Noob: fitting a 35" 5-str. neck with a P body

denchiq · #1 11-04-2010, 06:32 AM

Hi all,
I might be getting a Lakland Skyline 55 neck from a guy who is ordering a new neck. I was thinking whether I could mate it to a p4 or p5 body and make a PJ5 out of that. The question is, can that be done with a 35" scale and fairly wide neck.

P5 bodies I found at warmoth, this:
http://www.warmoth.com/Pages/Classic...ass,Unfinished
or maybe this:
http://www.warmoth.com/Pages/Classic...,51,Unfinished

My guess is that a '51 P5 will have more wood to carve from at the neck pocket, but that might also provide more stability (??)

Used P4 bodies are no trick to find, the question is, can I fit it with the neck: the neck pocket area seems to be lacking wood for that.

Here's sone info on the Lakland neck measurements:
http://www.lakland.com/55-02.htm

Please feel free to shoot all your thoughts at me.

My questions are:
1) does this seem feasible at all? The part that bothers me the most is the neck pocket
2) if the wood at the neck pocket is not sufficient, is glueing extra wood out of the question?
3) will a 34" scale body provide space for the 35" scale position of the bridge?
4) how do I find correct placement for PJ5 pickups on a 35" bass?

Thanks,

Denis

Musiclogic · #2 11-04-2010, 08:44 AM

You will need to rout the neck pocket to fit the Lakie neck, other than this, a competant luthier will be able to adjust for scale, and retro fit that neck to the body, but you will also need to open the pick-up routs to accomodate 5 string pickups

SDB Guitars · #3 11-04-2010, 09:05 AM

Bear in mind that a 35" scale neck requires an additional 1" distance from the bridge to the nut, so, depending on how the neck is setup, there may be a gap at the neck pocket at the end of the heel.

Musiclogic · #4 11-04-2010, 09:49 AM

Actually you can mount the neck in line with the standard neck pocket without having to move the neck away from the bridge. For stability sake you would want to move the bridge to the back edge of the body and compensate for intonation with the saddles. A p bass bridge has 3/4" or better behind the bridge, so this is not a difficult mod, and if you are getting an aftermarket body, you can have the pick-up location adjusted when it is made for a nominal fee. Just adding another option.

**TheEmptyCell** · #5 11-04-2010, 10:03 AM

Another option is USACG... they offer their necks and bodies in 35" scale.

SDB Guitars · #6 11-04-2010, 10:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Musiclogic

...A p bass bridge has 3/4" or better behind the bridge, so this is not a difficult mod

An excellent point... I had forgotten that there was enough room to move the bridge.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Musiclogic

...if you are getting an aftermarket body, you can have the pick-up location adjusted when it is made for a nominal fee. Just adding another option.

If you're getting an aftermarket body, then yes, definitely have them adjust the pickup location a hair, and if possible, have them either locate the bridge holes accordingly, or have them not drill the bridge holes, so you can locate them properly yourself

Musiclogic · #7 11-04-2010, 10:25 AM

They do bridge holes on aftermarket bodies? That's very cool for the customer. Never used one, so I didn't know that....Thx Shawn. New info always good.

denchiq · #8 11-04-2010, 02:23 PM

Okay, so with the warmoth bodies, you can get them w/o any pickup routing at all. That was one "pro" for them.They don't say in their site whether they can/will do a 35" body option.
Thanks for the USAGC hint - I'll check with them
I don't know a decent luthier in as near as 200 mi around my place, so all the job will have to be done by myself and a few guys I know