Longer neck for Fender P bass

[SteveXFR]

I like my Mexican standard P bass but tuned down to A# it's a bit wooley on the lowest string compared to 5 strings I've used previously. The obvious difference is the 1" longer scale length. Is there a 35" scale neck I can get put on the 4 string precision?

[Aidan63]

Are you using strings designed for tuning down ? I think they exist for bass, I know they do for guitars

[SteveXFR]

3 minutes ago, Aidan63 said:

Are you using strings designed for tuning down ? I think they exist for bass, I know they do for guitars

 

I'm using the heaviest 4 out of a 5 string set so they should be right.

[bass_dinger]

41 minutes ago, SteveXFR said:

I like my Mexican standard P bass but tuned down to A# it's a bit wooley on the lowest string compared to 5 strings I've used previously. The obvious difference is the 1" longer scale length. Is there a 35" scale neck I can get put on the 4 string precision?

Won't the bridge also have to be moved?

[SteveXFR]

58 minutes ago, bass_dinger said:

Won't the bridge also have to be moved?

 

I don't know. Not something I'd thought of

[velvetkevorkian]

I'm not sure there's any off the shelf neck that does this, but it should be possible. If the scale is calculated correctly I don't see why you'd have to move the bridge.

 

I thought Warmoth used to make something along these lines for guitar but I can't see it now

[mario_buoninfante]

I think a different bridge might help too, if you don't wanna go 35" scale (that'd change playbility too).

MusicMan for example, make 34" scale long 5 string basses and I remember them saying in the video below that "they don't need to use 35" scale because 'the secret (for a tight B)' is in the bridge".

 

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=mPCtATs02B4

 

[velvetkevorkian]

Looks like Novax do (or did, not sure if that's current) an aftermarket fanned fret neck with a 35" E: http://www.novaxguitars.com/parts-accessories/necks-bass.html

 

Headstock looks dreadful though

[SteveXFR]

12 minutes ago, velvetkevorkian said:

Looks like Novax do (or did, not sure if that's current) an aftermarket fanned fret neck with a 35" E: http://www.novaxguitars.com/parts-accessories/necks-bass.html

 

Headstock looks dreadful though

 

That's not cheap. I can live with ugly,I'm no oil painting myself. 

[Mykesbass]

Carbon reinforced neck and/or higher tension strings. A stiff neck will help reduce a floppy Bb, and tension is not only down to gauge - check d'addario's tension chart.

[dclaassen]

I think it is down to string choice. The B on my Spector with a 35” scale is much floppier than the B on my MPV with a 34” scale.

[jrixn1]

4 hours ago, SteveXFR said:

I like my Mexican standard P bass but tuned down to A# it's a bit wooley on the lowest string compared to 5 strings I've used previously. The obvious difference is the 1" longer scale length.

 

What were the five-string basses you've previously used, and in particular did they have bridge pickups?  That could be another difference, perhaps.

[miles'tone]

I'd be looking at installing a Dimarzio Split P pickup and a Gotoh high mass bridge if it were my bass. That would sort you out. Cheaper and easier too.

[Doctor J]

Don't waste your money on a neck, just get a string appropriate for that kind of pitch. I use a .145 for A and occasional dropped G on a 34" scale jazz bass.

 

https://www.amazon.de/dp/B000OR75QQ/ref=pe_27091401_487027711_TE_SCE_dp_1

[Mykesbass]

Reading some of the other replies made me think my reply might look like it missed the point. If your Bb (sorry, can't ever think of it as A# having played with horns many years ago) is already good tension then I have. However, from previous 5 string experience I have found that the biggest cause of woolly B string tone is a floppy string, hence my take on the problem.

[SteveXFR]

9 hours ago, jrixn1 said:

 

What were the five-string basses you've previously used, and in particular did they have bridge pickups?  That could be another difference, perhaps.

 

I've used a Peavey Zephyr (2 humbucker passive 5 string 35" scale) and a couple Stingrays (single humbucker active 35" scale) 

[Paul S]

12 hours ago, SteveXFR said:

 

I don't know. Not something I'd thought of

 

I guess that depends upon how it sits in the pocket.  Assuming that a 35" scale length neck will be 17.5" from nut to 12th fret, it will have to be 17.5" from 12th fret to the saddle.  Assuming the same number of frets, the bridge would have to be shifted 1/2" backwards.

[velvetkevorkian]

12 minutes ago, Paul S said:

 

I guess that depends upon how it sits in the pocket.  Assuming that a 35" scale length neck will be 17.5" from nut to 12th fret, it will have to be 17.5" from 12th fret to the saddle.  Assuming the same number of frets, the bridge would have to be shifted 1/2" backwards.

A proper conversion neck would take this into account and move the nut out an inch, and move the frets accordingly, surely?

[Downunderwonder]

Most of the whole wide world manages quite fine with 34" scale. It's all about the strings and pickups.

[jrixn1]

2 hours ago, SteveXFR said:

 

I've used a Peavey Zephyr (2 humbucker passive 5 string 35" scale) and a couple Stingrays (single humbucker active 35" scale) 

 

Did they make a StingRay with 35" scale length?

[BigRedX]

IME adding a single inch to the length of the neck does little to improve the clarity of anything tuned down below D, and less so on any bolt-on necked instrument. You need the right strings along with a super-stiff neck and rock solid neck joint (or ideally neck-though construction).

[spencer.b]

Personally I'd avoid spending a load of money essentially devaluing your bass when the outcome is such an unknown, as others have said I'd try different strings and a higher mass bridge and setup or just get a 35 incher , I've got a bassmods 6 string jazz 35inch and the B does sound better than my shuker and sire 5 strings , I realize they may be other multiple factors contributing to this but it seems like it makes a difference to me

[tauzero]

On 09/01/2023 at 08:07, SteveXFR said:

 

I've used a Peavey Zephyr (2 humbucker passive 5 string 35" scale) and a couple Stingrays (single humbucker active 35" scale) 

 

My Peavey Zephyr 5 had a 34" scale - the later Grind had a 35" scale.

[Doctor J]

It's worth bearing in mind that lots of doom bands play Ric 4001 or 4003, beyond the point of it being cliché, who don't have this trouble and those Rics are 33.25" scale. An extra inch isn't a silver bullet.

[SteveXFR]

23 minutes ago, Doctor J said:

It's worth bearing in mind that lots of doom bands play Ric 4001 or 4003, beyond the point of it being cliché, who don't have this trouble and those Rics are 33.25" scale. An extra inch isn't a silver bullet.

 

Maybe it's the stiffer neck that does the job. Doesn't the ric have a super wide neck and 2 Truss rods?