What's up with the bass upper horn being fused to the neck?

[Inflames626]

Hi all,
What is it called when there is no gap between a bass's upper horn and the neck? I have seen it mainly on newer basses in the past 5-10 years. Here's an example:



I imagine this is done for sustain purposes and perhaps also to prevent neck dive, but to me it looks kind of dorky. It also prevents thumb use over the top of the neck for players with large hands who are capable of doing that.

[Seashore]

I believe that is known as a "single cutaway"

Ibanez started pumping these out a few years ago. I think they're on a quest to become the poor man's Fodera. I got to play a 6 string BTB singlecut a while back and I have to say I really liked it. Happier with my SRs but I wouldn't mind having one. No issues with playability. I've come to embrace the dorkiness of bass shapes, wouldn't be caught dead with a guitar that looked like that but for some reason I'm all about it with basses.

[Inflames626]

Seashore, I've seen single cutaways, but when they go down nearly to 12 fret it almost seems like an extension of the body as a way to reinforce/reduce strain on the neck.

I thought maybe having 6 strings made the neck more prone to warping and movement and maybe this was done as a way to strengthen it as opposed to adding say multiple truss rods.

Anyway, not for me. Looks like someone didn't finish the CnC job at the factory. :/

[Seashore]

Seashore, I've seen single cutaways, but when they go down nearly to 12 fret it almost seems like an extension of the body as a way to reinforce/reduce strain on the neck.

I thought maybe having 6 strings made the neck more prone to warping and movement and maybe this was done as a way to strengthen it as opposed to adding say multiple truss rods.

Anyway, not for me. Looks like someone didn't finish the CnC job at the factory. :/

You're exactly right, it's about adding strength to the neck without losing upper fret access. There are some beautiful boutique singlecuts that have this kind of extension with a much classier overall shape. I feel like I dimly remember some that went significantly farther up the neck than this. But in the case of these Ibanez BTBs, yeah, it looks like they basically just took a standard BTB body wing and left that webbing of wood in place. The first time I saw it I showed my wife, I was like "look honey this bass has a tumor". The SR singlecuts aren't that classy either. And yet somehow I still like them. I can't explain it.

[Seashore]

BTW about the double truss rods, I guess they don't feel they need them anymore with the graphite reinforcement - if you zoom in you can see even on the new double-cutaway 6-string BTB models that they're only routed out for a single truss rod. My SR1006 (the Prestige model from 2005) has two truss rods though, maybe more of a pain to adjust but on the upside this neck is amazingly stable.

[Inflames626]

Seashore , to me Ibanez is the Toyota of Japanese guitars, whereas ESP might be the Honda.

Ibby makes great stuff, but they tend to be proprietary with weird designs sometimes. I applaud them trying to think differently, but they often seem to come out with slightly awkward products, unlike ESP which is almost always sleeker in their designs.

I imagine one day someone at Ibanez will want to extend this single cut down to the nut. Then it won't even really be a neck anymore, but more like an L shape or a square with one corner missing.

I have to wonder how much relief the truss rod can make up above 12th fret when the upper horn extends so far down like that. It would seem the neck relief above 12th would be largely fixed. Being attached to the upper horn like that would seem to prevent movement of the truss rod just based on the pic.

I like a little bit of a gap between 5th and 12th frets. 12th and above is pretty flat, but even then, on guitar anyway, you might want a little gap for string bending and vibrato say up to 15th-17th fret or maybe even 19th or so.

I'm guessing the neck relief on that bass above 12th is pretty flat and the action low, as it isn't meant to be used with a large gap. Again, I don't really see how the truss rod could move much above the 12th fret when the neck is fused to the body like that.

[Inflames626]

I wouldn't have an issue if the upper horn joined at around say 19th fret at most, but 12th is way too far down.

[Seashore]

Inflames626 here's the marketing blurb for the original coffee table Anthony Jackson model:

https://web.archive.org/web/20191218114556/https://www.fodera.com/anthony-jackson-presentation/

36" scale, 28 frets... what's not to love.

[ICTGoober]

Anthony actually used the whole neck, and he wasn't one of those tapping guys.

[Seashore]

Anthony actually used the whole neck, and he wasn't one of those tapping guys.

Nothing but respect for AJ.

[Mincer]

Ergonomics as well. It prevents neck dive by centering the weight. Some guitars have it, too. This Teuffel Tesla was one of the most comfortable guitars I've ever played.

[Seashore]

Ergonomics as well. It prevents neck dive by centering the weight. Some guitars have it, too. This Teuffel Tesla was one of the most comfortable guitars I've ever played.

That has to be the most "Renaissance bard"-looking modern headless guitar I've seen.

[Mincer]

That has to be the most "Renaissance bard"-looking modern headless guitar I've seen.

Indeed, but it was a fantastic instrument that I would buy in a heartbeat if I could afford it. It was one of the best playing instruments I've ever played, really. The one I played had 3 circles above the strings that were momentary buttons. One was a kill switch, one made the sound of a shorted cord (a loud hum), and the last one activated an internal microphone causing a loud squealing feedback loop.

[Top-L]

Seashore , to me Ibanez is the Toyota of Japanese guitars, whereas ESP might be the Honda.

Ibby makes great stuff, but they tend to be proprietary with weird designs sometimes. I applaud them trying to think differently, but they often seem to come out with slightly awkward products, unlike ESP which is almost always sleeker in their designs.

Ibanez to me was always about bright colored super strats, bolt on necks, Edge Floyds.

They seem to have changed their mission and left the 80/90s behind in favor of an aesthetic that looks like an Apple commercial. Very few of the Ibanez designs/colors resonate with me, and I dislike the new AZ guitars with traditional bridge, which is trying to steal strat customers I suppose.

ESP still pumping out bright colored super strats (and black metal versions of same.)

[Top-L]

ESP also has their popular EC models which is their Les Paul variant. Why hasn't Gibson sued them for it?