While seeking out a new tuning slide/mouthpiece side of my bass clarinet neck to accommodate a piezobarrel pickup, Jared De Leon (@jdbassplayer around these parts) got in touch with me to tell me about his new 3D-printed (half) necks, which he could customize to have a dedicated M5 insert for the pickup. He has standard and steep angled necks available.
The price was pretty reasonable, so I went for it and was expecting to have something suitable for amplified times and that I'd keep using my standard Selmer neck the rest of the time, but I've ended up really liking the steeper angle. I can't tell if the neck itself makes much difference outside of the angle, but that ergonomic change alone is pretty big for me. I think I tend to just adjust my head, neck and body position to get my mouthpiece at the angle that I want, so the steeper angle just gives me less adjustment to do.
The threaded insert is also perfect for the piezobarrel pickup. It feels very secure and sturdy. The side position keeps it away from water buildup, too. I'm still working on cable routing, but that's not really the neck's job.
I don't know if the pickup hole is making a difference, since I don't have a neck without the hole to compare it to, but I think this one feels a lot better than the stock neck, which obviously has no hole. It might sound a little better, but I am not sure I can chalk that up to anything other than feeling better. I liked it enough that I ordered another one 5mm shorter than the stock neck, since I do tend to push the pitch a bit low when I'm really blowing hard. Jared had no problem accommodating that and those few mm did the trick. The one I initially got tunes exactly the same as the stock neck and the new one tunes exactly the same when pulled out the 5mm difference.
I think mine is the Kessler fit from his web store, but get in touch with him to double check for your particular instrument. Mine did not need any fitting to go snugly into the tenon on my old Selmer 33, but I imagine there are circumstances where that would be necessary, so YMMV. Jared was great to work with and I think is selling the un-customized ones for $155, which is perfectly reasonable in my book.
The one pictured below is blackwood-colored, there is also a rosewood color that I got on my first neck. He describes the material as a "wood composite." All I really care about from a material is that it sounds good, feels good and seems sturdy. It does those things. I think the rosewood color looks a little nicer, but the blackwood matches my bass clarinet better from a distance. Up close, it looks like a 3D printed thing, which I think is cool. Your opinion on that will dictate how cool you think it looks.
I threw in a photo to compare the stock neck angle to the new one as well.
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![Image]()
The price was pretty reasonable, so I went for it and was expecting to have something suitable for amplified times and that I'd keep using my standard Selmer neck the rest of the time, but I've ended up really liking the steeper angle. I can't tell if the neck itself makes much difference outside of the angle, but that ergonomic change alone is pretty big for me. I think I tend to just adjust my head, neck and body position to get my mouthpiece at the angle that I want, so the steeper angle just gives me less adjustment to do.
The threaded insert is also perfect for the piezobarrel pickup. It feels very secure and sturdy. The side position keeps it away from water buildup, too. I'm still working on cable routing, but that's not really the neck's job.
I don't know if the pickup hole is making a difference, since I don't have a neck without the hole to compare it to, but I think this one feels a lot better than the stock neck, which obviously has no hole. It might sound a little better, but I am not sure I can chalk that up to anything other than feeling better. I liked it enough that I ordered another one 5mm shorter than the stock neck, since I do tend to push the pitch a bit low when I'm really blowing hard. Jared had no problem accommodating that and those few mm did the trick. The one I initially got tunes exactly the same as the stock neck and the new one tunes exactly the same when pulled out the 5mm difference.
I think mine is the Kessler fit from his web store, but get in touch with him to double check for your particular instrument. Mine did not need any fitting to go snugly into the tenon on my old Selmer 33, but I imagine there are circumstances where that would be necessary, so YMMV. Jared was great to work with and I think is selling the un-customized ones for $155, which is perfectly reasonable in my book.
The one pictured below is blackwood-colored, there is also a rosewood color that I got on my first neck. He describes the material as a "wood composite." All I really care about from a material is that it sounds good, feels good and seems sturdy. It does those things. I think the rosewood color looks a little nicer, but the blackwood matches my bass clarinet better from a distance. Up close, it looks like a 3D printed thing, which I think is cool. Your opinion on that will dictate how cool you think it looks.
I threw in a photo to compare the stock neck angle to the new one as well.
