SurfingMusicMan
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Swapping bass necks
I want a P bass with a Jazz neck to accommodate my short fingers. I have currently have an American Precision bass and am thinking about just swapping out the neck on it for a jazz neck. Do you know if all jazz necks will always fit any Precision body?
Anybody have a suggestion for a cheap place to find an American Jazz neck?
Thanks!
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calaverasgrandes
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RE: Swapping bass necks
2007/03/12 16:23:02
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I do believe that Warmoth makes a Jazz neck. Not teh cheapest, but you can get fancy woods (ebony/mahogany?) for not much more than the plain jane maple/rosewood price.
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ohhey
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RE: Swapping bass necks
2007/03/12 16:36:44
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ORIGINAL: barthowk
I want a P bass with a Jazz neck to accommodate my short fingers. I have currently have an American Precision bass and am thinking about just swapping out the neck on it for a jazz neck. Do you know if all jazz necks will always fit any Precision body?
Anybody have a suggestion for a cheap place to find an American Jazz neck?
Thanks!
Try e-bay, there are lots of parts vendors on there some are real Fender parts from other models. Contact them and see what they suggest if you don't find one just for that application.
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coldsteal2
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RE: Swapping bass necks
2007/03/13 10:24:11
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ORIGINAL: barthowk
I want a P bass with a Jazz neck to accommodate my short fingers. I have currently have an American Precision bass and am thinking about just swapping out the neck on it for a jazz neck. Do you know if all jazz necks will always fit any Precision body?
Anybody have a suggestion for a cheap place to find an American Jazz neck?
Thanks!
Yes, go to eBay and buy a Fender Jazz bas neck, they have many of them for different prices. I bought a brand new 60th Anniversary Jazz Bass USA Made neck (with serial number) for $200, i was blown away how nice it was. (and nice and thin) I hate P-bass necks also PS i just took a digital photo, i have short fingers and you can see i easily wrap my fingers all the way around the neck, (you can see its a jazz neck and P-bass body) 
post edited by coldsteal2 - 2007/03/13 10:37:24
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Slugbaby
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RE: Swapping bass necks
2007/03/13 11:25:52
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I may be wrong, but I'm pretty sure the neck routing would be smaller on a P than on a Jazz bass. I know the neck of a Jbass seems much wider in the higher frets... ps. and I just  read coldsteal2's response. I may have been wrong. Ebay it!
post edited by Slugbaby - 2007/03/13 11:27:23
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Joe Bravo
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RE: Swapping bass necks
2007/03/13 18:38:05
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Isn't the heel a different size on a jazz model? Edited for spelling.
post edited by Joe Bravo - 2007/03/14 00:01:00
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coldsteal2
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RE: Swapping bass necks
2007/03/13 23:36:02
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ORIGINAL: Slugbaby
I may be wrong, but I'm pretty sure the neck routing would be smaller on a P than on a Jazz bass.
I know the neck of a Jbass seems much wider in the higher frets...
ps. and I just read coldsteal2's response. I may have been wrong. Ebay it!
Actualy it goes from a thiner neck towards the head, then tapers back to the same size as the P-bass near the body,
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coldsteal2
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RE: Swapping bass necks
2007/03/13 23:40:15
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ORIGINAL: Joe Bravo
Isn't the heal a different size on a jazz model?
no they are the same, I have built many custom fender basses over the years and they are all exactly the same and interchangable. Except for the ones made in Japan. (thier necks are smaller at the base) There are problems with Warmoth bodies, I wasnt able to put my Fender neck on my warmoth body, but you can put a warmoth neck on a fender body since they are just a few mm's smaller, but you could get some drift. If you buy off brand necks you should put them on off brand bodies
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Joe Bravo
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RE: Swapping bass necks
2007/03/14 00:02:03
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Good to know. I've got an old Peavy Fury P-bass clone. I wonder if it would fit a jazz bass neck? Edited to say, I meant "fretless" specifically, since I don't own one and always wanted a fretless bass. This might be a cheap route to one for me.
post edited by Joe Bravo - 2007/03/14 00:03:10
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coldsteal2
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RE: Swapping bass necks
2007/03/14 00:13:32
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ORIGINAL: Joe Bravo
Good to know. I've got an old Peavy Fury P-bass clone. I wonder if it would fit a jazz bass neck?
Edited to say, I meant "fretless" specifically, since I don't own one and always wanted a fretless bass. This might be a cheap route to one for me.
Well i put a Fender Strat neck on my my Peavy Tracer guitar, so its possible it was actualy a perfect fit PS a fretless is the same size so i see no problem, the only differnce i have found with fretless is some times you have to raise your bridge a little higher so it doesnt buz, but not always. Im thinking about making my older P-bass into a fretless, its been a while since ive had one. I actualy learned bass on a stand up, you can get a great sound from them.
post edited by coldsteal2 - 2007/03/14 00:22:08
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bpclark
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RE: Swapping bass necks
2007/03/14 13:18:28
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ORIGINAL: Joe Bravo
Edited to say, I meant "fretless" specifically, since I don't own one and always wanted a fretless bass. This might be a cheap route to one for me.
If you want cheap, you could always pull the frets yourself. I've done it twice and it's actually pretty easy to do if you are the type not to rush the job.
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The Maillard Reaction
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RE: Swapping bass necks
2007/03/14 16:55:04
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Moses Graphite fender style bass neck I own a P-Bass style Moses neck... I love it and would say that even if you are offended by the idea of graphite (which I am) that it is a great choice for a recording bass. It's got the most consistent sounding fretboard I have ever heard. No weird amplitude changes as you move around. It's on a swamp ash warmoth body with a Seymour Duncan P Bass pickup... it sounds just like a bass ;-). best regards, mike
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coldsteal2
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RE: Swapping bass necks
2007/03/14 20:13:53
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ORIGINAL: bpclark
ORIGINAL: Joe Bravo
Edited to say, I meant "fretless" specifically, since I don't own one and always wanted a fretless bass. This might be a cheap route to one for me.
If you want cheap, you could always pull the frets yourself. I've done it twice and it's actually pretty easy to do if you are the type not to rush the job.
thats a great idea, do you just use wood filler for the slits from where the frets are pulled? I actualy like that idea because most fretless basses dont have the dots to help you know where you are when playing, great idea, i think ill try that with my old P-bass. The neck was a Charvel so it wont hurt me to pull it apart.
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bpclark
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RE: Swapping bass necks
2007/03/14 22:16:17
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There are a couple of ways to do fill the slots. The first bass I did this to, I pulled the frets and filled the slots with plastic wood and sanded it smooth. It worked pretty well. The second time I useed tiny strips of polystyrene and glued them in the slots. It was bit tougher to get the strips shaved down to flush with the fingerboard, but it looked a lot neater. The biggest thing to watch out for is splintering the wood when you pry up the fret. It helps to heat the fret up before trying to remove it (I used a soldering gun). Also if the fingerboard is rosewood or something else softer than ebony then you need to harden up the surface so the strings don't chew it up (especially if you use roundwounds). Some people thin down super glue so it will soak into the wood and apply it in several coats. I applied several coats of tung oil to mine and that seemed to work pretty well. I can't say how long the tung oil will last though because I sold the first bass and traded the second for a wireless.
post edited by bpclark - 2007/03/14 22:17:14
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coldsteal2
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RE: Swapping bass necks
2007/03/14 22:34:00
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ORIGINAL: bpclark
There are a couple of ways to do fill the slots. The first bass I did this to, I pulled the frets and filled the slots with plastic wood and sanded it smooth. It worked pretty well. The second time I useed tiny strips of polystyrene and glued them in the slots. It was bit tougher to get the strips shaved down to flush with the fingerboard, but it looked a lot neater.
The biggest thing to watch out for is splintering the wood when you pry up the fret. It helps to heat the fret up before trying to remove it (I used a soldering gun). Also if the fingerboard is rosewood or something else softer than ebony then you need to harden up the surface so the strings don't chew it up (especially if you use roundwounds). Some people thin down super glue so it will soak into the wood and apply it in several coats. I applied several coats of tung oil to mine and that seemed to work pretty well. I can't say how long the tung oil will last though because I sold the first bass and traded the second for a wireless.
Thanks Great info! yea it has rosewood fretboard. makes sense to use a soldering iron.
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Clik
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RE: Swapping bass necks
2007/03/15 03:39:15
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The biggest thing to watch out for is splintering the wood when you pry up the fret. How do you pry up the fret?
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bpclark
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RE: Swapping bass necks
2007/03/15 08:14:30
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I used a razor blade and regular pliers. Push the blade under the edge of the fret and work it up until you can get a good grip with the pliers. Once you can grab it the pliers the fret should pull out fairly easily. ORIGINAL: Clik
The biggest thing to watch out for is splintering the wood when you pry up the fret.
How do you pry up the fret?
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calaverasgrandes
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RE: Swapping bass necks
2007/03/16 14:17:40
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AS far as heel size, Warmoth claims that most all fender necks are the same size, except for some of the non standard models. If you stick to P or J (not lite) you should be fine. As far as fretless goes. Who was it that applied polyeurathane to their fingerboard? Jaco? The moses neck fretless I played in NYC last year was awesome. Almost bought it instead of the Stingray 5 fretless I got. Dont regret that one at all! Oh yeah , one more thing, There are plieres you can get from stewmac or somesuch specifically for pulling frets. Heck, my old german luthier housemate used to do this weird thing where he would hammer a tiny nail in under the fret from the side, heat that up with a big soldering gun, then peel it out from top to bottom, like de-veining shrimp.
post edited by calaverasgrandes - 2007/03/16 14:20:08
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coldsteal2
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RE: Swapping bass necks
2007/03/16 20:34:18
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gordonrussell76
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RE: Swapping bass necks
2007/03/28 11:15:39
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For those intending to play fretless.
If you are gonna pull the frets, then try and make the bits of wood as close to the body colour as poss. Or buy a dedicated neck.
I know it seems more sensible to be able to see the fret positions, but actually it makes it harder to play in tune.
Reason being that even on an instrument where the intonation is set up perfectly, sometimes changes in humidity/temperature will mean that the actual note is not exactly where the fret is. This happen on fretted bass's, but what most of us do without even realizing it is to slightly bend the note till its in tune, this is somethign you just get good at over time. Some people call it feel
On a fretless to combat this you rotate the finger slightly backwards or forward till the note is in tune. I have played both lined and non lined bass's and its a lot less off putting to have a non lined bass (side dot markers are useful though, especialy if they are where the fret would be, rather than the normal between teh fret posistion.
I would suggest you try both styles in a shop and decide which you like best, the non lined takes a bit longer to get used to but you end up getting more consistant tuning from them in the long run. Also makes it a lot easier to transtition to upright at a later date.
G
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coldsteal2
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RE: Swapping bass necks
2007/03/28 15:51:58
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lukecoool
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RE: Swapping bass necks
2007/03/28 19:08:25
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yep
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RE: Swapping bass necks
2007/03/28 19:43:01
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ORIGINAL: gordonrussell76
...I have played both lined and non lined bass's and its a lot less off putting to have a non lined bass (side dot markers are useful though, especialy if they are where the fret would be, rather than the normal between teh fret posistion...
Word. When you pull the frets, it also changes the bow and scale of the neck, so the lines all end up in the wrong places anyway. There are two ways to play fretless: play by ear, or play the wrong way. (playing by ear isn't really as scary as it might seem-- after a few false starts it comes pretty natural, in fact. Kind of like driving a stick). Cheers.
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coldsteal2
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RE: Swapping bass necks
2007/03/29 03:16:58
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coldsteal2
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RE: Swapping bass necks
2007/03/29 03:18:01
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ORIGINAL: yep
ORIGINAL: gordonrussell76
...I have played both lined and non lined bass's and its a lot less off putting to have a non lined bass (side dot markers are useful though, especialy if they are where the fret would be, rather than the normal between teh fret posistion...
Word.
When you pull the frets, it also changes the bow and scale of the neck, so the lines all end up in the wrong places anyway.
There are two ways to play fretless: play by ear, or play the wrong way. (playing by ear isn't really as scary as it might seem-- after a few false starts it comes pretty natural, in fact. Kind of like driving a stick).
Cheers.
By ear is the "Only Way" to play bass period in my book
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yep
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RE: Swapping bass necks
2007/03/29 17:59:17
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ORIGINAL: coldsteal2
...By ear is the "Only Way" to play bass period in my book
I stand by my original position that one can also play the wrong way, if you so choose. 
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coldsteal2
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RE: Swapping bass necks
2007/03/29 20:30:56
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ORIGINAL: yep
ORIGINAL: coldsteal2
...By ear is the "Only Way" to play bass period in my book
I stand by my original position that one can also play the wrong way, if you so choose.
Yea i hear people doing it the wrong way alot hahah
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