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Minimum width for 34 Inch neck?


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So in 2019 I purchased this funky looking homemade project at a car boot sale for £20, it had scheller tuners that has “made in west Germany” on the back of them and a really warm punchy pickup, however the neck is beyond repair. This neck is made with wood that chips apart as you hold it and the truss rod is running free underneath the fretboard. The sad part is that the neck felt amazing to play for the short while it was useable, it is a lot thinner than my other basses at only 55mm wide at the joint. Looking for a new neck that size has made me realise that this width is only common on short scale necks so I’ve decided to make my own one using the original as a template. Would I come into issues with rigidity at full scale length? Or does it not matter? I’m relatively new to guitar building so this may be a silly question, I’d appreciate the advice either way!

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I was thinking, unless you want to replicate exactly the existing neck, it'd be a lot easier to buy a cheap J bass style neck from ebay, you could even trim the headstock to be closer to your original.  It'd save a lot of grief making a neck from scratch, unless of course you fancy it as a challenge !

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String spacing at the bridge varies from 14 to 21.5 mm that I know. I see no reason to make it even broader or down to 10 mm if needed. The width of the neck shouldn't mean a lot if it is well made and the strings are reasonable (nothing like thick set and a tenor tuning...). You can also use a good amount of CF in the neck.

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Is the neck truly a write off? Is it breaking apart to fragile chunks or could it be glued back together, i.e. would it work again if the truss rod worked? I'm asking because if it held tune once, it may again. If you liked the way it was it may before it may be easier to repair this neck, than to modify another neck to feel like this one.

I'm just wondering on the construction - would it need a new sunk stripe, would routing it out be an option, or would it be an opportunity to replace the fretboard if that's a concern? (if it's soft wood or badly damaged).

Replacing it with a quality used or new neck will probably be the better option, as long as the neck pocket is stable and the neck is fitted well.

 

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