What mods to fit a P bass neck to a '51 ri body?

[jonthebass]

Hi there,
What mods are needed, to either body or neck, to get a modern P bass neck to fit into a '51ri body properly and get the intonation, etc, right?

Does the neck heel need re-shaping or does the body need routing?

Thanks,
Jon

[Lo-E]

You shouldn't need to mod anything.

Adjust the intonation and you're off to the races.

[mongo2]

I've done this exact mod. For me, the rounded heel of the P neck fit fine into the squared off neck pocket of the '51 RI body leaving just a small gap at each corner. The neck holes even lined up properly (if they didn't I would've just filled the old ones and drilled the new ones). It was hardly noticeable from 10 ft.

I then did a setup including intonation and all was well.

Edit: If you wanted to get fancy about it and hide the slight gap at the corners of the neck pocket, a custom pickguard that fits the rounded neck heel could cover the gaps completely.

[john grey]

If you have a radius/semi-circular neck heel and a square pocket, you need to get a router mounting jig and an adjustment for what's called "comb & radius". This would allow you to make a very clean light cut, just the height of the interior pocket. If you HAVE a router; the add-on is about $39 at WoodCrafter's because you can use padded clamps for a "one-time" job.
If you don't have one, etc, etc....take it to a guy who knows of what you speak. It wont cost much (about the same at the tool....) :-)