jazz neck on stingray body - will it work?

Mental Octopus · #1 11-24-2006, 01:14 AM

Hi all,

I have a Stingray body that I finally plan on using for a project...the only thing is it is missing a neck. Since I am most comfortable on Jazz necks, but I love the sound of a Stingray, I want to put a Jazz style neck on this body...but a j neck has 20 frets to the rays 21. i am getting the body refinished and the bridge holes filled...so if i move the bridge back a little bit would the neck line up? i am sure it would I just want to make sure before I pull the trigger.

eleonn · #2 11-24-2006, 08:12 AM

If you move just the bridge the scale of the bass will be affected ...it won't be 34" or whatever anymore. I guess you can make the neck go a little bit deeper into the body so the extra fret can be fitted.

Mental Octopus · #3 11-24-2006, 10:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by eleonn

If you move just the bridge the scale of the bass will be affected ...it won't be 34" or whatever anymore. I guess you can make the neck go a little bit deeper into the body so the extra fret can be fitted.

i am confused...i am putting a 20 fret neck onto a body that would normally accept a 21 fret neck, so it's one less fret, not an extra one...so wouldn't that mean the bridge would have to shifted slightly?

eleonn · #4 11-24-2006, 10:27 AM

I got it wrong and switch the things!!!

fish man · #5 11-24-2006, 12:32 PM

Good question.

I would, in your position, move the bridge back the 1/2 in or so necessary to compensate for the difference in neck length, and in terms of tone, you might sound ever-so-slightly bassier, but I think that's essentially a non-issue if it means you'll be comfortable on the neck. I The real issue, in my mind, would be how well the Jazz heel fits in a 'Ray neck pocket. I don't know of the actual dimensions of either, but if you have the body and the neck handy, it would be extremely useful to get some calipers and measure up. Keep us updated!

Good luck,

fm

Mental Octopus · #6 11-24-2006, 12:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fish man

Good question.

I would, in your position, move the bridge back the 1/2 in or so necessary to compensate for the difference in neck length, and in terms of tone, you might sound ever-so-slightly bassier, but I think that's essentially a non-issue if it means you'll be comfortable on the neck. I The real issue, in my mind, would be how well the Jazz heel fits in a 'Ray neck pocket. I don't know of the actual dimensions of either, but if you have the body and the neck handy, it would be extremely useful to get some calipers and measure up. Keep us updated!

Good luck,

fm

I don't have the actual neck i'm planning to use yet, BUT i have a MIM Jazz Bass...before I sent the ray body for a refinish I put the jazz neck in the neck pocket and it seems to be a very tight fit.

fish man · #7 11-24-2006, 03:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mental Octopus

I don't have the actual neck i'm planning to use yet, BUT i have a MIM Jazz Bass...before I sent the ray body for a refinish I put the jazz neck in the neck pocket and it seems to be a very tight fit.

Great!

Now all you have to do is make sure the new neck matches your MIM. Does the body have string-through-body drilling? That may be cause for some trouble when trying to place your bridge in a new spot.

All the best,

fm

sshorepunk · #8 02-23-2007, 01:03 PM

I've took over this project from MO, and for the same reason!
I am also considering putting a J profile neck on it, Status will make me a MM neck with a J profile, but I may have access to a used Status jazz neck! As the neck has 1 fret less I know I would have to move the bridge, the body has been refinished and the holes for the MM bridge filled, so I have the option to put a bridge where needed provided it isn't too far back and provided the neck fits the pocket, any approx' dimensions would be good, i.e. the size of a J neck vs MM neck, so I can start planning!

For the bridge I am considering a badass III!

Any other thoughts on this would be good, as this is my first "frankenbass" build

Tony

Mental Octopus · #9 02-24-2007, 01:23 PM

hey tony, i'm glad to see someone else take over this as i think it's a cool idea.

when i had that body, i also had a MIM jazz bass. I took the neck off and put it in the neck pocket of the ray body, and it appeared to me that the heel and neck pocket matched perfectly. the only thing would be the bridge placement, i'm sure it could work but the bridge might be right at the edge of the body.

however, the best option might be to get rob at status to make you a jazz shaped stingray neck...i used to have one and it wasn't a huge upcharge for the work. steve at Moses Graphite can also make you a stingray neck with a jazz shape, but they can't do the 3+1 headstock design. stick with it and let us all know how it turns out!

darkrider1 · #10 07-06-2008, 12:14 AM

I'm going to try this with an OLP Stingray body & an All-Parts jazz bass neck. If I have to, I'll change the bridge out with something shorter.

jordan_frerichs · #11 07-06-2008, 12:42 AM

i don't see why you need to move the bridge, because the space length of fret 21 is pretty tiny. you would just have to re-intonate the bass by moving the saddles back further. the only thing you have to worry about is if it will fit, witch i do not know as i have regretably never owned a ray. would be sweet if the necks and pockets matched (if so i am swaping the neck on my p bass

). if it the sizes don't match, as long as the j neck is bigger than the ray pocket, you can reroute.

darkrider1 · #12 07-06-2008, 09:21 AM

This body is an OLP, and the seller found that the pocket was too big for a standard Stringray neck. So that's good news.

darkrider1 · #13 07-06-2008, 07:16 PM

It's the correct measurements for a Fender jazz bass neck. I'm going to replace all the guts with Delano stuff.

darkrider1 · #14 10-07-2008, 11:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jordan_frerichs

i don't see why you need to move the bridge, because the space length of fret 21 is pretty tiny. you would just have to re-intonate the bass by moving the saddles back further.

I ended up having to move the saddles way far back, and I had to swap out the bridge saddles with ones from a Yamaha bridge I had in my parts bin, in order to get the strings to line up correctly over the polepieces, using the jazz bass neck.

jordan_frerichs · #15 10-07-2008, 12:52 PM

good to hear that it worked. pics? i would put in a delano hybrid mm (the one that is a mm, but also a bridge j), and a neck j, that would be a sweet bass

darkrider1 · #16 10-08-2008, 04:48 PM

I actually changed my mind and didn't use a Delano.