Information on Fender Jazz Deluxe's

[Big_Daddy]

I'm going to be 'building my own' (meaning that I'm just going to assemble the bass). I want to have more of a satisfaction feeling when playing after having built it, rather than just buying a whole new bass.

Well, I've got the body of a 2010 Fender Jazz Deluxe, and now the next item is the neck. I'm looking at a 2002 Deluxe Neck, and then there's also a 2009 neck. I'm just wondering how well they'll fit. I know they've made changes to the 2010 Deluxe neck, and I'm just worried that because I've got a 2010 body, something like a 2002 neck won't fit...

Does anyone know of any significant changes they've made to the Deluxe? It's probably a vague question, but any help is appreciated.

 

[Ian Perge]

If you're talking about the USA-built "American Deluxe" line (as opposed to some of the MIM "Deluxe" models) there was a complete overhaul of the models for 2010. The original 22-fret neck & downsized bodies of the Jazz and Precision with its P/DC pickup arrangement (the only P-bass tone I'd ever liked and have replicated in one of my spare Spector ReBop 5 DLX FMs with EMG 40P5 - a 5-string Precision pup in the standard EMG "40" 5-string soapbar housing - and 40DC Dual Coil pickups and sounds very close given the ReBop's bolt-on design and Alder/Flame Maple top as opposed to the N/T models, and which I would like to have put into a "Precision Jazz Bass" custom build one day as I much prefer the ergonomics and neck of a J body & neck compared to a P) were changed to more "traditional" Jazz & Precision-shaped bodies with 21 frets, newly designed Active w/ Passive bypass preamp and "N3" pickups with P/J setup for the 2010 American Deluxe Precision.

...so basically, neither an '02 or '09 neck will work on a 2010 American Deluxe body due to the change in the number of frets unless you're willing to do major routing work to make the extra fret "fit" and not screw up the scale length. I know Warmoth sells a 21 fret neck, but I believe the 21st fret is an "overhang" and not part of the neck proper and wouldn't be of help. I'd suggest looking at USA Custom and some other company's necks to find the 22 fret neck with the dimensions you need.