Travel Neck and Hard Case

Inside the bass neck is a L-shaped carbon fiber bracket. This bracket runs down the entire length of the neck, turns inside the heel, and continues through to the end of the neck foot. Having this carbon fiber bracket not only reinforces the wood grain of the neck, but insures that the pressure points are carbon fiber to aluminum. A 3/16″ Allen wrench is used to assemble/disassemble the neck from the body. Removing the neck and packing up can be done in just 15 minutes.

The height of the strings or “action” is adjusted by a second location on the back of the bass. A 3/16″ Allen wrench is used to move the entire neck forward or backward, and this smooth adjustment is done under full tension after the instrument is setup.

The core of this travel neck mechanism centers around a fully-lined aluminum channel and aluminum “frog”. Many current travel neck solutions involve some sort of wood to wood pressure points and contacts. Over the years of use these wood contacts will wear and “slop” will develop in the neck joint. This system is constructed and installed so the joint will never wear and slop will never develop. This unique system was invented by luthier Jim Ham in 1995 and he has kindly taught me the method and technique for installing travel necks on my Lloyd basses.

The aluminum frog slides inside the channel and allows the bassist to adjust their string heights without using threaded wheels in the bridge. Ebony caps off the entire block for a sleek, attractive aesthetic.

My basses are designed to fit snugly inside the Body case with a custom-fit Messina bass bag. The soundpost is secured in such a way that no tools are needed by the bassist. The Body case with Messina bag and Lloyd body weighs in at 49 lbs. The Neck case with neck/scroll, strings, bridge, and tailpiece weighs in at 25 lbs.

This fiberglass case is the best protection I have found for my Travel Neck basses. Upon check-in at the airport the bassist simply checks in two cases: the Body case and the Neck case. This two-case check-in technique avoids hundreds of dollars in baggage fees that fixed-neck trunks are charged for one-way trips. Or only check the Body case at ticketing and then gate-check the Neck case. Upon arrival at your location the Neck case is secured into the Body case with two clips and three large velcro straps. The entire case has 4″ rubber wheels, four latches, and four handles. Can easily fit in the the back of a normal taxi cab.