You know, I been considering this one too. On one hand, it would be wacky for my flying v to be the fret less, but on the other, it might make it that much more special
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Changing out a guitars neck with a bass neck?
- Thread starter Seth DuSith
- Start date
I found that a Dan Electro short scale bass neck (30 inch scale) had the same size neck pocket as a strat woul have. I made a bridge plate by bending a piece of sheet metal and mounted a '51 P-Bass pickup Like a tele brdige pic up and a Dan Electro lip stick in the neck. It work out well. Just had to fine the right location for the bridge plate to be mounted like is mentioned in the other threads.
Just know that the shorter the scale length, the harder it is to play in tune.
Agreed, which is why I personally have a 36” scale fretless. And yet violinists somehow manage.
Before I shipped it off, very fast and easy.
A 30" scale bass feels a lot like cheating.
Rick
Yes, there are short-scale necks on Amazon; this one is currently available:
https://www.amazon.com/Yinfente-Guitar-22fret-Rosewood-Fretboard/dp/B08X17GV4C/ref=sr_1_2?crid=3RUC8SSZ3KTJC&keywords=short+scale+bass+neck&qid=1679787689&sprefix=short+scale+bass+neckm,aps,728&sr=8-2&ufe=app_do:amzn1.fos.d977788f-1483-4f76-90a3-786e4cdc8f10
I've bought one myself and can vouch it's a quality product. There's a lot of DIY work left, but if you want a neck that's completely ready for tuners and everything else you're going to spend several hundred dollars.
That neck was used in this DIY "Home-Depot" body bass project:
What size & type resistor to reduce series output?
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It takes a LOT of practice. Ever hear a grade school orchestra?
Oh, right, this is TB—practice is secondary to all else.
I grew up with two siblings who studied violin. You can't scare me.
I had a bizare idea...
What if...
Wait for it...
What I did this with a fanned fretboard
https://www.amazon.ca/String-Multis...4259&sprefix=fanned+bass+neck,aps,152&sr=8-11
Is this possible? Or do you guys think I need way more room on the body (which would be reduced if I had to route a longer neck pocket
I got. Total of 10 inches of space from where the current neck pocket ends to where the body ends, at the center of the V shape
What if...
Wait for it...
What I did this with a fanned fretboard
https://www.amazon.ca/String-Multis...4259&sprefix=fanned+bass+neck,aps,152&sr=8-11
Is this possible? Or do you guys think I need way more room on the body (which would be reduced if I had to route a longer neck pocket
I got. Total of 10 inches of space from where the current neck pocket ends to where the body ends, at the center of the V shape
Do you know what the scale of the longest and shortest strings are? Couldn't find it in the listing.
25.5'' - 26.5'' scale length 5 piece neck, maple-mahogany-maple-mahogany-maple Ebony fretboard Jumbo stainless frets, 24 frets Width at nut: 43mm Width at last fret: 56mm Thickness 1st fret: 19mm Thickness 12th fret: 21mm 9th fret parallel Radius: 400mmR
.... This is a guitar neck isn't it
.... This is a guitar neck isn't it
I think I'm gonna go for one of these after all. At least I know it will fit
How far from the end of the fretboard does the bridge have to be?
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For a 30" scale, 8.41847 inches from the 22nd fret. Which is probably not exactly in line with the heel of the neck, although it should be close enough for estimating whether the bridge will fit (judging by the Amazon listing you linked). I put 30" in the "Fundamental scale length" field on Fret2Find and it did the math.
For 30” scale, the G string saddle in its most forward position (or just barely off it, maybe one turn back on the intonation) will be 30” from the nut or 15” from the 12th fret. I’m guessing that Stanley Clarke tremolo is obtainable from Fender, but it won’t be cheap. The other popular option is a Kahler, but if you are like most people, it won’t end up getting used much.
Thanks guys, i wrote this down. Hopefully next week I will be starting this project, I'll report back in this thread when I do this
Okay, I have my neck, bridge and tuning keys ordered and they should be here in a week or two. But I have many many stupid questions to ask
1. Is it possible to buff out an old coat of Tung oil? The coat I have is very rough and not very shiny, could it be buffed out? Or would I be better off sanding it off and spraying?
2. My neck pocket is a bit shallow, and I don't have a router. I don't mind butchering the control plate cavity and pick up cavities, as I can cover them with a pick guard, but this one I am not to keen on chiseling, as I doubt my ability to get it perfectly flat. What do you guys think of my second idea: what if I sawed off a little of the thickness of the bass neck joint part, so I can thin it out? Would this make it a lot weaker? My guitar neck always sat a little bit too much outside of the body, making the strings feel very high (even though they weren't very high off the fretboard), but I wanna fix this somehow
By bass neck joint I mean the end of the neck that fits into the joint cavity. I am thinking of making it thinner so it sits lower. Or I might a least counter sink the neck joint screws in deeper (they're already counter sunk as I didn't use a neck plate, but this will allow "more screw" to be in the neck)
Worst case scenario I could always just leave it. It's not so high, that I cant raise the saddles to compensate, thankfully
3. Does the neck pocket need to be tight for the structural integrity? Or is it the bolts/screws doing all the work keeping it on? How much screw needs to actually be in the neck to hold it securely on?
1. Is it possible to buff out an old coat of Tung oil? The coat I have is very rough and not very shiny, could it be buffed out? Or would I be better off sanding it off and spraying?
2. My neck pocket is a bit shallow, and I don't have a router. I don't mind butchering the control plate cavity and pick up cavities, as I can cover them with a pick guard, but this one I am not to keen on chiseling, as I doubt my ability to get it perfectly flat. What do you guys think of my second idea: what if I sawed off a little of the thickness of the bass neck joint part, so I can thin it out? Would this make it a lot weaker? My guitar neck always sat a little bit too much outside of the body, making the strings feel very high (even though they weren't very high off the fretboard), but I wanna fix this somehow
By bass neck joint I mean the end of the neck that fits into the joint cavity. I am thinking of making it thinner so it sits lower. Or I might a least counter sink the neck joint screws in deeper (they're already counter sunk as I didn't use a neck plate, but this will allow "more screw" to be in the neck)
Worst case scenario I could always just leave it. It's not so high, that I cant raise the saddles to compensate, thankfully
3. Does the neck pocket need to be tight for the structural integrity? Or is it the bolts/screws doing all the work keeping it on? How much screw needs to actually be in the neck to hold it securely on?
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Go to Harbor Freight and buy a handheld trim router. They're not very expensive - I think around $50 - and you'll save yourself a lot of grief. That neck pocket needs to be absolutely flat and level with the body and there's no way you're going to do that by hand, and the neck heel also needs to be absolutely flat and perfectly aligned with that neck pocket, and again if you get the neck pocket perfect to start with you need do nothing to the neck. Those guys on YouTube routing their body builds with chisels have a lot of experience doing that, and you can bet they ruined plenty of bodies before they got their technique perfected.
Be sure your neck screws aren't too long where they might go all the way through the neck and poke through the fingerboard. Standard neck plate screws are dimensioned for the thickness of the neck plate. It's OK to cut off excess length, or just go to the hardware store and buy some shorter screws with same diameter, head shape and thread pitch.
PS - if you get the trim router, practice on some scrap lumber before you do the real job!!
Be sure your neck screws aren't too long where they might go all the way through the neck and poke through the fingerboard. Standard neck plate screws are dimensioned for the thickness of the neck plate. It's OK to cut off excess length, or just go to the hardware store and buy some shorter screws with same diameter, head shape and thread pitch.
PS - if you get the trim router, practice on some scrap lumber before you do the real job!!
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In my experience, you can reduce the thickness of the heel on the neck to get the required height over the bridge, but it's faster, cleaner and more reliable to rerout the neck pocket deeper. Especially if you are not changing any dimensions of the neck pocket except the depth.
I agree with @wiscoaster above regarding considerations for the pocket/joint. We really want joinery on an instrument to be top notch for functionality and looks.
The easiest way to do that here is with a router and a trim router is probably good enough for something like this (although I'd recommend getting a used regular router). You can easily make a quick template for the existing neck pocket with a 3/4" thick MDF board (or any material that is dimensionally stable and consistent). You trace the neck on the edge of the board, cut it out on the inside of the line pretty close to the line. Clamp the template down over the neck pocket and run around the inside of the pocket with a bottom bearing pattern bit like this:
That will cut a perfect copy of the neck pocket into your template. Then without removing the template from the body, change the router bit over to a top bearing pattern bit like this:
And use that to deepen the pocket to your desired new depth in the precise shape of your existing pocket.
Boom, done. Easy-peasy.
