Hi Albi, We didn't log enough playing time on GW's neck to form any conclusions. Until we find a better supplier and do some more testing roasted maple necks will not be an option. We don't get a lot of requests for lighter gauge strings. You could dial in any tension you want with a custom Circle K set. I recommend giving them a try. Best of luck with the new recording. If the engineer likes bass you should have a lot of fun. Looking forward to the teaser videos.

Caro Alberto and dear Sheldon, here are my first impressions on the roasted neck which has now been on the ABII for just under 10 days, it has been played intensively at every break I get, and two nights ago as I was off work, I went to jam with my friends for a long dusk to dawn session, espresso coffee and tiramisu cake keeping us fuelled for the extra mileage! Now, this neck travelled unstrung in a box from the factory in Canada to London, so without string tension at all I expected that once fitted and strung up that the first week was all going to be about small adjustments of the truss rod to correct the reverse effect of the string tension making the neck a little bit bowed every day until it found it's intended shape. But to my surprise this only happened once i.e. the day after the night I fitted the neck and then strung it up, I set the action exactly as it was with the walnut / wenge neck and I kept using my other bass the ABZ as reference to make sure I'd got the action and the neck relief in line. It was only that next day that the neck gave a bit of relief and after I re-adjusted the relief and action it has never shifted again. When I had both necks in my hands, the walnut one and the roasted maple one, I noticed that if I hit the maple one gently with the back of my knuckles it resonated like a marimba, with a gentle ringing note, whereas the walnut one barely gave out a thud. I realized by that phenomena that I was onto a good thing, infact the minute it was fitted and strung up, the whole bass was so much more lively and responsive that as I've said in another post compared to the other neck it felt as I had been playing with mutes on the bridge. Oh and I better explain that I've used the same strings, I purposedly used the old strings which weren't that old anyway, just to make sure that any difference in brightness, resonance and response wasn't just due to new strings. But no. it's all in the maple, bright when you want, deep and clear with the tone rolled off and with a more defined speaking voice. I can't thank Sheldon enough for the patience he's had with my "unusual" request, but you see, we all know what we like and prefer and I have loved my maple necks all my life with my second choice being only ebony, I just didn't feel the same vibe from the wenge/walnut combo. But that's just me.

Thanks GW

As you can see, the newly renecked ABII, aptly renamed [b:1uy41ocg][i:1uy41ocg][color=#BF8040:1uy41ocg]"Toffee"[/color:1uy41ocg][/i:1uy41ocg][/b:1uy41ocg] is very happy with the rest of them, someone just above me has created a monster!! [img:1uy41ocg]http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r200/xt660/761198e9.jpg[/img:1uy41ocg]