60's Fender Jazz owners: need your nut width and nut string spacing info!

[shrigg]

I loved my MIJ Jazz but the neck felt too big. I wanted to narrow and thin it to be just like the tiny neck of a vintage pre-cbs jazz. With some judicious sanding I got it right where I want it, around 1.47" with a very rounded thin profile measuring .80" at the first fret. It's very close to how I remember my 65 Jazz to be. In fact it's uncanny!

Can owners of sub-1.5" jazzes please share their actual nut width and first and 12th fret depths?
Most importantly, I need center to center measurement of the string spacing, center of E to center of G. This will be very helpful in cutting my new nut correctly.

Info submitted as follows would be very useful:
Year/origin: 1988 MIJ Jazz
Nut width: 1.468"
First fret depth: 0.800"
12th fret depth: 0.965"


Thanks!

[JIO]

Most importantly, I need center to center measurement of the string spacing, center of E to center of G.

1 - 7/32" from c-E to c-G at the nut

[shrigg]

Originally Posted by JIO

1 - 7/32" from c-E to c-G at the nut

What's your overall nut width?

[JIO]

Originally Posted by shrigg

What's your overall nut width?

I don't have a micrometer so I can't split hairs - 1.5"

[mystic38]

you have narrowed the neck by 30 thou?.. i would just get a pre-slotted nut and sand down the E and G side for width, ie keep standard spacing..

[shrigg]

Actually this MIJ measured nearly 1.6"

I'm trying to track down someone with a early 60's vintage jazz that measures under 1.5 to see what their string spacing is.

Small differences in measurements make a big difference in feel so I'm very curious to get actual vintage measurements.

[JIO]

Originally Posted by shrigg

What year is your Jazz? Thanks

It's a custom (setback) neck I had spec'd for an early 60's Jazz at the nut by a luthier who would know. I recently played a '61 Jazz and this neck feels as much the same as such imagined relativeness will reasonably allow. With all due respect, it comes down to feel, not numbers.

[vinnydbass]

I believe its a little tighter spacing than on a real vintage jazz. I bought a tusq nut and the spacing was wider. I compared it to photos of vintage jazzes, and the spacing of the tusq nut seemed to be authentic. The bass feels less confined now. The stock nuts are cut a little too close. I'm talking about string to string.

[shrigg]

Originally Posted by vinnydbass

I believe its a little tighter spacing than on a real vintage jazz. I bought a tusq nut and the spacing was wider. I compared it to photos of vintage jazzes, and the spacing of the tusq nut seemed to be authentic. The bass feels less confined now. The stock nuts are cut a little too close. I'm talking about string to string.

Very interesting, thanks Vinny. I would not have thought the narrower vintage necks actually had wider spacing than the American Standard Jazz.
Do you have a link to photos illustrating this by chance?

[TomB]

'63 Jazz
Nut width = 1.5"
Center of E to center of G, 1 3/16"
Thickness at 1st fret = 11/16"
Thickness at 12th fret = 3/4"

All done with a tape measure and an eyeball.

[rootsnfifths]

Hey Shrigg I had a MIJ Jazz and always thought the neck was just odd. Considered doing what you did...Kudos on your job there as I am intrigued.

Played a '64 once and WOW what a thin a perfect neck in my hands.
I own 7 Jazz basses currently but nothing vintage. Just AVRI's and Road Worn. The neck that blows me away is the Squier Vintage Modified 70's Jazz. Nothing I own or have owned except for the 64 I played feels this thin especially at the nut. Just an exceptional feel to this one. Other 70's VMs like do not feel like this one.

Anyway if it helps I will make some measurements for you and post Monday evening. Thanks for sharing.

[shrigg]

Yeah MIJ Jazzes are usually too big, with the exception of the 84-87 Squier Jazzes. Those are nice and small.

It's been a while but as I recall I measured one and it was .78" at the first fret. It felt about as small as the 65 which I had at the same time. Real close.

Originally Posted by TomB

'63 Jazz
Nut width = 1.5"
Center of E to center of G, 1 3/16"
Thickness at 1st fret = 11/16"
Thickness at 12th fret = 3/4"

All done with a tape measure and an eyeball.

Thanks for the measurements Tom. It's really hard to measure thickness accurately without a caliper. I appreciate your effort!

[JoeWPgh]

Out of curiousity I measured:
2010 American Standard Jazz
2011 Anerican Deluxe Jazz
Early 2000s 62 reissue Jazz
2012 Jaguar
They are remarkably consistant. All are 1-1/2" at the nut. And all are within a breath of 1-5/32" center E to G. The reissue is a hair shy of it and the Jag is a hair proud. And by hair, I mean less than 1/64"

[shrigg]

Originally Posted by JoeWPgh

Out of curiousity I measured:
2010 American Standard Jazz
2011 Anerican Deluxe Jazz
Early 2000s 62 reissue Jazz
2012 Jaguar
They are remarkably consistant. All are 1-1/2" at the nut. And all are within a breath of 1-5/32" center E to G. The reissue is a hair shy of it and the Jag is a hair proud. And by hair, I mean less than 1/64"

Way to break out the precision ruler! Thank you for posting.

[shrigg]

Bumping to see if there are any other Jazz owners that can post their measurements...
This thread could become a great reference.

[shrigg]

As a test I filled and recut the original MIJ Jazz nut's string spacing to 1 5/32" E to G centers and it feels very nice. I'm going to play it like this for a while and decide how the new nut should be cut.

I also reshaped the headstock near the E side of the nut to be nicely curved like the early 60's Jazzes. The ruler obscures it a little (it's the curve near the "1") but you can get an idea. Feels *and looks* great now!

[marchone]

Roger Sadowsky patterned his Will Lee model on a '60s Fender Jazz Bass Will owns. It measured 1.45" at the nut. I don't recall seeing string spacing or neck depth but you might try searching for those measurements in the Sadowsky forums and magazine reviews because he's already done what you're looking for.

[Sadowsky]

How you space the strings at the nut is a function of how rounded the edge of the fingerboard is and how much bevel there is on the fret ends.

There is no one magic number for string spacing.

Roger

[shrigg]

That makes sense. Thanks Roger!