I finally did it - to my P bass

Oh my!

As long as you're happy with it

Looks like that horn "armpit " could use a little massage though.

 

I'd gladly butcher a body to stuff a sidewinder in there and I'd scallop the frets without any hint of hesitation or remorse but mess with the neck joint, I shan't. But hey, if it's stable and works for you, cool.

 

Cool mod! I never go up there myself. That’s what guitars are for!

 

Dig it! Would love to see more pics of the rest of the bass.

 

Will it make the neck joint unstable? It basically has 3 screws holding it on now.

 

Uh... I thought there was no money in playing above the 5th fret? You must be rich.

 

Nicely done, good Sir. You even took the time to bevel the edge of the neck plate and countersink the screw hole. You will probably (and already have) get a response or two about playing high up on the neck and "we are bass players, not guitarists" but ignore them. If we weren't supposed to play up there Leo Fender would have stopped with 12 frets. Years ago I built a Warmoth bass and did something similar with it. It's a no-brainer

 

Alrighty then. Seems you've found a solution looking for a problem...

 

Looks kinda similar to the neck joint on the ultra line

 

You do you
That part of the body could be a sort of roadblock. A strat could benefit from a trim too.

 

Not sure what you mean by this. The square neck heel on Fender instruments is extremely uncomfortable and awkward to play around. You often have to reorient the instrument on your body when standing to access the lower strings on the upper frets, which is not exactly conducive to playing. Almost every instrument that has a contoured heel is infinitely easier to play above the 15th fret. Look at the Ibanez SR series neck joint for a much improved design, or Dingwall/F Bass for a recessed solution. You may not play up there, but believe it or not other musicians do.

OP, good on you for making your instrument more playable. Personally I think that all instruments should come with contoured heels, especially with CNC technology being able to make them quickly and precisely.

 

Hi bebi

As long as you don' t put frets on that bass, everything will be alright!

Your bass told you that?

I think your fingers told you!

Wise(b)ass

 

Good for you. I’ve done that and a couple of other variations on bodies I’ve built for myself.

 

Me too... I'd never make a neck join that emulates the Fender join, there are so many better ways to do it...

 

I’m all about functional mods that make people happier playing, but I’m definitely in the camp of players who would never find themselves playing more than a note or two in the treble end of things anyway.

 

Reminds me of the neck transition on my Charvel PRO-MOD DK24

 

it's how they are. never stopped me from playing up high or playing fast complex stuff. I learned on one, played one for my first 5.5 years of bass playing (Well, 2 different USA precisions back in the day). Then I moved to ibanez musician and never looked back - neck through joints are 100% wins for me.

But even on guitar when I'm playing showing lead parts, I don't really care too much if it has a big neck joint - thinner is WAY nicer, but you just adapt.

The ibanez neck joint on my old soundgear 300 is really good though - very clever design (taken from the later iterations of their RG guitars).

In an ideal world, I'd have a P that looks like a J and has the neck joint and weight and contours of an ibanez SR and the tone of a Precision. If I wanted a precision and was super rich LoL. Otherwise I'd just take a precision as it is and be happy.

 

by the way - those who DID mod their P bass joints - more power to you!

I am all about modding instruments and gear to solve deficiencies.... just go for it.

 

Uh..... I see four screws, am I having issues with my eyes again...