Aluminum necks

[Ripper]

I was wondering if anyone has had experience with an aluminum neck.

Didnt Kramer ( No Seinfeld jokes please )...produce one in the 80s ....or was it Ovation

[ChrisK]

They tend to be heavy.

I just happen to have a Kramer XB-9 Aluminium (as the Brits say) necked bass guitar.

It has DiMarzio P-Bass pickups (yep, two of them, two sections each) and a PCB-based tone control circuit. I don't remember the actual circuit. I took it apart about three years ago and put it somewhere. ???If I recall, it was missing an inductor for a Varitone-like tone selector.

The body is purported to be walnut, but the finish is opaque black paint so I can't tell. As a result, with the body wood and neck metal, the tone is somewhat "snappy".

It has the fourked (two'ked) headstock. I even have the factory hardshell case.

Did I mention that they were heavy?


www.kramerforum.com/forum/

Aluminium Necked Thread

[gfxbss]

hmmm, i recall going to a local show not too long ago where a guy was playing one..... looked kinda neat.

Tyler

[Ripper]

I thought because being made of metal, they would expand/contract depending on temperature. Therefore causing cracked fretboards etc.

I was talking about this topic with mates, thats why I brought it up.

[ChrisK]

I thought because being made of metal, they would expand/contract depending on temperature. Therefore causing cracked fretboards etc.

No.
While everything expands and contracts with temperature, metal will expand and contract much less than wood for a comparable temperature range. And, humidity has no dimensional effect on metal (other than accelerated corrosion).

That being said, a wood fretboard might have such issues when affixed to metal since it WILL expand and contract more than the metal. If I recall, the fretboard on my Kramer is a form of epoxy.

[Ripper]

I get this vision of grabbing a freezing cold neck!!....maybe its just me. ;D

[ChrisK]

Aluminium has a high thermal coefficient (as does copper). that's why we use it for heatsinks.

While the aluminum isn't as cold as it feels, it is able to conduct heat well, and a high thermal coefficient is akin to a wind chill effect in a sense of speaking.

[wolf]

I'm surprised no one has mentioned the Veleno guitar.
www.veleno.net/history2.htm

[mlrpa]

Yes, Kramer did them in the mid 70's, and the aforementioned Veleno, but Ovation did them in the late 60's and early 70's.
The Ovation models had the Aluminium necks, but sported aluminium fretboards with the frets molded in there. Also, they had a rubberish coating on the neck, and a painted fretboard.
Needless to say, Ovation learned that molded frets did not respond well to time, since you can't refret the beasties!

[ccso8462]

I've played a couple of outdoor gigs in late October, and by the end of the set couldn't really feel my fingers. I can't imagine what an aluminum neck would have felt like. In fact, I don't think I want to! ;D

[sumgai]

carl,

I've played a couple of outdoor gigs in late October, and by the end of the set couldn't really feel my fingers.

That's why Gawd invented groupies, to heat things up!

[ccso8462]

Ah, sumgai, the groupies were hot, all right. That's because they stayed near the fire, roasting marshmallows and making smores!

[lunaalta]

'smores'
[glow=red,2,300]'scuse my ignorance...[/glow]

[ChrisK]

Smores?

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smores

it.wikipedia.org/wiki/S%27more

No espanol.

[ccso8462]

Wow! It's amazing what wikipedia has. Thanks for posting those links, ChrisK.

[newey]

Unless memory fails (not unknown to happen in my case . . .), there was a guitar marketed in the '70s called "The Travis Bean Guitar" which was all-aluminum, body and neck. Sort of a Vee style. The maker claimed the aluminum body gave massive sustain and boasted no warpage of the neck. Don't recall the fingerboard though.

[mlrpa]

Those fretboards were made from Ebonal also. And the bodies were red oak. Damn things weighed a ton, and would cut the circulation off on your leg when you sat down with it.