I got the Geddy MIM because it had the thin C neck, regular Jazz necks are too chunky for me. I think the Ric is OK because it is wide but thinner from the fret board to the back of the neck.
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Are jazz bass necks too small?
- Thread starter Mantis Tobaggan
- Start date
Yeah, Hofners really are toothpick thin, but a nice deep C profile, works for my hands, not for the ham-fisted though.
Jazz necks are generally smaller and have a rounder profile in the back. I think the radius tends to have more curve, but I could be wrong about that.
Like P necks, there is some variation in jazz style necks. The neck on my Vitage Icon and Peavey Forum are narrower than a Fender jazz.
I can't decide if I have a preference for whuch style of neck. I think I like flatter profile necks since I have short fingers. The old school P necks are too much for me. My MIM Player P is pretty comfortable. Even though a lot of five string basses give me trouble, the thin profile neck my Pedulla Rapture has is pretty comfortable as well.
Like P necks, there is some variation in jazz style necks. The neck on my Vitage Icon and Peavey Forum are narrower than a Fender jazz.
I can't decide if I have a preference for whuch style of neck. I think I like flatter profile necks since I have short fingers. The old school P necks are too much for me. My MIM Player P is pretty comfortable. Even though a lot of five string basses give me trouble, the thin profile neck my Pedulla Rapture has is pretty comfortable as well.
Are Precision necks too big? Who gives a rats patoot. There are lots of P's with jazz necks.
far less Jazz type basses with P necks. But who cares? Make it work for you. Play what feels good, to you.
Think of your Fender basses like a Hot Rod or Race car, feel free to change parts at will. Put a Jazz neck on a P. Put P neck of a Jazz nobody cares but YOU. Change the pickups and bridge. Maybe find out it was better before you started tinkering. Leo designed these basses to be modular, tear it apart, put it back, no big deal. Make your bass fit you. But It's nobody's business but yours what you play. I've got a Roadworn P neck gathering dust cause I put a Jazz neck on my RW P. Mmmmm Party on Garth.
far less Jazz type basses with P necks. But who cares? Make it work for you. Play what feels good, to you.
Think of your Fender basses like a Hot Rod or Race car, feel free to change parts at will. Put a Jazz neck on a P. Put P neck of a Jazz nobody cares but YOU. Change the pickups and bridge. Maybe find out it was better before you started tinkering. Leo designed these basses to be modular, tear it apart, put it back, no big deal. Make your bass fit you. But It's nobody's business but yours what you play. I've got a Roadworn P neck gathering dust cause I put a Jazz neck on my RW P. Mmmmm Party on Garth.
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I've not read every post in this thread, so maybe it's already been mentioned, but there are significant differences even among jazz necks. 1.5" width is standard, but the front to back thickness varies. I have an Allparts "Fat Jazz" that is 1.5", but it's 1" front to back the whole way. I know "standard" jazz necks are not as thick as that, and I believe Geddy necks are even thinner. That said, under normal circumstances using reasonable gauge strings, none of them should cause setup issues unless the neck is faulty in some way.
I play a dean, so I like jazz necks because the neck on my dean is around the same size. I actually have a knockoff jazz with a p-bass neck, but that isn't my main because I actually feel like p-bass necks are a little big for my taste.
I only play Jazz necks. Precision necks feel large to me. But as others suggested , you can put a P neck on a jazz body if that is more comfortable for you.
I always assumed I wouldn't like smaller necks so I'd only buy basses with baseball bat necks. Then I got my SB-2 and I'm not sure I can ever go back.
There are fast things that I can pull off on my narrow neck, short scale, Hofner 500/1 that I can’t as easily on a PBass. Size does matter.
First, J necks have had that thin profile since 1960. My ‘62 is a pencil. Proper left hand technique should not pose problems; but, we are all different. The thinner neck also does affect the sound and response of the bass vs the thicker Precision neck. Believe it or not, through the 70’s the more common neck swap I saw was putting the Jazz neck on the Precision. But, they are just different. Nothing wrong with having preferences.
Regarding a “maxed out truss rod:” do you mean that the adjustment nut has come to the end of the threads on the rod? If so, you can either find narrow profile washers or grind down the standard ones to regain tightening capability. Should have a good luthier do that, if needed. Shouldn’t happen, especially on a CS instrument. But, if you don’t know the history of the bass, then it could have been over tightened. No accounting for stupidity. I have never encountered a 62 neck that could not be adjusted. The main issues I’ve had have been the fret dressing profiles, which for a while tended towards a diving board up in the higher frets; nothing that a proper fret profiling couldn’t cure.
Anyhow, my suggestion is to get the bass to a good luthier. A “maxed out” truss rod is not common, but should be repairable.
?
Jazz basses have slimmer necks than Precisions. It's one of their features.
Like you, I prefer bigger necks, which is the main reason I don't use Jazz basses much. I even converted a Precision to Jazz because of that!
As for the rest... it looks like there's a problem with yours. However, before you give up on it... is the neck at the right angle? On bolt-on neck guitars, you can add a little shim to ever so slightly alter the neck angle, which can often give you the range of adjustment you need. That's assuming the truss rod works as it should. That's two separate issues.
I don't think so, the big distinction between the 2 neck types is the nut width.
But of course I could be wrong...
No, but you might also ask if they are too wide at the 20th fret... really, if you like the sound, you work around it. And if that doen’t get it, for a couple of hundred bucks dial up Warmouth for a neck. People probably spend that much on beer and pizza over a couple of months....
Month, that's my bar tab in a night.and bringing bail money, just in case.
(I'm wondering... how does he know? Note to self: Make sure big screen TV is not a two way mirror)
I've had a couple of Jazz Basses (out of four that I have owned) where the TR maxed out on, so yes, IME, it is not all that uncommon.
