Northwest Guitars bodies and necks

[Nibody]

22 hours ago, Geek99 said:

I don’t think that particularly generous tbh

True.

 

But I could send it back and they could claim its due to something I've done, in which case it's a "my word against theirs" situation,so I end up paying out on postage both ways for nothing.

 

The neck is the fender "heel access/cross head nut" design suplier told them they were dual action rods in them (you can get truss rods that are dual ation with a fender cross head heel adjustment - if that was the case unless there was a catastrophic failure the rod wouldnt be able to be screwed in and out. And if they are single action they souldnt have to be screwed 2cm into the neck to start working.  Rather bizarre.

 

 

[rmorris]

Still seems to me that they were ungenerous with their offer to take it back but at your packing/postage cost.

[SumOne]

Has anyone had any better experiences from Northwest Guitars for Jazz necks in the last year?

 

Ideally I'd get a cheaper second hand Jazz neck (£40 was my initial budget!) but it looks like I need to get in the queue as there's plenty of competition from fellow Basschatters! 

 

 

 

.......or eBay has plenty of new necks from China for £80 but I'm assuming quite a risk of low quality and returns/refunds will be difficult. At least Northwest are a UK company that seem to give refunds/replacements if it isn't a good one. £130 from Northwest hopefully indicates higher quality (or are they just importing those £80 ones from China and taking a £50 cut?!). 

 

Or other new alternatives are quite pricey but might be worth it in the long-run. £218 from Thomann for a Player series one, or Allparts have un-finished licensed ones for £231. It seems that the genuine Fender finished one from Thomann is is the better deal being cheaper, finished, and genuine Fender. And I'd rather not have to buy tools to do fret levelling if it can be avoided but Allparts states "All necks may require fret leveling and polish". 

[police squad]

I have a northwest 'jazz neck' on a self build P bass. Very good quality and highly recommended. Mine has the vintage yellow tint.

[SumOne]

23 minutes ago, police squad said:

I have a northwest 'jazz neck' on a self build P bass. Very good quality and highly recommended. Mine has the vintage yellow tint.

 

Nice one, and I like the logo!

 

Are there side dot markers? 

[kodiakblair]

1 hour ago, SumOne said:

Allparts states "All necks may require fret leveling and polish". 

Genuine Fender necks carry the same same alert though it goes a bit further and also mentions the heel/pocket.

 

[SumOne]

2 hours ago, kodiakblair said:

Genuine Fender necks carry the same same alert though it goes a bit further and also mentions the heel/pocket.

 

I understand the need to cut the nut slots depending on gauge of strings, and the disclaimer that you need to mount to the body properly and do setup, but it seems a disclaimer about frets potentially not being level is a bit slack for an expensive neck.

 

Edited October 20, 2022 by SumOne

[kodiakblair]

1 hour ago, SumOne said:

but it seems a disclaimer about frets potentially not being level is a bit slack for an expensive neck.

No, it's for good reason ; covers their derrières.

 

Fender necks, like everyone else's, are primarily a machine product. Shaped/sanded, slots cut, frets stamped in etc.

All geared to work within Fender's set up guidelines and tolerances. If there's a slightly high fret then likely it'll pass this stage unnoticed.

 

With 350 units going out in a 10 hr shift time is of the essence.

 

It's a controlled environment with FMIC setting the controls 😀 

 

They have no control outside the factory. While most folk stick roughly with the guidelines, many don't and uneven/high frets come to light.

Instead of entering into a RIC-style "you didn't follow the rules/your warranty is void", FMIC just add 'fret work' to the list of advisories.

[police squad]

13 hours ago, SumOne said:

 

Nice one, and I like the logo!

 

Are there side dot markers? 

yes, side dots present and correct

[SumOne]

12 hours ago, kodiakblair said:

No, it's for good reason ; covers their derrières.

 

Fender necks, like everyone else's, are primarily a machine product. Shaped/sanded, slots cut, frets stamped in etc.

All geared to work within Fender's set up guidelines and tolerances. If there's a slightly high fret then likely it'll pass this stage unnoticed.

 

With 350 units going out in a 10 hr shift time is of the essence.

 

It's a controlled environment with FMIC setting the controls 😀 

 

They have no control outside the factory. While most folk stick roughly with the guidelines, many don't and uneven/high frets come to light.

Instead of entering into a RIC-style "you didn't follow the rules/your warranty is void", FMIC just add 'fret work' to the list of advisories.

 

For a £200+ neck can't Fender put in the effort to guarantee that the product with their name on has had QC to check the frets are level though? It seems a fairly major part of a fretted neck for it to be fit for purpose, and if they haven't done if properly then it seems like a reasonably skilled job to fix. 

 

It strikes me it's like buying a new bike where I accept I'll need to bolt on the handlebars (as it is a simple job to do with just an allen key) and do other minor things like pump the tyres to desired pressure, but it wouldn't really be acceptable for the bike manufacturer to say 'the frame might be bent, and some frame welding might need checking and re-doing, we don't take any responsibility for frames that don't work and haven't been checked by a professional before you ride'. 

 

 

Edited October 21, 2022 by SumOne

[kodiakblair]

3 hours ago, SumOne said:

For a £200+ neck can't Fender put in the effort to guarantee that the product with their name on has had QC to check the frets are level though?

I'm not defending them.

 

Mighty Mite necks carry the same advisory, as do AllParts , WD Music and Hosco; it's a standard industry clause.

 

In all honesty the chances of you having to do a fret level are pretty slim, machines work to pretty tight tolerances.

[SumOne]

2 hours ago, kodiakblair said:

I'm not defending them.

 

Mighty Mite necks carry the same advisory, as do AllParts , WD Music and Hosco; it's a standard industry clause.

 

In all honesty the chances of you having to do a fret level are pretty slim, machines work to pretty tight tolerances.

 

Ah yeah, not having a go at you at all, I appreciate the information.

 

I understand there being a disclaimer for fitting the neck properly to the body and sizing the nut to match strings but it seems annoying to me that companies have managed to set the industry standard as 'disclaimer: this product might not do its intended job properly as we haven't done sufficient QC, that's not on us though - it's on you'. 

 

Washing machine manufacturers might have disclaimers that people need to plumb them in correctly and set them level but they don't get away with  'Disclaimer: You need a professional to check the motor is mounted properly before using this waching machine - we might not have checked it works properly,  if you don't get a professional to check it and it doesn't work properly then that's on you, no refunds'. 

 

 

 

Edited October 21, 2022 by SumOne

[kodiakblair]

@SumOne

 

 I understand the disclaimer, it's got little to do with QC. It's to guard against eejits 🙂

 

You have a machine prepares a blank within tight tolerances, a fretboard (also machined to tight tolerances) gets glued on. Fret slots are cut (machine), deeper than the tang, then pre-bent fretwire is stamped into the slots using a 1000 or 2000 lbs arbor press. Only way you'll get uneven frets is with a poorly machined fretboard, those should be picked up by QC checks every X units. If fails do get flagged, the batch gets pulled and the machines re-calibrated.

 

Perfectly good necks get sent out in to a world where 99% will work right of the bat.

 

Sadly that world is plagued by myths,half truths and blatant stupidity ; relevant one here is use of the TR.

Misinformation about the TR and it's purpose is rife, there's a widespread belief you just crank the TR to get a lower action 😮 The TR deals with neck relief. Those carefully machined necks will have no issues if the end user follows the guidelines and keeps neck relief/action roughly in harmony 🙂

 

Trouble is eejits don't follow guidelines, they follow half truths overheard mumbled in a crowded bar one drunken night 20 years ago 😃 They don't set a bass up to within it's capabilities, they  crank TRs to the limit, bottom out saddles, recut nuts, shim pockets; then they complain about fret buzz. Of course the neck is to blame not their hamfisted ineptitude.

 

The disclaimer is to ward against those folks and they are many 😞

[SumOne]

27 minutes ago, kodiakblair said:

@SumOne

 

 I understand the disclaimer, it's got little to do with QC. It's to guard against eejits 🙂

 

You have a machine prepares a blank within tight tolerances, a fretboard (also machined to tight tolerances) gets glued on. Fret slots are cut (machine), deeper than the tang, then pre-bent fretwire is stamped into the slots using a 1000 or 2000 lbs arbor press. Only way you'll get uneven frets is with a poorly machined fretboard, those should be picked up by QC checks every X units. If fails do get flagged, the batch gets pulled and the machines re-calibrated.

 

Perfectly good necks get sent out in to a world where 99% will work right of the bat.

 

Sadly that world is plagued by myths,half truths and blatant stupidity ; relevant one here is use of the TR.

Misinformation about the TR and it's purpose is rife, there's a widespread belief you just crank the TR to get a lower action 😮 The TR deals with neck relief. Those carefully machined necks will have no issues if the end user follows the guidelines and keeps neck relief/action roughly in harmony 🙂

 

Trouble is eejits don't follow guidelines, they follow half truths overheard mumbled in a crowded bar one drunken night 20 years ago 😃 They don't set a bass up to within it's capabilities, they  crank TRs to the limit, bottom out saddles, recut nuts, shim pockets; then they complain about fret buzz. Of course the neck is to blame not their hamfisted ineptitude.

 

The disclaimer is to ward against those folks and they are many 😞

 

 

Cheers! That gives me confidence to buy a neck without needing to factor in buying tools and learning how to level frets (hopefully!)   

 

(I'll be sure to blame the frets when I knacker them via trussrod mis-use though! 😀)

Edited October 21, 2022 by SumOne

[Random Guitarist]

I'd respectfully disagree. I've never had an aftermarket neck that didn't benefit from at least some fret dressing.

You might get one that is good enough out of the box, but you might not, and I seriously doubt you'll get one that's so excellent it can't be improved.

On the bright side, you can put it all together and decide how much you like the feel and the sound before committing to the nth degree.

 

I bought a Strat neck from Northwest earlier this year. It is absolutely excellent quality, and built up into a really good instrument.

The neck was playable as delivered, but the frets were not perfectly even and had a couple of minor sharp edges. I found myself being so happy with the overall sound and quality of the instrument that I got a local luthier to do the frets and file the nut slot for me. I just didn't want to mess this one up, because the rest of the instrument, including the neck the frets attach to, was so good.

 

I have a fender Ultra as well, it's a good guitar but in the burning building scenario I will rescue the partscaster first. Northwest necks in my experience are good.

 

[kodiakblair]

2 minutes ago, Random Guitarist said:

You might get one that is good enough out of the box, but you might not, and I seriously doubt you'll get one that's so excellent it can't be improved.

 

Everything can be improved, folk send £3k basses off to be PLEK'd.

 

If I read the OP's other thread correctly the goal is not the pinnacle of excellence ; it's to bolt together a bass and say "I did that 🙂"

[fleabag]

I've had an Alder Jazz body off Northwest and it was superb.

 

 

[JohnDaBass]

4 hours ago, fleabag said:

I've had an Alder Jazz body off Northwest and it was superb.

 

 

+1 I've had an Alder P bass body from Northwest and it was superb. 

 

Edited October 23, 2022 by JohnDaBass