Fender necks and bodies

[Mr Fudge]

Hello all, I have some knowledge and have done some research but still unsure about a few things. In a nutshell I love the skinny '70's fender necks (as on my Marcus sig). I have a '97 standard jazz and have thought about picking up a similar neck for her. There look to be some crackers on warmouth, although pricey.

Obviously I know there are 3 bolts and 4 bolts. I am a bit confused about the radius of the neck. My marcus is 7 1/4" and standard 10". I have no clue how these measurements are made but obviously my marcus is skinnier. Would the Marcus be the same as a Geddy or '75 reissue neck?

Can these Jazz necks be bolted onto precision bodies without any major hassle???? Would my standard tuners fit any lic Fender necks.

cheers.

mr f.

[simon1964]

[quote name='Mr Fudge' post='333654' date='Nov 21 2008, 09:46 AM']Hello all, I have some knowledge and have done some research but still unsure about a few things. In a nutshell I love the skinny '70's fender necks (as on my Marcus sig). I have a '97 standard jazz and have thought about picking up a similar neck for her. There look to be some crackers on warmouth, although pricey.

Obviously I know there are 3 bolts and 4 bolts. I am a bit confused about the radius of the neck. My marcus is 7 1/4" and standard 10". I have no clue how these measurements are made but obviously my marcus is skinnier. Would the Marcus be the same as a Geddy or '75 reissue neck?

Can these Jazz necks be bolted onto precision bodies without any major hassle???? Would my standard tuners fit any lic Fender necks.

cheers.

mr f.[/quote]

As far as I'm aware, all Fender neck sockets are the same size. With the exception of the three bolt necks, they should all be pretty much interchangeable. My Mex Precision Body has had a Fender P neck, a Fender J neck, a Squier neck, and now a fretless Fender licensed Mighty Mite neck on it. All have fitted fine. As long as its a standard sized Fender neck, it should fit, irrespective of whether its a P or J neck. Obviously, it would have to be the corrrect scale length - you couldn't fit a short scale Mustang neck to a Jazz body without making mods.

As to radius, they do vary a lot. I've never played the Geddy Lee, but from comments on here it is a lot skinnier than other Jazz necks.

Edited November 21, 2008 by simon1964

[Mr Fudge]

Very usefull reply Simon, cheers. How did you find your mighty mite? I see allparts and warmouth about too. The warmouth stuff just looked in another league, although I have no experience of any. Are they all US imports? Would my standard Fender tuners fit all three.

cheers.

[bremen]

[quote name='Mr Fudge' post='333675' date='Nov 21 2008, 10:24 AM']Very usefull reply Simon, cheers. How did you find your mighty mite? I see allparts and warmouth about too. The warmouth stuff just looked in another league, although I have no experience of any. Are they all US imports? Would my standard Fender tuners fit all three.

cheers.[/quote]

I had some trouble fitting a Mighty Mite to a mex P; I had to sand the neck pocket slightly to make it fit laterally and then when it was fitted it was so high above the surface of the body that I had to choose between shimming the bridge or routing the neck pocket deeper. I did the latter and it's now a fine instrument (though the resale value is probably a bit knackered).

Warmoth necks are beautiful. I have a maple P neck and it's deeper from fingerboard to back of neck than my Jap Fender P or the Mighty Mite. I haven't tried fitting it in a Fender but it fits the Warmoth body so well that it hardly needs screwing on. Virtually an interference fit.

Yes, standard Fender/Schaller/Gotoh tuners fit all three. I have an unused set of Gotoh, want them?

[simon1964]

[quote name='Mr Fudge' post='333675' date='Nov 21 2008, 10:24 AM']Very usefull reply Simon, cheers. How did you find your mighty mite? I see allparts and warmouth about too. The warmouth stuff just looked in another league, although I have no experience of any. Are they all US imports? Would my standard Fender tuners fit all three.

cheers.[/quote]

I like the Mighty Mite neck. Seems good quality, and good fit. I would have said its pretty much equivalent quality to a Fender standard neck. I've never used Allparts or Warmouth so can't really compare.

You might want to have a look at a US ebay store called, I think, Stratosphere. I can't post the link as ebay is blocked at work, but he has a huge range of genuine Fender necks at reasonable prices. I've bought a couple of things from him in the past, with no hassle.

Tuners can be a problem, but really only on vintage spec models - I think the current models are all the same size (although do check - I could well be wrong on that!).

[bremen]

[quote name='simon1964' post='333687' date='Nov 21 2008, 10:39 AM']I like the Mighty Mite neck. Seems good quality, and good fit. I would have said its pretty much equivalent quality to a Fender standard neck. I've never used Allparts or Warmouth so can't really compare.

You might want to have a look at a US ebay store called, I think, Stratosphere. I can't post the link as ebay is blocked at work, but he has a huge range of genuine Fender necks at reasonable prices. I've bought a couple of things from him in the past, with no hassle.

Tuners can be a problem, but really only on vintage spec models - I think the current models are all the same size (although do check - I could well be wrong on that!).[/quote]

I wonder whether it was my mex P body that was odd, rather than the neck. I'll make some measurements if you like.

regarding tuners, I've found that only the position of the screwholes varies between vintage and modern P, to accomodate the various plate shapes. I've never had trouble finding the appropriate pattern to match a neck that's already had the screwholes drilled.

Delberthot posted a series of links to Fender-a-like tuners: [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?s=&showtopic=32082&view=findpost&p=332805"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?s=&sho...st&p=332805[/url]

Edited November 21, 2008 by bremen

[thebeat]

The majority of Fender necks are, as said above, 3 0r 4 bolts...excepting the AM Dlx series which are 5 bolts and 22 frets. stratosphere was a good bet until the pound/dollar exchange rate fell...now it's not so attractive....remember you WILL have to pay import tax and handling charges for your purchase. Allparts necks are good...and fit well. Can't comment on mighty mite but warmoth have a good rep.

[Mr Fudge]

I have this hunch / vision / gas / stupidity !!! to fit a skinny J neck to a P body. I have never done anything like this before. I am in no rush but would like to have a go perhaps after Xmas? These things may be cheaper and more readily available? I do find some of the warmouth necks very very sexy. I suppose a start could be to mod my standard jazz with one of these necks. It could always be used later on in another project?

If anyone on the off cnance has a Geddy, Marcus, or '74 Reissue neck they want to get rid of let me know. I imagine I would use my original Fender tuners rather than leave an unused neck "loaded"

Edited November 21, 2008 by Mr Fudge

[Sibob]

In addition to what has been said above:

The Warmoth necks do seem to have a lot more about their construction, in that they are steel bar reinforced with two way truss rods etc. As a result they're apparently quite heavy, so bear that in mind!
I've got an Allparts Jazz neck on my Precision bass, very nice, pretty skinny, thinner at the nut than my Fender US Jazz. But a perfect fit into the neck pocket of the Encore body!

Si

[bremen]

[quote name='Sibob' post='333709' date='Nov 21 2008, 10:58 AM']The Warmoth necks do seem to have a lot more about their construction, in that they are steel bar reinforced with two way truss rods etc. As a result they're apparently quite heavy, so bear that in mind![/quote]

This is true.

[Delberthot]

My gold Warmoth has a mahogany body so I never noticed any neck heaviness.

My newest one has a swamp ash body so i took the precaution of getting a set of gotoh resolite machines.

$ : £ has went a bit silly recently - I worked out the other day that my newest Warmoth would've cost me £100 extra if i had bought it now than in August.

You do occasionally find warmoth necks on Ebay but it doesn't give you the choice you get when picking your own woods.


If the exchange rate sorts itself out at the beginning of next year i might be doing myself another one, possibly a 5 string.


One issue you may find is the tuners unless you buy the neck with them already on - Some MIM & CIJ basses use different machines with smaller holes than the standard Gotoh, Schaller, etc.



The Geddy neck is very slim, too slim for some people but it is meant to emulate Geddy's own '72.

You could modify a 3 bolt neck for 4 bolt use by plugging the original holes and drilling new ones but you would destroy any resale value should you decide not to keep it.

All 4 bolt Fender necks should fit all 4 bolt fender bodies ( ditto for 3 to 3 and 5 to 5 ).


The mighty mite necks are good and stable but IMO not as good as Warmoth.

Incidentally both my warmoths are now on their site, albeit with crappy pictures.


I love the way Fenders look but I've never been able to justify buying a MIA when I can go to warmoth and have so many options and end up paying what a MIA would cost second hand for something that is all mine and brand new and not available anywhere.

Different for older models though. Early models that are still being played have proven themselves to be good basses otherwise they would've been likely trashed years ago.

I don't get the hype over Jap Squiers of the early 80s. They command more than MIA money. I've had 2 and they didn't really do anything for me. The only thing I liked about my JV was the rolled fretboard edges.


remember that this is AFAIK, IMO & ETC

Edited November 21, 2008 by Delberthot

[Beedster]

[quote name='bremen' post='333683' date='Nov 21 2008, 10:35 AM']Yes, standard Fender/Schaller/Gotoh tuners fit all three. I have an unused set of Gotoh, want them?[/quote]

You have a PM re those tuners Chris

[bremen]

[quote name='Delberthot' post='333741' date='Nov 21 2008, 11:51 AM']My gold Warmoth has a mahogany body so I never noticed any neck heaviness.

My newest one has a swamp ash body so i took the precaution of getting a set of gotoh resolite machines.[/quote]

I have a Warmoth dinky P (ie a slimmed-down P) swamp ash with a maple neck and Schaller BML lightweight tuners. The whole thing weighs 3.4kg and has no balance issues.

For comparison, the 79 Fender Precision I released into the wild was 4.5kg and the Mighty Mite/Mex P is 4.2kg.

[Mr Fudge]

Great advice. I like the lightweight ideas.

cheers.

[horrorshowbass]

[quote name='simon1964' post='333661' date='Nov 21 2008, 10:03 AM']As far as I'm aware, all Fender neck sockets are the same size. With the exception of the three bolt necks, they should all be pretty much interchangeable. My Mex Precision Body has had a Fender P neck, a Fender J neck, a Squier neck, and now a fretless Fender licensed Mighty Mite neck on it. All have fitted fine. As long as its a standard sized Fender neck, it should fit, irrespective of whether its a P or J neck. Obviously, it would have to be the corrrect scale length - you couldn't fit a short scale Mustang neck to a Jazz body without making mods.

As to radius, they do vary a lot. I've never played the Geddy Lee, but from comments on here it is a lot skinnier than other Jazz necks.[/quote]

hey man, first post here, u may have already answered my question, i was wondering if a geddy lee jazz neck would fit on a squier body?