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Fender Slim C vs. Thin C?

Gare Boo

Gare Boo

Jun 16, 2019
313
143
#1
Hello. I just found that the MIM Geddy Lee Jazz Bass has a "thin C" neck but the American Professional Series has a "slim C" neck. What is the difference between the 2 neck shapes? Has anyone measured the thickness of these two necks yet? Thank you!

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#2
Gare Boo said:
Hello. I just found that the MIM Geddy Lee Jazz Bass has a "thin C" neck but the American Professional Series has a "slim C" neck. What is the difference between the 2 neck shapes? Has anyone measured the thickness of these two necks yet? Thank you!

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Click to expand...

Not sure this will help you- as my GL neck is CIJ... but it is 0.73” at first fret. The Amer. Pro J is 0.79” at first fret (I don’t have a pic of it- as I’ve only had it a short while- but I did measure it). The Pro neck is slightly ‘fatter’, in profile shaping, but virtually indiscernable.
01D6CB48-A327-49FF-A9EB-2946A2E647D5.jpeg


I also have an American Special J- which Fender calls ‘slim’... it is 0.77” at first fret.
E4C7D14D-4BEF-4652-8F31-7A6C650DAACA.jpeg
 
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#3
staurosjohn said:
Not sure this will help you- as my GL neck is CIJ... but it is 0.73” at first fret. The Amer. Pro J is 0.79” at first fret (I don’t have a pic of it- as I’ve only had it a short while- but I did measure it). The Pro neck is slightly ‘fatter’, in girth, but virtually indiscernable.
View attachment 3813818

I also have an American Special J- which is called ‘slim’... it is 0.77” at first fret.
View attachment 3813823
Click to expand...
Thank you, this helps a lot! Which one of the two played better based on your feel? Also, is the CIJ GL neck the thinnest neck you've ever played? If not, what's the thinnest one and how does it feel? Thanks!
 
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#4
Gare Boo said:
Thank you, this helps a lot! Which one of the two played better based on your feel? Also, is the CIJ GL neck the thinnest neck you've ever played? If not, what's the thinnest one and how does it feel? Thanks!
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Well- I purchased the GL neck, in 2012 (I actually have it on a Precision body- and I changed the headstock waterslide to a ‘Precision’), and it has been my ‘#1’ since! The Amer. Pro neck is on a GL J body- I just picked it up, in January, so I haven’t played it much. I think the GL will stay as my favorite- mainly due to the thinness of it! Here is a vid- from a few months ago- haven’t gigged with the Pro...
I’ve played a few Ibanez basses with, about, the same ‘thinness’- but I‘ve never measured a Ibanez...

 
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#7
Gare Boo said:
Hey thanks that's also what I've been wanting to do. Does the GL neck fit any Fender P bodies? And how did you do the waterslide change? Thank you!
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Generally speaking- yes. Most production Fenders (with 4-hole mount) are ‘interchangeable’- however there are, sometimes, a few tweaks necessary. The holes in my GL neck didn’t line-up, perfectly, so I plugged them & redrilled... but the neck pockets are, generally, the same. All three of my basses, in my Avatar, are done that way + I’ve had about 5 or 6 others to which I’ve done the same... only minor tweaks to any if them... most just fit right together.

Here’s a vid re: waterslide application- you can find lots- on youtube, etc.

I’ll send a PM with some other info...
 
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#8
staurosjohn said:
Generally speaking- yes. Most production Fenders (with 4-hole mount) are ‘interchangeable’- however there are, sometimes, a few tweaks necessary. The holes in my GL neck didn’t line-up, perfectly, so I plugged them & redrilled... but the neck pockets are, generally, the same. All three of my basses, in my Avatar, are done that way + I’ve had about 5 or 6 others to which I’ve done the same... only minor tweaks to any if them... most just fit right together.

Here’s a vid re: waterslide application- you can find lots- on youtube, etc.

I’ll send a Convo with some other info...
Click to expand...

Thank you so much!
 
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#14
Gare Boo said:
The active CIJ one? How was the Jaguar? Sound and feel? Was the neck thinner than the GL or are they about the same? Thank you!
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Never actually compared them back to back but both are slimmer than any other Jazz neck I've ever tried. They were both listed as "Thin" when they were on Fender's page, don't think I've ever seem any others but I don't check Fender all that often. I love my Jag, one of my top go-to basses. In function it's very similar to a Jazz in passive, in active it's pots are extremely reactive, I'd never use more than about a third of the range on bass or treble.
 
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#15
My MiJ fretless jazz bass special has the thinnest neck I've ever played. It seems like a miracle of materials and engineering that it is stable. I don't know what they call that profile, but I'm not a huge fan.

I guess I prefer a thicker neck, like a 70s C, but at the end of the day I don't care about neck profile, as long as the action is consistent and serviceable.
 
#16
The neck on my '82 Jazz (MIA) bass is the same profile as I had with my '65 and I believe that is called the "60's slim-C shape" with a 7.25" radius". My '65 was stolen in '76 and took me almost 10-yrs. to find another Jazz with the same neck profile. I know it's different than the "modern" slim C-shape, plus the modern one has a 9.5" radius (flatter fingerboard).
 
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