New neck is too big for the neck pocket!

[aceuggy]

Bought a new Mighty Mite neck for my Fender P project. It's a lovely neck, but it's slightly too wide to fit into the neck pocket, so what's the best way to get it to fit? Sand the neck, chisel out the pocket? Is it a job I could tackle, with no experience, or should I get a luthier to do the work. What do you reckon?

Edited April 16, 2011 by aceuggy

[KiOgon]

[quote name='aceuggy' post='1202059' date='Apr 16 2011, 07:27 PM']Bought a new Mighty Mite neck for my Fender P project. It's a lovely neck, but it's slightly too wide to fit into the neck pocket, so what's the best way to get it to fit? Sand the neck, chisel out the pocket? Is it a job I could tackle, with no experience, or should I get a luthier to do the work. What do you reckon?[/quote]

MM necks are supposed to be compatible with Fender bodies - if it's not a Fender body then I would enlarge the pocket & leave the neck as is. If it is a Fender body? Up to you, which has more resale value, a standard MM neck or the body?

[Ou7shined]

I wouldn't recommend a novice go for this as the angles on your neck joint are very crucial. Get someone who's done it before to do it.

Which one to modify is up to you really but bear in mind that you may not always want these 2 parts to be together forever, so perhaps it might be more prudent to keep the standard fit part (the neck) as original and open up the pocket. On the other hand if the donor body is rare, modify the neck.

[untune]

Don't quote me on it, but I remember when I was researching my neck (I eventually got a MM aswell) I read on a forum that one guy had never had a perfect fit on any MM or Allparts (might of even been Warmoth) neck as they're always err on the slightly wider side to they can be sanded for a tight fit into the neck pocket. IE better to have a wider neck than one that will be loose in the pocket from the off.

It seems logical but like I said, don't quote me on it, I may be wrong.

That said mine went straight to the luthier to have a body made to go with it. The pocket was done to Fender spec according to him and he said it's a good fit, although MMs are slighly more rounded at the heel I believe. Maybe there's variation from neck to neck, no way of knowing really

Edited April 16, 2011 by untune

[aceuggy]

[quote name='KiOgon' post='1202080' date='Apr 16 2011, 07:51 PM']MM necks are supposed to be compatible with Fender bodies - if it's not a Fender body then I would enlarge the pocket & leave the neck as is. If it is a Fender body? Up to you, which has more resale value, a standard MM neck or the body?[/quote]

I bought this bass as a genuine Fender, but now I have my doubts! How can I tell if the body is in fact a genuine Fender?

[tarcher]

How much is the difference?

[Jono Bolton]

I had a Mighty Mite neck on my old Marcus Miller Jazz and when I got the neck it was a bit too wide for the neck pocket, even though it was a Fender body and a Licensed by Fender neck. I took it to GuitarGuitar in Glasgow and had it put together, the tech widened the neck pocket to fit the neck for a tight fit, drilled the neck for the bolts and set it up too, cost about £80 all in. I'm sure the body probably is a genuine Fender, it's just that the neck is slightly oversized.