First "partscaster" bass build. Newbie questions.

[Juani Vitale]

Hi everyone. I come to the fountain of knowledge to rid myself of a few rookie doubts. I decided to build a P bass from parts a few months ago which eventually led to me realizing I want to become a proper luthier in the near future, whenever I'm able to get the proper space and tools to do it...

Anyways, for this first build I ordered some unfinished parts from another local luthier whose work I really love. Initially I asked him for a classic P bass body + neck combo and a few days in I decided I was gonna ask him for a second body, just to have an "option B" of sorts. The problem is, he had already started working on the other body+neck so when all three parts were finished he told me he had marked the body that "goes with the neck" so I don't mix them up.

Didn't want to ask him cause it felt like a dumb question and I ahd already paid for everything (very good price tho, since they are all local woods from Argentina, where I live) but I thought there was some kind of "universal" template for both P bass necks and bodies. I wonder what did he mean by the body that "goes with the neck". Just eyeballing them they look exactly the same and the neck fits in both pockets exaclty the same as well (a pretty good tight fit). Could it be an alignment thing? both bodies have the holes for the bridge and the neck already drilled by this guy by the way.

Is there some sort of measurement you seasoned luthiers take when building a specific neck for a specific body. Will I have some sort of inconvenience if I just switched bodies and use the body that "DOESN'T go with the neck" ?

Thanks to everyone in advance!!

 

[JRA]

not a luthier, but:

maybe he was referring to the "scale." the length (not the width!) of the neck pockets may make one neck/body combination better than the other --- since he already drilled holes for the bridge. either body will work if you can place the bridge in the correct location to keep the "scale" you're shooting for.

good luck with your project!

 

[dwizum]

Unless otherwise specified there is absolutely a "universal" P bass template in terms of neck pocket dimensions, alignment, bridge position, and so on. There are often small manufacturing variations so it is not unheard of to sometimes think of a neck and body "belonging" together if they are a known-good fit for each other. But generally the differences are small and are things you can account for at assembly time if you need to (i.e. shimming a neck, etc).

That said, I would expect a builder fulfilling an order like yours to be consistent enough that the neck would indeed work with either. Perhaps he simply meant that the "one it went with" was the one that was built as part of the original order before you'd asked for a second body.

I don't really see any harm in asking him, since that seems like a better way to get an exact answer than us guessing at what he meant.

 

[WI Short Scaler]

I don't really see any harm in asking him, since that seems like a better way to get an exact answer than us guessing at what he meant.

Agreed. If you asked for it, he build it, you paid him then it's a business relationship where questions should not be a problem.

 

[byacey]

The difference could be as simple as the screw holes for the necks not being placed in exactly the same place, or it could be something more in depth, like the neck pocket being angled different,etc.

 

[Juani Vitale]

You guys are right, I actually just texted him to ask him this. He takes FOREVER to answer tho not compatible with an anxious guys like me. In the meantime I took some measurements: distance from the bridge to the nut, checked the alignment of the pocket holes, even the distance from the bridge holes to the pocket holes is the same. The one tiny difference I did notice is that the pocket seems to by a hair deeper (as in the distance from the fretboard to the heel, not scale wise) in one body than on the other (we're talking about something like 3 milimeters at the most). Will this make any difference? or it can be compensated with string height at the bridge?

 

[dwizum]

A difference that small can almost certainly be accounted for, either in saddle height or with a shim in the neck pocket.

 

[Beej]

I agree with @dwizum but a couple of mm can make a difference! Exactly how many mm difference is there when measured from the bottom to the top of the heel at the centre of the fretboard?