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Jazz Body with Precision Neck

#81
I had two 69 jazz basses, and disliked both of their necks. Too thin, and I could never get used to them. For a time, I put an old Pbass neck on one of them, and while it greatly improved the fretting, I much prefer a pbass, so the jazz basses got sold.

The Sadowsky jazz necks, on the other hand, are quite comfortable, and I like them a lot....but still do not the jazz tone.
 
#82
Kirk Bryant said:
Sorry, meant no offense. I do believe that some things can change the sound of an instrument. I’d would love to have heard the A-B. And hear the difference for myself.
I’ve just never heard that on neck changes but I have only changed one maple fender neck for another. As for necks they can be made of different woods. Even every piece of the same type of wood has a slightly different weight and density.
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Interesting stuff. I owned two PJ Mustangs for a while. One was older, so had a rosewood fretboard, whereas the other had a Pau Ferro fretboard. The bass with the Pau Ferro 'board sounded a bit brighter and snappier. Out of sheer boredom (and my quest to build the best bass out of the two) I swapped the necks around. The snappier tone followed the Pau Ferro neck onto the other bass. Not a scientific experiment by any means. The two basses had different pickups, wiring and strings (one was on rounds and the other on flats). Yet there was a 'seasoning' to the tone that went with each neck.

Oddly the rosewood neck didn't play ball with the Pau Ferro body. It seems like the neck pocket was shallower on one bass than on the other.
 
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#83
Eilif said:
I read the thread about those recently. I'm not convinced of all the hype, but it does seem to be notably more than $69 dollars worth of bass.
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I cant speak for the Jazz as its still on its way to me, but I immediately ordered it after getting the Glarry P bass. the tech I use at GC has been working on guitars for over 30 years and was so blown away by what you get for $69 that he ordered one after he put new strings on mine. It didn't even need a setup. Neck needed a slight tweak and fingerboard needed some oil badly but the action was fine, the intonation was pretty spot on and all the frets were level with no sharp edges at all. Bridge and tuners are cheap but do their job, for now at least. Some of them have needed some work but for the price, thats usually expected. Bottom line is they are very playable and even gigable stock. Throw a new bridge and tuners on it and you've got a real nice bass for even less than the cost of a buying a P neck to go on a Jazz bass.
 
#84
bassdude51 said:
The Goldilocks neck works best for me. 1 and 5/8". A 1/16 wider than a J neck and 1/16 narrower than a P neck.

Allparts P neck are 1 and 5/8" wide and I'm pretty sure Fender's P necks starting in the early 70s are too.

So, I have a black Warmoth Jazz Bass body with a one ply white guard with an Allparts Precision Bass neck, maple fretboard and "skunk stripe" on the back. I love the neck. It's perfect for me. And my "low budget Jazz Bass" is my most favorite J ever!
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Would love to see a photo of that black warmoth jazz bass with maple precision neck
 
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#86
Just finished putting this one together, never been a fan of jazz size necks and always loved the looks of Jaco's bass so

Squier P bass fretted neck - date:May 1 1996
Squier VM fretless body
EMG JV52 passive pickups
Fender vintage relic bridge
Real Life Relics control plate , neck plate & screws
Guitar Fetish relic flat top barrel knobs
Gotoh FB30 relic tuners

Sq jazz.jpg

Sq jazz2.jpg
 
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#87
basstones said:
Just finished putting this one together, never been a fan of jazz size necks and always loved the looks of Jaco's bass so

Squier P bass fretted neck - date:May 1 1996
Squier VM fretless body
EMG JV52 passive pickups
Fender vintage relic bridge
Real Life Relics control plate , neck plate & screws
Guitar Fetish relic flat top barrel knobs
Gotoh FB30 relic tuners

View attachment 3661242
View attachment 3661243
Click to expand...

Oh, my!
 
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#89
I have a Fender Precision fretless (all maple) neck 4-bolt that is mounted on a Fender Jazz body. I bought this off a friend in 1987 and I know he owned it for several years. The SN on the plate is 1975 series number but that really doesn't confirm anything. The Frankenstein job is very clearly professionally done, the fit is flawless. But there is a visible 3rd screw hole from the body's original 3-bolt mount. My junkie friend put EMG pickups in about a month before I bought it but I have the original electronics in the case still. Anybody ever seen this combo before?
 
#90
Back in '85, I had a Fender Precision Elite Ii with a wide (C) neck. The fingerboard was maple. I liked the big tone, but my chops were not up for that neck. One day, I bought a B width Fender Precision neck (also with a maple fingerboard), put it on, and played a gig that night.
I was shocked by how anemic the tone was, in comparison.
Put the old neck on, returned the new neck (I told the guy at the store that I didn't like how it sounded... He looked at me like I was crazy, but accepted the return) and the great tone was back.
So, yes... More massive neck = bigger tone. It's a thing.
 
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#91
Since this mutt has no collector value I'm not ashamed to say I am planning to update the electronics. This bass is really heavy, just over 12#. It has incredible resonance especially from the middle of the register, it rings like a piano with any amount of vibrato. I don't know what the body is made of so I will probably pull the neck to look at the heel for info.
 
#92
I've loved the thought of a P neck on a Jazz body for a while now. I have fairly large hands/long fingers, and chunkier, wider necks do something for me. So I'll ask a possibly dumb question:

As far as switching up necks, is it just as simple as removing them and swapping the bodies? Is it safe to assume the neck screw holes generally match up if the 2 basses in question are both Fender-esque?

I want to put the neck of my Squier CV 70's P on my Fender Player J body, but don't know how that would work out. A little nervous about unscrewing that neck plate just to check... But I think I'd love that hybrid a whole lot.
 
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#96
[QUOTE="Resonance129, post: 23650785, member: 186287"I want to put the neck of my Squier CV 70's P on my Fender Player J body, but don't know how that would work out. A little nervous about unscrewing that neck plate just to check... But I think I'd love that hybrid a whole lot.[/QUOTE]

I've mixed Fender and Squier parts on a couple basses, and the issue I've had is not the screw spacing, but rather the shape of the heel. I needed to reshape the neck pocket of a Squier Vintage Modified body because the Fender neck heel had a much rounder profile than the relatively square Squier neck.

That said, don't be scared of popping the necks off to try out the fit. As long as you've got a decent Phillips screwdriver that matches (and therefore won't strip the screws), it's a pretty hard thing to mess up enough to do damage. Just go slow when pulling and reinserting the neck, or you can crack the finish on the sides of the pocket. It should be snug, but nothing should need to be forced. Also, keep an eye out for shims and make sure to put them back as you found them (assuming the setup was good)...
 
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#97
madjazzbass said:
After all the "tinkering" with Basses I've done over the years, changing pickups, Bridges, necks, pots, strings, tuners what have you; and especially after my Warmoth build and my latest parts Bass, I finally found what the best combination is for the perfect Bass ... (well, at least what works for me), and that's a Jazz Bass body and a Precision Bass neck. I know a lot of guys are always like, (in a whinny voice ) "I want a Precision Bass with a Jazz neck", Phooey! A thick solid Precision neck (made with quality woods) sounds much better, much warmer, punchier and resonates better than any pencil thin Jazz Bass neck, trust me, I have 7 Jazz Basses, 2 Precision P/J Basses and 1 Jazz w/ a Precision neck and all the ones with the thicker necks just sound fuller and richer, they have a certain warmth to them that a Jazz Bass neck just doesn't have; you have a thin neck, you're going to have a thin(ner)sound/tone, that's just me speaking from my experiences. If you happen to have any spare parts laying around Jazz body and a Precision neck, Try It, You'll see what I mean. So that's what my next Warmoth build will be, then I'll sell off a few Basses that hardly get played anymore. Alright, I done with my rant, Let me have it, I don't mind, I can take it.
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I'm totally with you. 52 years ago when I was 16 I got the leftovers from someone that wanted a jazz neck on a p body. I totally love the p neck on the jazz body, best of both worlds if you ask me. My dad got it from a family friend for $100.00. Its like a 59/61. I know if I could reunite the originals back together I'd be sitting on a small fortune. The original sunburst was mostly sanded off and repainted a light blue and covered over with a varnish with gold flake that yellowed and made it a horrible green color. Right after I got it I sanded it down to the wood and sprayed many coats of varathane on it. I also took the black naugahyde off of the pick guard. Do you have any idea as to what it may be worth?
Peace, David
 
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#98
David Ford said:
I'm totally with you. 52 years ago when I was 16 I got the leftovers from someone that wanted a jazz neck on a p body. I totally love the p neck on the jazz body, best of both worlds if you ask me. My dad got it from a family friend for $100.00. Its like a 59/61. I know if I could reunite the originals back together I'd be sitting on a small fortune. The original sunburst was mostly sanded off and repainted a light blue and covered over with a varnish with gold flake that yellowed and made it a horrible green color. Right after I got it I sanded it down to the wood and sprayed many coats of varathane on it. I also took the black naugahyde off of the pick guard. Do you have any idea as to what it may be worth?
Peace, David
Click to expand...
Me?! I haven't got a clue as to what it's worth, but there's a bunch of other guys/TB'ers on here that can "probably" get you "in the ballpark" of what it may be worth; Good Luck.
 
#99
I agree madjazz, after reading all these posts, im gonna do it to this recent parts bass. I thought i'd love that thinner neck, and i do on slower songs, but when i start playing maiden my fingers just trip all over each other. The tone on this is pretty bright with Bart pickups and a mitey mite neck, which i had to stain a bit because it was almost white. Dont wanna go thru that again, so im gonna go with rosewood this time. I played the same song with all 4 of my basses and my p bass with maple neck was the most comfortable. I do have another build with a slightly wider neck than a j, but not as wide as p which is easier to play as well....thanks for the idea

View media item 22162
 
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#100
Resonance129 said:
I've loved the thought of a P neck on a Jazz body for a while now. I have fairly large hands/long fingers, and chunkier, wider necks do something for me. So I'll ask a possibly dumb question:

As far as switching up necks, is it just as simple as removing them and swapping the bodies? Is it safe to assume the neck screw holes generally match up if the 2 basses in question are both Fender-esque?

I want to put the neck of my Squier CV 70's P on my Fender Player J body, but don't know how that would work out. A little nervous about unscrewing that neck plate just to check... But I think I'd love that hybrid a whole lot.
Click to expand...
Sorry for the late reply, I haven't visited this thread in quite some time. I've (almost) never had an issue with a neck not fitting after switching it onto a different body; the ONE TIME it was "sort of" an issue was when I took the neck off of a Squier P/J Bass ('cause I wanted a maple neck w/blocks); but the pocket on THAT body for some reason is a "tad bit" wider than any other body I've ever ...? experimented with:woot:; it's not as "snug" as it should be; I mean it fits and the screw holes line up perfectly, there's just a wee bit of play between the neck and body joint; not enough to be an issue though, at least not for me ... yet. :cool: ... but now I'm wondering if that "wee bit" has any impact AT ALL good or bad on the overall tone of that Bass. :laugh:Thanks.
 
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