Aluminium neck guitars?

Creed_Clicks · January 2021

Apart from the weight issue, how difficult or easy are these types of guitars to maintain? Are they heavy heavy?

Does temperature affect them at all? I take it the neck doesn't warp?

What about if you needed to refret? Intonation should be consistent enough?

punchesjudy · January 2021

I'm sure @BloodEagle can help you out with a few of those questions.

PhilKing · January 2021

One problem they used to have was the neck can get very cold if the guitar is stored in a cold place. We used to sell Travis Bean and Kramers, and in Bingley, the old shop would get pretty cold overnight in winter, so the Travis Bean especially, was miserable to play for a while.

Creed_Clicks · January 2021

@PhilKing never thought about that part!

EricTheWeary · January 2021

I remember Mick Karn saying he gave up on his Travis Bean because of the cold neck ( unpleasant to pick up and then the tuning drifts when it gets warm); presumably they’ve sorted that over the last thirty years.

Creed_Clicks · January 2021

Still reading about temperature issues. Should have done some research before posting thread!

prowla · January 2021

I've got a Kramer bass; I like having it, but it's heavy and I'm not sure I'd take it out of the house.

Seziertisch · January 2021

https://youtu.be/qfev-uHOdvI

Comparison between an aluminium and wooden neck on the same guitar

thermionic · January 2021

Phillip J Mcnight just made a video of a $900 aluminium neck he put on a Player Strat body. Stainless steel frets on a carbon fibre fretboard. He thought they chambered the neck partly to relieve weight but also to tune the relief to match the tension of a set of 9s or 10s. I was waiting for a comment on temperature induced tuning stability but it didn’t appear to be an issue for him.