budget J neck?

[Gabe Langfur]

I'm idly looking to put together a P bass with J neck from used or otherwise budget parts.

There are a lot of Chinese replacement necks out there on eBay and Reverb, and also some used Squier, AllParts, and Mighty Mite for pretty reasonable prices.

I've done some electronics repair and started to learn basics of set-up, but have almost no experience with real luthiery so I would rather not get into replacing a nut or especially fretwork.

What should I look for? What should I avoid? Is Mighty Mite better than AllParts or vice versa? Are either or both of them better than, say, a Squier VM or CV neck?

 

[kodiakblair]

There are a lot of Chinese replacement necks out there on eBay and Reverb

I can vouch for the eBay seller "Jinwan". Used them quite a few times now.

Is Mighty Mite better than AllParts or vice versa?

Both of them contract out the work so the actual folks making them will vary.

The important thing is get the right size neck. Some jazz necks have 21 frets, that'll mess with intonation on a P-bass body meant for 20 frets. Check the neck pocket, is it square or rounded ? If using a Squier body then look for Squier necks.

 

[fhm555]

I used to be in a group dedicated to building tele style guitars but home builders of all stripes were welcome. Cheap necks were a frequent topic and the general consensus among the group was don’t scrimp on the neck. I’ve put together a lot of Fender style basses and have been through a whole range of low cost bodies and necks. After struggling with ill fitting bodies and random funky necks needing as little as fret leveling to as much as fret replacement after board reshaping on brand new necks, i bit the bullet and started buying used MIM bodies and necks, and never had a minutes trouble with necks and bodies after that.
In fairness not every cheap neck or body needed additional work due to improper fit, but when you have a schedule to meet and you have to wait another few weeks for a neck to replace the neck you just received, losing the frustration factor was worth the extra effort up front to find parts i could trust to arrive in workable condition.

 

[DW1969]

I’ve had good experience with Allparts.

 

[Billyzoom]

I'm idly looking to put together a P bass with J neck from used or otherwise budget parts.

There are a lot of Chinese replacement necks out there on eBay and Reverb, and also some used Squier, AllParts, and Mighty Mite for pretty reasonable prices.

I've done some electronics repair and started to learn basics of set-up, but have almost no experience with real luthiery so I would rather not get into replacing a nut or especially fretwork.

What should I look for? What should I avoid? Is Mighty Mite better than AllParts or vice versa? Are either or both of them better than, say, a Squier VM or CV neck?

I’ve done several of the J neck to P bass bass swaps and never had an issue.

In fact I did a multi instrument deal just to get a specific jazz bass neck, which is a Japanese Aerodyne jazz bass neck with rosewood board, no dot inlays on the front it looks super cool with a black headstock.

My plan was to build another P with a jazz neck, but I just bought three basses, so it turns out that’s going to be redundant. If it might be something you’re interested in, drop me a message and I’ll send you some pictures.

It appears to be in really good shape, other than a couple scuffs at the tip of the headstock, and a couple of the neck holes were too loose, which I repaired. All I have to do is attach to a body, string it up and make sure the truss rod works properly. Fret look good. If you’re interested, drop me a message and I’ll test it out and make sure everything’s fine and if so I’ll give you a deal on it.

If not no worries. I’ve never had experience with mighty mite necks, but I’ve had good luck with squire, made in Mexico, and USA jazz necks as well as Warmoths. They’ve all gone on without issue on a PBass body for me.