• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Changing out a guitars neck with a bass neck?

#21
essentially the Gibson SG and the Gibson basses have almost the same body.



[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
sg_feature-scalelength.jpg
 
  • Like
Reactions: DJ Bebop and Seth DuSith
#28
Bruce Johnson said:
Here's a quick pass at the math:

I'm assuming that your guitar is 25.5" scale with a 21 fret neck. Fender pattern. That means that the heel end of the neck is at the 22nd fret position, which is 18.344" from the nut. That means that the bridge zero line (the fulcrum point on the saddles, with no intonation compensation) is 25.5" - 18.344" = 7.156" from the back edge of the neck pocket.

If you were to mount a standard Fender 34" scale bass neck in that pocket: A Fender bass neck is 20 frets, with the heel line at the 21st fret position. From the nut to the heel is 23.892". The bridge zero line for that neck needs to be 34.0" - 23.892" = 10.108" from the back edge of the neck pocket.

So, if you mount a 34" scale bass neck on that body, with the heel against the end of the existing neck pocket, you would need to move the bridge back 10.108" - 7.156" = 2.952".

Do you have about 3" of flat space behind the existing guitar bridge? That's the question.

If you go to a 30" scale 20 fret bass neck, the calculation becomes: 30" - 21.081" = 8.919". The bridge would need to move back 8.919" - 7.156" = 1.763". A little more than 1 3/4". That may be more reasonable.
Click to expand...
I have about 4" of space. So by the sounds of it, it should be able to work then. Good, thank you. So if I wanted to go full. Length I could then!
 
#31
Seth DuSith said:
A picture of the guitar. I plan to change the finish on it and everything
Click to expand...

Oh, okay, so it's a modified V shape. Cool! That should work fine converted to a 34" scale bass. Use an aftermarket Fender-pattern neck, trimming the headstock to that shape. And you could probably use those same pickup locations. Put a nice humbucker in the middle and a Jazz up in the neck position. Keep it the same theme as it was originally.

Also, you could try rigging it up with the bass neck and see how it sounds with those guitar pickups. They may sound fine. Guitar pickups will pick up bass frequencies too. The limitation is the width of the pickup; if the E and G strings are too far out to the edges, they may be weak. But, if the bass neck has a 7 1/4" fingerboard radius, the string levels may balance out okay. You should try them before ripping them out and replacing them with bass pickups.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Seth DuSith
#32
Here's a guitar-bodied bass from my junk bin from several years back.
Jazz guitar friend was writing music and wanted "something cheap that made bass noise".
So I sorted through the junk bin.

Parts list:
Generic overseas prefinished Tele- style guitar body.
Salvaged/garbage overseas (probably) sorta Mustang-ish neck (30.5" scale). Truss rod snapped, heel had been chopped up for a mortise glue joint. The headstock was "Fender" shaped, but was a scarfed tilt-back. I still felt guilty about binning junk/time-suck parts back then... Today, I could have built a neck from scratch in about a third the time it took to save that junk-bin neck.
Routed for generic P-pups.
Surplus sealed tuners.
Pick guard material.
I cut out and bent a bridge plate (flat stock in vice + BFH), and a neck plate.
Used some surplus saddles.

The neck pocket was enlarged slightly, and I just blend-sanded the slight lower heel overhang. With even just a halfway fair neck, this would have been done in about 2 days.
It played very well when done.

There is easily enough room on a Tele- style guitar body for short scale bass conversion. Depending on the bridge style, a 34" scale wouldn't be too tough either.

Rick

tele-bass-done-800w.jpg
 
  • Like
Reactions: Swings, DJ Bebop, Paco Leon and 3 others
#33
Bruce Johnson said:
Oh, okay, so it's a modified V shape. Cool! That should work fine converted to a 34" scale bass. Use an aftermarket Fender-pattern neck, trimming the headstock to that shape. And you could probably use those same pickup locations. Put a nice humbucker in the middle and a Jazz up in the neck position. Keep it the same theme as it was originally.
Click to expand...
Thank you, I am excited to take on this project. That is a good idea for pick up's, I am guessing a bass humbucker will fit perfectly in the cavity that's already routed. I don't mind doing additional routing though I if needed. I'm thinkng of replacing the tuners and bridge on my existing bass and moving those parts to this upcoming project, especially once I get a bass neck for it
 
#34
rickwrench said:
Here's a guitar-bodied bass from my junk bin from several years back.
Jazz guitar friend was writing music and wanted "something cheap that made bass noise".
So I sorted through the junk bin.

Parts list:
Generic overseas prefinished Tele- style guitar body.
Salvaged/garbage overseas (probably) sorta Mustang-ish neck (30.5" scale). Truss rod snapped, heel had been chopped up for a mortise glue joint. The headstock was "Fender" shaped, but was a scarfed tilt-back. I still felt guilty about binning junk/time-suck parts back then... Today, I could have built a neck from scratch in about a third the time it took to save that junk-bin neck.
Routed for generic P-pups.
Surplus sealed tuners.
Pick guard material.
I cut out and bent a bridge plate (flat stock in vice + BFH), and a neck plate.
Used some surplus saddles.

The neck pocket was enlarged slightly, and I just blend-sanded the slight lower heel overhang. With even just a halfway fair neck, this would have been done in about 2 days.
It played very well when done.

There is easily enough room on a Tele- style guitar body for short scale bass conversion. Depending on the bridge style, a 34" scale wouldn't be too tough either.

Rick

View attachment 5010676
Click to expand...
That looks dope, I love that. It's about what I'm going for with this one. A guitar looking body but with a bass neck. How's it feel when you play it?
 
#35
There are subtleties in the differences between how guitars and basses are made. You can, if you’re doing a Fenderesque build, use the same neck plate and neck mounting screws. Everything else, though, you have to mind the details.

If you’re an accomplished woodworker, it’s all quite doable. If not, it’ll be challenging. Using a bass neck means you’re gonna relocate the bridge position and use a new bridge, tuners, and you’ll have to redo the neck pocket. You may need to replace and or relocate pickups. Neck dive? Yeah, that’ll probably be an issue.

With a guitar neck, a few things can stay the same, but a standard bass bridge will be too wide, so you’ll have to deal with that - that sounds simple, but may not be. You’ll need tuners that can handle big strings, you’ll need to enlarge 2 holes, plug 4 holes and create 2 new ones, you’ll need to recut the nut, and finding strings to fit will be very difficult. And the strings will be very close together - tougher to play than a regular bass.

A minivan and a sports car both have 4 wheels and an engine. You can certainly mod either one to be more like the other, but it won’t ever be as good as something built from the start to do the job well.
 
Last edited:
#36
micguy said:
There are subtleties in the differences between how guitars and basses are made. You can, if you’re doing a Fenderesque build, use the same neck plate and neck mounting screws. Everything else, though, you have to mind the details.

If you’re an accomplished woodworker, it’s all quite doable. If not, it’ll be challenging. Using a bass neck means you’re gonna relocate the bridge position and use a new bridge, tuners, and you’ll have to redo the neck pocket. You may need to replace and or relocate pickups. Neck dive? Yeah, that’ll probably be an issue.

With a guitar neck, a few things can stay the same, but a standard bass bridge will be too wide, so you’ll have to deal with that - that sounds simple, but may not be. You’ll need tuners that can handle big strings, you’ll need to recut the nut, and finding strings to fit will be very difficult. And tge strings will be very close together - tougher to play than a regular bass.
Click to expand...
I am confident neck dive won't be an issue thankfully. I made this body very thick and heavy, it's made from hard ash. I was into heavy instruments when I was younger. It's quite a huge body too, I scaled it up so it could be massive lol. One reason I think it could work

I dont mind having to route a new back pocket and relocate bridge either. Even if I end up having to route the entire front of the body and put a pick guard, that's okay by me

But your point on using a guitar neck, and it being too narrow, I entirely agree. I put bass strings on it for the heck of it, and tried it out. It sure is cramped. I am doubting a traditional bass bridge would even be narrow enough to use this particular neck
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back