G&L 3-bolts necks interchangeable?

[El_JimBob]

The reason i ask this is because i'm currently watching a '87 fretless L2000 on ebay (uk) with the aim of swapping it's neck onto my '97 fretted L1500 and vice-versa. To be honest, it's the first fretless G&L i've seen for ages, and i'm tempted to go for it just because i'm not sure how long i would wait for another to pop up.

I'm loathe to defret the L1500 because it has such a fantastic neck which i'm sure could be employed on another body (the L2000?), and give it the fretless neck it deserves for when i play with my acoustic band (they love the sound of the L1500 but prefer the sound of a fretless, and currently i've only got a modded mexican p-bass fretless that doesn't cut through as much as i'd like).

Sorry to ramble on, but perhaps the experts here could lend some advice?

James.

*edit* or maybe someone here has got a fretless neck they'd like to sell

[El Tookay]

I've swapped around necks between my 84 and 96- no problems. The later years of 3 bolts, say 91-99, have really tight neck pockets, so don't be alarmed if the 87 neck is a bit loose in the 97's pocket.

Another alternative is a Moses Graphite neck. I did a swap/ install on a 3 bolt, and will be posting the results soon- still have to do a real world 'road test'. Stay tuned for it.........

[El_JimBob]

A replacement neck would be a good option, but i'm under pressure to thin my herd a little, so buying this bass (hopefully) should allow me to get rid of a couple as a result. If i'm not lucky this time i'll consider the alternatives
Thanks dude, i can now put in a bid in confidence....

*oh, and i'll be keeping an eye out for your 'road test'....*

Cheers.

[louloomis]

Please do as much legwork as you can first. I would assume they would not be interchangeable to be on the safe side.

I don't know about that era, but I know they have done custom neck fitting....and I'd hate for you to get caught on the wrong side of that.

LouLoomis

[Ken Baker]

It's really tough to say whether or not you'd be able to swap. Everything was hand shaped and fitted when the 3-bolts were being made, so there was some variance from instrument to instrument. About the only way to really KNOW is to simply try. If it fits, great. If not, well...

Ken...

[sunbeast]

Not a 3-bolt, but...I had an L5500 neck on my L2500 for awhile- it fit great, but the neck was a good 1/4" or so shorter than the original so required adjusting the bridge saddles nearly all the way back to compensate for intonation. It did work fine, but I could see it not working in some situations given how close it was to not working.

Karl

[El_JimBob]

Ah well, thanks for the extra input guys but alas i was unlucky this time.... maybe another will pop up in the future, ideally a fretless L1500