Fenderbird Question

bmb73 · #1 01-12-2011, 01:07 PM

Looking to make a Fenderbird. After using the Search, I came across some great info. One question, If I purchase a neck will it fit without too much work being done? The luthier I talked to asked me if I knew if the neck(looking at a P Bass Neck) would fit.

I have an Epiphone Thunderbird IV, tried to look up specs but am coming up short. I thought I would post this question here to those who know alot more than I do. I just don't want to spend money on a neck and find out it does not work at all.

knigel · #2 01-12-2011, 01:11 PM

Not sure if this is true for all of them, but the neck on my Epi had a squared off heel, and the Fender neck I used had a rounded heel. I had to do a little routing. I ended up with this guy:

bmb73 · #3 01-12-2011, 01:13 PM

Looks great, unfortunatley I am not very mechanically inclined. I don't want to do any unecessary damage. Is it difficult? We have a woodshop on base, if it is still open during the winter I could go there.

knigel · #4 01-12-2011, 01:24 PM

Well, It's not that hard, but you have to be careful. What I did was make a template of the heel, then transferred it to the body. I then traced the template and routed. You don't have to take out much, just round the corners. Also, the pocket was slightly narrower than the heel. I tried to take a little bit off the side.

I WOULD NEVER EVER DO THIS AGAIN! IT DID NOT TURN OUT THE WAY I WANTED!!!

Next time I would just sand it wider until the neck fit. The old router is an aggressive power tool!

But, consider I paid 40 for the Epi, 60 for the neck, it wasn't too much money to learn on. And, it's actually turned out to be a great player, and I get a lot of compliments on the look and sound (DiMarzios helped).

Ric5 · #5 01-12-2011, 03:09 PM

I would leave the p-bass neck stock and remove some wood from the neck pocket of the bird to make it fit. It can be done with a dremmel tool if you have a steady hand and you are patient.

TBird1958 · #6 01-12-2011, 03:34 PM

I made one from an Epi body and a Mighty Mite Jazz neck, I found it easier to shave the sides and heel of the neck - No new paint work was needed.

Meddle · #7 01-12-2011, 03:35 PM

I see a lot of Fenderbird love at the moment.

Ric5 · #8 01-13-2011, 12:24 PM

measure twice and cut once ... I like to use the painters masking tape as a guide to get a straighter more accurate cut in the wood.