specific fret on a string, making learning new songs or improvising much simpler. Of particular note is the double dot on the 12th fret which marks an octave – understanding its position will enable easier bass lines that repeat across fretboard.
Fretboard markers also serve to visually illustrate the intervals between musical notes and their open string counterparts, providing beginners with an effective means of learning bass scales. For instance, on a 12-fret fret the second dot indicates that C is next open string note followed by G on that string; similarly for third and fifth frets.
There are also a few fret markers which represent special notes or chords, for instance the seventh fret has a dot that indicates you should play an F major chord and another special fret indicates G sharp minor chord. These symbols can be especially helpful to beginners as they allow them to easily learn more complex bass lines quickly.
Strings
Strings are at the core of any bass guitar, making a substantial impactful statement about its tone and sound. Your choice of string can have an immediate effect on its tones ranging from deep lows to punchy highs that define rock and punk bass sounds, plus bassists may utilize different kinds of strings for different effects or styles.
A bass string consists of a metal core wire attached to a round wrap wire that surrounds it, creating the part you use when fretting with your fretting hand. At each end attached to its respective nut is a brass ferrule affixed, holding in place. Nuts are pieces made of ivory, graphite or plastic that sit between headstock and fingerboard and raise up the strings so they vibrate freely without touching each other or the fretboard.
Most bass necks are crafted of hard woods to withstand the tremendous tension generated by string tension. A bass neck may consist of one long solid piece or several different pieces joined lengthwise. Some necks are designated 1-, 2- or 3-piece while others display numbers on their back to indicate how many individual pieces were used in its creation.
The neck is typically equipped with a truss rod that can be adjusted to slightly bow the neck forward against string tension, although care must be taken not to overtighten this truss rod and weaken it over time. This may occur if using very high tension strings on an older neck.
Saddle
The saddle of a bass guitar neck serves to connect its fingerboard with its body, providing stability and tuning of the instrument. Made from different materials such as metals or woods, its use ensures stable tuning as well as stability of stability during performance. Fretboards are flat surfaces on top of necks which feature frets as well as the nut; sometimes different shape or length versions exist alongside bass bodies with various inlays or decorations for decoration purposes.
A wide neck at the nut can make playing more difficult for those with smaller hands, particularly lower positions. As such, most bass guitars feature narrower neck widths in lower position than they do at headstock; typically this takes the form of a “C” profile neck width but there are other choices as well.
One crucial consideration when selecting a neck is whether it has jumbo frets or smaller ones. Although jumbo frets cost more, they provide more room for string movement and make playing high notes easier on the neck. Smaller frets tend to be less costly but still work just as effectively for most players; however, novice players often prefer larger frets since it makes learning faster and more enjoyable.
The neck-through or dovetail joint connects the bass neck to its body via an attachment method known as neck-through or dovetail joints, providing maximum stability to this type of neck construction method. Commonly found on high-end instruments, dovetail joints may be made of any number of materials ranging from hard woods that provide strength and durability to plastic components that may also include bolts for additional security. Gluing or bolting dovetail joints onto necks often suffices.
Nut
Nuts are an integral component of bass necks. A narrow nut can make fingerpicking and plucking difficult, while wide ones give closer ties between strings. Furthermore, string height can be adjusted here – too low at the nut can buzz against fretboard notes or throw off intonation of fretted notes; too high could slip off completely off fingerboard and cause fretted notes to be off key; while too high may slip right off.
The typical nut is made from bone, plastic, brass or graphite and typically sounds great and is very durable; historically however, bone was the go-to material due to both sound quality and durability – however these days other materials offer greater consistency and longevity. Although material does affect tone as one point that transfers vibrations from strings onto basswood necks (check out this helpful resource for more info!), there’s more that goes into it than meets the eye (more specifically this useful resource).
While string spacing and nut width are two critical specs when purchasing a guitar neck, many other aspects should also be taken into account. Other important considerations may include its shape and size – be it C or D shape – and how well it fits in your hands.
Some necks feature a tapered profile, increasing body thickness nearer the nut and decreasing toward heel, to increase stiffness and prevent string load bending the neck. This can also improve playability by counteracting its natural tendency for the string to bend from its nut, thus increasing playability.