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Show us your (BASS) Neck

7K views 19 replies 7 participants last post by  Instrument Attic 
#1 ·
Talking on the phone with Matt Stoher today about bass necks and he sent me a couple pictures of Conn bass necks that differ.

My Buescher Bass neck is MUCH different then either conns.

So out of curiousness, I have provided a standardized piece of graph paper (4 squares equals 1 inch) and if you could print the graph paper then photo your neck on it then share with us I would be interested to see the results.

I will use mine as an example - any extra info you could provide would be helpful - even if you wanted to say what mpc you use with the horn that would be great.

Graph paper here - http://www.graysax.com/graphpaper.pdf

 
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#2 ·
At the end of the `French or American (Short) Wrap' thread, you'll find a brief discussion of neck dimensions of a couple of Keilwerth basses. (I'm to blame for the topic drift.) The interesting thing (to me anyway) was the shank opening, both inside and out. I see you provide a number for your Buescher, but don't say, I.D. or O.D.?
 
#5 ·
The .51 inches is the ID - outside was irrelevant to me (more or less) at the time of measurment

How heavy is the bass neck? (I know this may be a very obvious question, but how heavy is it?- in terms of holding one in your hand to judge the weight?)-I'm asking Due to the enormous size of the bass sax.
They are just a bit bigger than a tenor neck - so weight is similar.

Interesting question... Looks like the opening is the same size as a tenor but the taper is much greater. I'm guessing that it is shorter and weighs less than a tenor neck.
Funny you should mention this - I have an OLD (like 4 digit) conn tenor neck that has been through a house fire - and I did a quick measurement today and I too found the sizes to be pretty similar - to the point in which I was wondering if Tenor and Bass necks didn't get formed on the same mandrel and just got finished differently. One of those questions I wish I had a time machine so i could go back and find out the answer.
 
#3 ·
Talking on the phone with Matt Stoher today about bass necks and he sent me a couple pictures of Conn bass necks that differ.

My Buescher Bass neck is MUCH different then either conns.

So out of curiousness, I have provided a standardized piece of graph paper (4 squares equals 1 inch) and if you could print the graph paper then photo your neck on it then share with us I would be interested to see the results.

I will use mine as an example - any extra info you could provide would be helpful - even if you wanted to say what mpc you use with the horn that would be great.

Graph peper here - http://www.graysax.com/graphpaper.pdf

How heavy is the bass neck? (I know this may be a very obvious question, but how heavy is it?- in terms of holding one in your hand to judge the weight?)-I'm asking Due to the enormous size of the bass sax.
 
#20 ·
Your question made me wonder, so I weighed them. At 103g, my Conn bass neck is 1 gram lighter than my 104g Conn transitional bari neck (which of has the added weight of an octave key). Two tenor necks I weighed were about 50% heavier than those (153g and 161g).

Wood Bicycle part Tool Metal Composite material
 
#4 ·
Interesting question... Looks like the opening is the same size as a tenor but the taper is much greater. I'm guessing that it is shorter and weighs less than a tenor neck.
 
#6 ·
I'd find it weird if it had a significantly greater taper? I mean, acoustically speaking, why?

Anyway, my Keilwerth H. Couf neck is 188 grams, compared to an old King tenor's 154 grams - but the Keilwerth neck is of the longer P-trap type, push up into the socket rather than down.
 
#7 ·
I'd find it weird if it had a significantly greater taper? I mean, acoustically speaking, why?
I agree - I misspoke. There is no need for "significantly greater" but I would expect some variation between manufacturers.

I do, however, remain interested to observe that the neck opening is exactly the same (ID=0.510") as the last tenor I measured (Selmer Ref 36).
 
#8 ·
Well - the vintage conn necks were drastically different - I wasn't going to post matt's photo's that he shared with me - but if he does choose to share them the ID of the neck end on one of the models was MUCH bigger than mine.

All of this started with me finding that a normal large chamber bari mpc would run pretty flat on this bass - so I started examining necks - which then led to me figuring out the volume of the missing part of the cone on the taper of the neck - and found that the volume of a large chamber bari piece is MUCH more then the volume of the missing part of the cone. It makes sense that on the conn neck that has a larger opening that the volume of the missing cone would be greater, thus a large chamber bari mpc working better on that horn.
 
#9 ·
All of this started with me finding that a normal large chamber bari mpc would run pretty flat on this bass - so I started examining necks - which then led to me figuring out the volume of the missing part of the cone on the taper of the neck - and found that the volume of a large chamber bari piece is MUCH more then the volume of the missing part of the cone.
Exactly so! When I see a neck opening that matches that of a tenor, it begs the question of whether a good ol' large chamber tenor 'piece would work well on that horn. That, in turn, makes me wonder whether one could still get That Sound using only a tenor reed/mpc.
 
#10 ·
Merlin sent this to me and asked if I could re-size and post. It was interesting that he and I had similar issues with Buescher Basses playing flat (his a stencil horn but yet a buescher) - His solution was to have the neck shortened.

I am thinking of doing something similar to mine.

Merlin's Selmer NY (buescher stencil) neck

 
#11 ·
I just did the counting - wow - that neck has 2 inches (+ or - ) removed. Merlin, were you happy with the results? Any regrets?
 
#12 ·
Charles, to clarify - I said the neck was shortened at some time in its existence...but I'm not the one who did it. That's the way I received it when I bought the horn.

As far as how I like it - as we chatted the other day, intonation for the meat and potatoes range of the bass is within the +/- 10 cents range using the Zinner bass mouthpiece.

I think the interesting thing is that the ID of the entrance is the same as yours. Strikes me that the mod was done thoughtfully.

My neck also had a pickup mount on it when I got it. My tech did an excellent patch job on it.
 
#14 ·
believe it or not - thats how I love to find them - makes you feel so good once they are cleaned up and rebuilt!!

Anyhow - The opening on yours is approx .55 and mine is .51. The opening on some conns is .56. All of this doesn't seem like much, but in the wonderful world of tapers, it's actually pretty important.

Doing some quick calculations - that missing 2inches almost DOUBLED the volume of the mouthpiece needed - which actually puts it into the range of many large chamber Bari and bass mpc's.

Saying that - I still think while it is in the ballpark - the volume of a traditional bass mpc or large chamber bari - is still a tad too big - which is why you were still running a tad under, until the zinner had a chamber size that matched better to your needs.

Interesting!!!
 
#15 ·
Conn Necks from Matt Stoher





Both I am told have non original receivers and the brass one had some severe damage repaired.

Maybe Matt can explain the differences between them because as I am posting this I have my notes from our phone conversation at work

VERY different from the Bueschers!!!

I have been hunting the net this afternoon and have some more photos to share later. I have found a total of 4 Buescher Necks that people have shortened to make them play better in tune.
 
#17 ·
and yet another Buescher Bass Neck that has been shortened!!

You can see the brace was cut to make room for the neck cork - this is on a Horn listed FS and the seller claims this to be an "original" neck, which i guess isn't a lie - but it certainly is modified!!

 
#18 ·
The brass Conn neck from the photo from me had some severe damage partially repaired in the past- not by me. The owner liked how it played and didn't want it changed, so there it stays. That is not a repair I did, or how I would leave a neck that came to me in that condition unless specifically asked as I was on this occasion.
 
#19 ·
I like the idea! I'll chime in for posterity: here's my 1919 Conn bass



Tenon 0.800"
Tenon I.D. 0.993"
Tenon O.D. 1.075
Cork end I.D. 0.470"

I'm very confident that it's original and hasn't been modified in its 95 years of life. Pretty sure it hasn't been polished, either.
 

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