Fender Jazz Bass Fretboard height

[The_Minimalist]

Hello friends,

I noticed the fretboard of my Classic 60s Jazz is thinner on one side than the other.

Next to neck pickup is thin, next to headstock is thick.

Is that normal or i was unlucky enough to receive a bass that wasn't quality controlled?

 

[testing1two]

It's normal and the result of the neck getting wider towards the heel. The fingerboard starts out as a uniform thickness block that's flat on the bottom and the curvature/radius is sanded into the top. That curve means the center of the fingerboard is thick and gets thinner towards the edges. The wider the fingerboard, the thinner the edge gets. In this case the nut end is narrower and therefore thicker and the heel end is wider and therefore thinner.

 

[The_Minimalist]

It's normal and the result of the neck getting wider towards the heel. The fingerboard starts out as a uniform thickness block that's flat on the bottom and the curvature/radius is sanded into the top. That curve means the center of the fingerboard is thick and gets thinner towards the edges. The wider the fingerboard, the thinner the edge gets. In this case the nut end is narrower and therefore thicker and the heel end is wider and therefore thinner.

Thanks man. Someone said me this just happen on cheaper models.

Is this something I should be worried about? Should I sell this bass and choose another better?

 

[Turnaround]

It's normal . The someone who told you that is wrong.

 

[ardgedee]

Someone said me this just happen on cheaper models.

It means the board was an even thickness before it was radiused and cut to shape. This is normal and does not mean there's a flaw or deficiency.

Some luthiers will plane fretboards/fingerboards to a tapered thickness rather than flat, so that the edge is consistent from the nut to the end of the heel after radiusing and shaping.* It takes extra work and consumes more wood so it's something you shouldn't expect from most factory-built instruments. It's a detail that implies high-quality luthiery.

So your friend is not entirely wrong, as long as by "cheaper models" they mean all guitars that are not hand-built, and many that are...

 

[T. Brookins]

It's normal and the result of the neck getting wider towards the heel. The fingerboard starts out as a uniform thickness block that's flat on the bottom and the curvature/radius is sanded into the top. That curve means the center of the fingerboard is thick and gets thinner towards the edges. The wider the fingerboard, the thinner the edge gets. In this case the nut end is narrower and therefore thicker and the heel end is wider and therefore thinner.

Normal. This explains it concisely. Happy playing!

 

[96tbird]

It should be noted that on Fender veneer fingerboards this tapered edge doesn't happen because the dark wood veneer CAP is applied AFTER the radius is carved into the maple neck, so its thickness is constant along the neck edge. So yes, if you are comparing a slab FB to a veneer FB, it's going to look different.

I have a '61 Jazz with a slab board and it has the edge taper. A few years later Fender began with veneer boards. So which one would op's "expert" call cheap?

 

[The_Minimalist]

Guys, sorry about bumping, but i'm still not convinced this is normal.

Could you check in your basses if the fretboard measure is the same from on side to other?

Unfortunatelly here in the city i live doesn't have any guitar shop to check in other instrument.

My friend have a Yamaha TRBX605 and the fretboard has the same "height" in both ends.

 

[ardgedee]

My friend have a Yamaha TRBX605 and the fretboard has the same "height" in both ends.

All this means is that Yamaha tapered their fingerboard blanks and Fender didn't. It's a design choice, not a quality problem.

Bruce Johnson explains his process for getting a consistent fingerboard edge thickness on his hand-built basses:

Post in thread 'minimum amount of wood lost when sanding radius info?'

Nov 21, 2024

Yes, as an example. the fingerboards on my Scroll Basses are 34" scale, 1 11/16" at the nut x 2 1/2" at the heel, and 7.25" radius. I cut them to 0.240" thick at the heel x 0.220" at the nut, measured at the center. This formula makes the edge approximately even thickness all the way down.

I worked out those thickness numbers by experimenting in my radiusing fixture. I first cut the radius with the thickness set equal at both ends, and I found that 0.240" thick at the heel gave me an edge thickness at the heel, which looked nice. Then I raised up the nut end of the neck in the fixture, a...

• Bruce Johnson

• 

Edit: It can also depend on whether the fretboard is single-radius or compound-radius. Fender's are all single-radius -- 10" (or whatever) from the nut to the heel. A fretboard with a compound radius, for example 9" at the nut and 16" at the heel, will cause a different taper to the fretboard edge.