I fully realize that the pickup placement will change relative to the frets and I understand why this is not desired/optimal. My question is, practically speaking, will it "matter" much? Has anyone out there done this? I am thinking about basses with standard JJ pups, or soapbars in the routine JJ positions, or Laklands with MM/J setups. Any input appreciated.
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changing a 35" scale 5 string neck to a 34" scale?
- Thread starter lomo
- Start date
Are you talking about just moving the bridge? That won't work, because the frets will be in the wrong places.
Are you talking about replacing the neck with a 34" scale neck? That can work, but might involve moving the bridge.
Are you talking about replacing the neck with a 34" scale neck? That can work, but might involve moving the bridge.
I am talking about having a new neck made for the bass. All the work would be done by a local, world-class luthier who specializes in basses and who I have known for 20 years. Would I "have" to move the bridge? If so by roughly how much? The cost of the neck would already be substantial, and adding any refinishing would likely make the whole job pretty much insane
It would be possible to construct the neck so that you would not have to move the bridge at all. Measure from the bridge to the neck pocket on your 35" scale bass then check that measurement on a sample 34" scale bass from the bridge. That can tell you how many frets you need to add or subtract from a similar 34" neck to achieve the 34" scale with the current bridge placement.
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And per my original question, if the bridge remains in its' current place, will the small change in pickup placement relative to each fret matter?
Hard to say without knowing the existing pickup placement. It will likely sound okay, some folks place a great deal of importance on this while others would say the exact location isn't critical. You may not have the final answer until you string it up and listen for yourself.
Most would probably advise you to just sell the 35" scale bass and purchase a 34" scale bass. Me, I say if you dig the body you have and have the gumption and the funds...go for it!
Capo at the first fret would be the cheap solution. Markers will all be off, of course. Or yeah, have a new neck built, not cheap. I'm going the reverse direction, trying to jam a Warmoth 5 Deluxe inline tele into a 4 string pocket - but not changing scale. I'd just stretch a bit and learn to play 35" in your situation though. Of course, I'm not performing for anyone but myself. 
Capo at the first fret would be the cheap solution. Markers will all be off, of course. Or yeah, have a new neck built, not cheap. I'm going the reverse direction, trying to jam a Warmoth 5 Deluxe inline tele into a 4 string pocket - but not changing scale. I'd just stretch a bit and learn to play 35" in your situation though. Of course, I'm not performing for anyone but myself.
I'm only very rarely playing out these days and am a hack hobbyist, but I really enjoy my hobby and also enjoy tweaking things so that I can enjoy it even more. The capo idea sounds lousy. Not only will the markers be off, but also the fret positions. Not an option. My main concern is the relative change in pup positions-anyone done this?
I prefer the sound and plucking hand feel of 35", but my fretting hand prefers the slightly more compact feel of 34". The differences are small, but real. Over the years I have vascillated back and forth. I can play either one, but....
That's great. I played some 35 inch basses in the past and I absolutely love it. If it's possible, I would like to try a 36 inch scale length bass guitar one day. Only thing is that they are rare and mostly custom build...
Remove nut, install on fret 1 position.
You now have a 34" neck.
Less radical?
Tune 1/2 step lower, install capo on fret 1. Done.
You now have a 34" neck.
Less radical?
Tune 1/2 step lower, install capo on fret 1. Done.
If your luthier is going to build the neck , he can build it to the specs of your existing bridge location and the bridge should NOT have to be moved. If he is simply refitting a neck , the bridge may have to be moved but probably no more than 1/2 inch. As far as pup location affecting the sound , it shouldn't be a big deal. I have two P basses from different years and the pup location is not exactly the same on them and they both sound fine. Very few people can tell the difference in a 1/2" difference in pup location.
If you do put a new shorter neck on it, I don't think I'd worry about the pickup route positions - yeah, they'll be very slightly off, proportionally, from the original design, but by a fairly small amount, the new routes would substantially overlap the old. It'd be a mess to try to "fix".
I did some calculations, and using an example of a 35" to 34" conversion, for a pickup at a 4/5 of scale "sweet spot", it came out to the "ideal position" of the pickup moving by something like 3/4", hardly half the width of even most single coils. Could make some difference in sound, sure, but likely to be quite close, I'd think. And anyway, trying to move them could make a mess of the face routes. No big deal if a pickguard bass, though, in that case, it might make sense to adjust pickup position (easy enough at least, using a new pickguard blank).
Doing the capo trick will tell you what its going to sound like.
Seems like the effort to "fix" the bass would probably be more than selling it, taking the loss, and buying what you want.
