Medium Scale Bass Conversion Neck?

[thebrig]

Has anyone ever fitted a 'Medium Scale Bass Conversion Neck' to your long scale P or J bass body, and does it really work as claimed?

 

This what said about these necks:

Medium Scale Conversion Neck to Fit Fender Spec Pockets. For Players who find larger basses cumbersome. Select Canadian Maple and Rosewood Fingerboard. Jazz Bass Nut width (38mm). Bone nut. Flawless Natural Satin Finish. Jazz Bass profile. 14mm/11/16" tuner hole size. Perfect fit on Fender Bodies. Sounds the same as a Full Size Bass. It's not necessary to relocate the bridge.

 

 

[Obrienp]

I have a 32” scale P Bass bitsa that I put together, which has a full size P body, so effectively what you are looking at doing.

 

I think you will be very lucky not to have to move the bridge forward. The neck pictured has 20 frets, mine has 22 and I still needed to bring the bridge forward from where it would be on a 34” scale bass. The scale from nut to bridge saddle has got to be 32” (or very close) for the G string to intonate properly. I guess you might just get away without moving the bridge, if yours has masses of forward movement in the saddles.

 

After that you will find the pickups are no longer in the sweet spot. Mine sounded very bright, so much so that I eventually put a second precision pickup set in closer to the neck. I like weird and whacky, so I’m not too bothered but it might not float your boat. You could move your pickups further towards the neck into the sweet spot (not sure how you calculate where that is for a 32”). That would mean routing the body probably and you would need a custom cut pickguard to accommodate the new position (or have a messy guard).

 

Anyway see the pic. Bridge further forward than it would be for a 34” scale ditto (bridge) pickup in original position. The bridge is a Fender high mass, which sticks out at the back more than a standard BBOT, so doesn’t look quite so out of place as it might. Nevertheless, I have fitted a vintage style cover to conceal it a bit (that’s what the two screws are for). BTW my controls: first is a stacked volume/tone, second is a balance control for the pickups.

Edited Sunday at 15:53 by Obrienp

[thebrig]

57 minutes ago, Obrienp said:

I have a 32” scale P Bass bitsa that I put together, which has a full size P body, so effectively what you are looking at doing.

 

I think you will be very lucky not to have to move the bridge forward. The neck pictured has 20 frets, mine has 22 and I still needed to bring the bridge forward from where it would be on a 34” scale bass. The scale from nut to bridge saddle has got to be 32” (or very close) for the G string to intonate properly. I guess you might just get away without moving the bridge, if yours has masses of forward movement in the saddles.

 

After that you will find the pickups are no longer in the sweet spot. Mine sounded very bright, so much so that I eventually put a second precision pickup set in closer to the neck. I like weird and whacky, so I’m not too bothered but it might not float your boat. You could move your pickups further towards the neck into the sweet spot (not sure how you calculate where that is for a 32”). That would mean routing the body probably and you would need a custom cut pickguard to accommodate the new position (or have a messy guard).

 

Anyway see the pic. Bridge further forward than it would be for a 34” scale ditto (bridge) pickup in original position. The bridge is a Fender high mass, which sticks out at the back more than a standard BBOT, so doesn’t look quite so out of place as it might. Nevertheless, I have fitted a vintage style cover to conceal it a bit (that’s what the two screws are for). BTW my controls: first is a stacked volume/tone, second is a balance control for the pickups.

Thanks for the info, it's very useful.

[BigRedX]

The neck would have to be 50mm or 2" shorter than a conventional 34" neck for this to work without needing to move the bridge. Since the photos show the neck to one fret less than a standard Fender P-Bass neck that won't be the case.

[thebrig]

1 hour ago, BigRedX said:

The neck would have to be 50mm or 2" shorter than a conventional 34" neck for this to work without needing to move the bridge. Since the photos show the neck to one fret less than a standard Fender P-Bass neck that won't be the case.

I think the fact that it's a 20 fret neck and the fretboard overhangs the heel would mean that it takes it closer to the bridge, therefore measuring 16" from the bridge to the 12th fret.

 

That's the only way I can think of it being able to work.

Edited Sunday at 21:33 by thebrig
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