# Moses graphite necks- worth it??



## Science_Penguin (Jun 12, 2016)

This is another one of those concepts that sounds good on paper, but I know paper's a treacherous thing, so I need to hear something other than sales pitch.

So, a few questions for anyone who's played or built using graphite:

-Is there really a significant sustain improvement over wood?
-I don't exactly live in the mountains or with any frequent temperature changes (it's pretty consistently hot n' muggy down here)- is the added stability worth the price? 
-Is the material easy to work with as far as attachment to the body, or installation of tuners? Anything special I need to know there? (Besides the special mounting threads, I know about that)
-What's the weight difference between a graphite Strat neck and one made of maple?
-And, finally, regarding Moses itself: What's the word on their quality control and customer service as of 2016?


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## Killemall1983 (Jun 12, 2016)

Its all hype if you ask me. Normal guitar necks have been doing just fine for hundreds of years. And i'll bet you will never tell the difference in "sustain" .


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## HaMMerHeD (Jun 12, 2016)

Talkbass is full of stories of people ordering bass necks, getting the wrong neck or the wrong specs, and the mfr refusing to fix the problem.


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## Randy (Jun 12, 2016)

I've got a Moses graphite Strat neck, which I've had for ~6 years. It definitely has some increase in sustain and more significantly, a "crisp", bright kind of tone to it.

I don't know how much experience you have with basic settling and climate shifting you're used to, but having used a fair number of synthetic and reinforced necks, I'll tell you that the graphite neck has always had significantly less instances where I needed to retune the guitar after it had been sitting for a few days versus my traditional necks. Some wood necks are pretty stable or very stable, the Moses is completely inarguably stable.

As far as workability, the material is easy to work (drill, sand, etc.) but its way less forgiving than wood in terms of getting screws and whatnot to "bite". It can be too hard to get the screws to grab the edges or you drill it out to get the screws to grab easier and instead they're too loose. I didn't spend a lot of time messing with traditional tuners, I went right to Sperzel which bypasses the need for screws.

Regarding fit and finish, the one I got was mostly good. I bought it used but it didn't have a lot of hours on it. When I went to install mine, the anchors that your machine screws thread into didn't feel very solid and trying to screw the screws in even 1 degree off made the anchor want to unscrew out. I ended up epoxying the anchors in to keep that from happening more. Dunno how much of that is the fault of previous owner, or the graphite, to the anchors or Moses, I don't know. It was easily fixed though.

I haven't spoken to Moses directly. I contacted them twice about unrelated questions and never heard anything back... like I said, it wasn't about direct product support so I can't say 100%.

Overall, I like the neck. I actually happened across this thread because I'm probably getting rid of mine soon (nothing wrong with it, just moving away from my strats) but I'd buy one again in a heartbeat, though I'd prolly buy one on eBay or from dealer a lot sooner than a custom from them because of all the variables involved. 

Hope that helps.


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## Science_Penguin (Jun 13, 2016)

One semi-good review so far. I guess that's something.

Regarding the screw threads: that might be user error since I don't think Moses installs them for you, I think they just ship them with the neck.

Thanks for the input!


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## marcwormjim (Jun 13, 2016)

Killemall1983 said:


> Its all hype if you ask me. Normal guitar necks have been doing just fine for hundreds of years.



Please remember to turn in your truss rods, multi-piece necks, gear tuners, anything made via machine, and electricity on your way out.

*Looks over at dusty remnants of guitars built several hundred years ago*


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## Killemall1983 (Jun 13, 2016)

marcwormjim said:


> Please remember to turn in your truss rods, multi-piece necks, gear tuners, anything made via machine, and electricity on your way out.
> 
> *Looks over at dusty remnants of guitars built several hundred years ago*


No idea what that is even suggesting.


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## Randy (Jun 13, 2016)

Killemall1983 said:


> No idea what that is even suggesting.



My assumption would be that he's referring to all the innovations that have gone into the modern guitar over time. I think he's trying to say that alternative materials shouldn't be ignored just because traditional materials have been "good enough" up until now.


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## Science_Penguin (Jun 14, 2016)

Randy said:


> My assumption would be that he's referring to all the innovations that have gone into the modern guitar over time. I think he's trying to say that alternative materials shouldn't be ignored just because traditional materials have been "good enough" up until now.



I mean, that's why I'm even considering the idea, I find it to be an intriguing prospect. Like a lot of guitar innovations over the years.

Yeah, it COULD just be hype, but that's what a lot of people thought about the seven string, and... look where we're posting now.


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## marcwormjim (Jun 14, 2016)

I've bought two Steinberger necks from Steve (both in one order):

First, he sent me someone else's necks. He reimbursed me return-shipping, and two weeks later I had the "right" necks delivered, but drilled for the wrong hardware. Finally, after mailing the necks back to him with the right hardware for reference, I received the right necks with the hardware and inserts installed, but with screws that were several of inches too long. Communication wasn't great.

I don't know that anyone else offers what Steve does, but my experience was that he'll try to make things right, in the end.

By accounts, my experience was not uncommon.


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## Science_Penguin (Jun 15, 2016)

That's one big thing I've got reservations about. I saw that a lot of people weren't satisfied with the service. I am planning to get the basic Strat shape, so there's some hope in my mind that there's less chance of something getting screwed up. 

I'd like to be able to shop around because of that, but, like you said, its hard to find other people who offer the same service. Status Graphite, maybe, but... I can't find any way to contact them about it. Their website mentions a shop but, there's no link and no sign of it anywhere on Google.


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## bloodfiredoom (Jun 15, 2016)

if wood is good enough for steve vai, then it is good enough for me.


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## Randy (Jun 15, 2016)

Science_Penguin said:


> That's one big thing I've got reservations about. I saw that a lot of people weren't satisfied with the service. I am planning to get the basic Strat shape, so there's some hope in my mind that there's less chance of something getting screwed up.
> 
> I'd like to be able to shop around because of that, but, like you said, its hard to find other people who offer the same service. Status Graphite, maybe, but... I can't find any way to contact them about it. Their website mentions a shop but, there's no link and no sign of it anywhere on Google.



Are you positive that you'd need them to do a custom job, and that you couldn't just use one of their "off the rack" models and just modify it to fit?


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## Science_Penguin (Jun 15, 2016)

Randy said:


> Are you positive that you'd need them to do a custom job, and that you couldn't just use one of their "off the rack" models and just modify it to fit?



That's what I mean, I wouldn't be getting a custom model. Just your basic strat replacement neck and modifying it to fit on a Warmoth... however much that needs to be done considering they use a lot of Fender's specs.


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## Randy (Jun 16, 2016)

Well in that case, there's little to no risk of a screwup since you can just buy one from any Allparts dealer, which will obviously come with a normal return/exchange policy. If it's something they've already got sitting on the rack, theres not much that can go wrong.

You could also check eBay. Theres one up there right now, cheap.

Unused Graphite Moses Guitar Neck | eBay


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## Prophetable (Jun 17, 2016)

Except that one has a huge crack in it.


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## Randy (Jun 17, 2016)

Wow


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## Science_Penguin (Jun 17, 2016)

Soooooo, ebay's out then.

Is graphite easy to crack? I thought the whole thing was its supposed to be tough.


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## CapnForsaggio (Jun 17, 2016)

That crack is the result of a person attaching it to a guitar with too deep of a neck pocket..... just btw.

If you order any warmoth body with the "720 mod" you need to watch out for this.


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## Science_Penguin (Jun 17, 2016)

Oh, that shouldn't be a problem then... In fact, almost every build I attempt seems to require the "angled pocket," anyway.


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