JB Neck Query - Newbie Alert!

[Mal1905]

Hi all,

Please forgive me in advance if this is a stupid question, and yes, I've searched the forums, but haven't found a conclusive answer to this question:

Can I put a 4-bolt neck on a 3-bolt body?

Have purchased a '75 RI MIJ Jazz Bass body and need to purchase a neck for it. Am seeing very few 3-bolt necks from the likes of AllParts, Warmoth, etc and have pretty much decided that a 4-bolt version from one of the above is the way I'll go. [Unless there's a 3-bolt neck goin' a beggin' ]

Thanks in advance for any/all help or advice you can give,

Mal

[thumpbass1]

Can it be done? In a way it has, as some players did not like the Fender 3-bolt affair that got stuck on the Jazz Bass back in the 70's. However most of them converted things over to a traditional 4 bolt back plate arrangement, and naturally that involved a bit of plugging and drilling. And of course I'd imagine that some of the 3-bolter J-Basses that still exist have had their necks replaced for whatever reason by their owners, and they had to make do with 4-bolter necks. If you are simply wanting to keep the 3-bolt arrangement with a 4 bolt neck I'd imagine as long as it fits the neck pocket and is in spec in all other regards, you'll be looking at probably some plugging and drilling to make things right. My first question would be if you could find a proper neck that hasn't had the attachment holes pre-drilled.

[Mal1905]

Thanks for the comprehensive reply - while I'm not new to playing bass, until now I've always left the assembly to the factories! This being my first attempt at putting a mongrel together, has left me full of uncertainty - I imagined that putting on a 4-bolter was doable, just curious that very few 3 bolters are out there.

The AllParts necks I've seen come in all the right flavours - bound fingerboards, block inlays, etc - but all seem to be 4-bolters. Warmoth state on their site that they do not supply 3-bolt type replacement necks.

Again, my thanks for your help, and I'll try to chronicle the assembly of this bass when all the parts get here

Originally Posted by thumpbass1

Can it be done? In a way it has, as some players did not like the Fender 3-bolt affair that got stuck on the Jazz Bass back in the 70's. However most of them converted things over to a traditional 4 bolt back plate arrangement, and naturally that involved a bit of plugging and drilling. And of course I'd imagine that some of the 3-bolter J-Basses that still exist have had their necks replaced for whatever reason by their owners, and they had to make do with 4-bolter necks. If you are simply wanting to keep the 3-bolt arrangement with a 4 bolt neck I'd imagine as long as it fits the neck pocket and is in spec in all other regards, you'll be looking at probably some plugging and drilling to make things right. My first question would be if you could find a proper neck that hasn't had the attachment holes pre-drilled.

[Mal1905]

Update: Have bought an original 4-bolt '73 neck, its neck-plate and tuners, so looks like I'm getting closer to starting on what I hope will be a pretty sweet bass. Scored a genuine '75 bridge, a non-original tort pickguard and a control plate with PIO capacitor, so all I'm missing now are some pickups...

As photography is my second job, I plan on putting together a 'diary' of the assembly, and would love to post the photographs here if there's no objection?

[Mal1905]

So; most of the parts have now arrived - am just waiting for the pickups at this stage, and I've started photographing the bits.

First up the neck. Turns out from the serial #, it's a '71 and not a '73 as advertised, but that's okay with me! It's also stamped with the name 'HERB G', which came as a surprise to me. I'd recently been reading a book on Fender basses, and one of the photos was of a gentleman named Herbie Gastelum, working on a neck. Nice to be able to put a face to the name of the guy who originally worked on this neck...

An Irish friend of mine who now lives in NYC described this neck as being like a favourite shirt. A bit frayed and worn around the edges, but perfectly usable.

[Mal1905]

More of this beauty...