Jazz w/ Thick Neck Profile

[BassToGoGo]

Just for info, All Parts Fender replacement necks are thick AF. I have an all parts Jazz neck and it’s the thickest profile of any neck I have, including my Warwick Streamer 5! Definitely thicker than a Fender “modern C”.

Warmoth’s standard contour is also pretty darn thick. When I buy Warmoth necks, I always get the Slim Taper profile because the standard is just too big for my comfort.

At onetTime Allparts offered a "Fat" (chunky?) Jazz profile neck. I own one.

 

[bass.slinger]

These are all Fender Jazz necks, 1st & 12th fret thicknesses

0.785" & 0.890" - American Professional
0.820" & 0.870" - American Standard
0.820" & 0.920" - American Original 70s
0.830" & 0.930" - C-to-D neck
0.830" & 0.965" - 60s Road Worn
0.815" & 1.000" - American Original 60s

And to put all that in context:

0.820" to 1.000" - Precision, American Professional

Corrections to the above (Fender Customer Service sent me the following):

American Original 70s:
1st Fret: .914"
12 Fret: .993"

Also, the American Standard 12th fret looks way too thin (from playing one they are definitely thicker than 0.87”). The only Fender jazz basses with neck profiles less than 0.9” at the twelfth fret are the CIJ Geddy Lee (maybe the MIM - never played one) and the American Special / Professional (including II).

 

[Josh Willner]

My 2000 Jazz Deluxe MIM had a nice thick Jazz neck.

 

[devnulljp]

Chuck a PBass neck on it, problem solved

 

[2F/2F]

I have never played a stock Jazz Bass with what I would call a beefy neck, i.e. a 1" neck.

I suggest ordering the Musikraft 1" C, and shaping it yourself to suit.

If you inch up the nut width as well, it will help to make the neck seem meatier. You don't need to go as far as a classic P Bass (1 3/4"), and it won't fit a Jazz Bass neck pocket without some trimming of the sides of the pocket anyhow. But going to 1 5/8" helps a lot.

Both of my Musikraft J necks have 1 5/8" nuts. One has the 1" C, which I carved into a 1" V. The other has the V to C. Not as thick, but I was lazy, and didn't want to do any of my own carving on that one.

And, again, going too wide with the nut means the taper of your neck won't fit a J neck pocket. I have a 1 3/4" nut neck in a J neck pocket. It required modification of the body. 1 5/8", no problem. Haven't tried 1 11/16" on a J body yet.

 

[Fun Size Nick]

Which of the 2 was chunkier, if you recall?

I'm not sure, sorry! They were similar enough that either stood out as being bigger. There will always be some variation between individual necks in any case.

Chuck a PBass neck on it, problem solved

We're talking about depth, not width. My P-bass has a shallower, less chunky neck than my J.

 

[BassDaddy77]

I have never played a stock Jazz Bass with what I would call a beefy neck, i.e. a 1" neck.

I suggest ordering the Musikraft 1" C, and shaping it yourself to suit.

If you inch up the nut width as well, it will help to make the neck seem meatier. You don't need to go as far as a classic P Bass (1 3/4"), and it won't fit a Jazz Bass neck pocket without some trimming of the sides of the pocket anyhow. But going to 1 5/8" helps a lot.

Both of my Musikraft J necks have 1 5/8" nuts. One has the 1" C, which I carved into a 1" V. The other has the V to C. Not as thick, but I was lazy, and didn't want to do any of my own carving on that one.

And, again, going too wide with the nut means the taper of your neck won't fit a J neck pocket. I have a 1 3/4" nut neck in a J neck pocket. It required modification of the body. 1 5/8", no problem. Haven't tried 1 11/16" on a J body yet.

Nice! I have nearly zero woodworking skills nor the tools though.

 

[2F/2F]

Nice! I have nearly zero woodworking skills nor the tools though.

Well, you still might dig the unaltered 1" C that Musikraft offers. Very few other places (if any, now that I think of it) offer a bass neck that thick.

 

[BassDaddy77]

Well, you still might dig the unaltered 1" C that Musikraft offers. Very few other places (if any, now that I think of it) offer a bass neck that thick.

Indeed, sounds like a whopper of a neck!

 

[2F/2F]

Indeed, sounds like a whopper of a neck!

It's not extremely thick. It's just about 1/10 of an inch thicker than most Fender style necks out there. Definitely not hard to play, even before I carved the slight V into it. With a wide nut, it might be a bit of a beast, but with 1 5/8" or 1 1/2" it feels pretty ergonomic.

 

[Ricky Rioli]

The only Fender jazz basses with neck profiles less than 0.9” at the twelfth fret are the CIJ Geddy Lee (maybe the MIM - never played one) and the American Special / Professional (including II).

The Fender website offers for sale a Mexican made Standard Jazz neck that is 0.820" / 0.870".

Unfortunately when I made that list, I didn't hang onto the links for the sources - some of them were pdfs given in posts here on TB - so I can't double check to see if by "America Standard" I actually meant this MIM Standard. (My guess would be that yes I was confused between MIA and MIM Standards)

 

[devnulljp]

We're talking about depth, not width. My P-bass has a shallower, less chunky neck than my J.

So, find a neck profile you like, from Warmoth or wherever, and put it on it. That's what Leo intended.
Bonus, you can sell your fender Jazz neck on reverb for ore than you spend on the replacement.

 

[The Bass Clef]

If you want a baseball bat, get a ‘74 AVRI. Period. Chunkiest neck Fender has ever put out since the late ‘60s/early ‘70s Tele basses.

 

[lowendrachel]

Maruszyzcyk bass guitars made some jazz with thick necks. Sorry if I spelled the company's name wrong.

 

[MJ_Sotti]

I have a '74 American Vintage Reissue. It has the U neck, really nice. The only way it could be better is if it was a little wider at the nut. But you can't have everything.

 

[pbassnut]

I also prefer a P neck as a general rule. But I’m honestly ok with the 1.5 width as long as there's substantial "meat" to the neck. It seems the "deep U" neck profile is what I'm after, but that isn't something Fender offers on many basses.

I've also heard the Noel Redding sig basses have a baseball bat type profile. Those seem nearly impossible to find nowadays.

I've played a few Noel Redding sig J basses over the years and would characterize their necks as right in between a Precision and a Jazz neck. You could think of them as a petite P or a chunky J. I actually have a MIJ 70's reissue Precision neck on one of my FrankenGeddyLee Js that I think is the same profile as the neck on Noel Redding sig Js.

 

[fishdreams]

The USA Geddy Lee is 1” at the 12th fret as well. It’s on the thicker side.

+1 to this. It's a thicker jazz neck profile, and a very good one at that. Sounds great too, for real. While I'm not playing it every day, I'm very glad to to have it.

 

[Jack Butler]

Well, you still might dig the unaltered 1" C that Musikraft offers. Very few other places (if any, now that I think of it) offer a bass neck that thick.

I have an Allparts "Fat Jazz" and it's 1" at the nut and at the 12th.

 

[groove pump]

Trying to understand Fender's neck profile description has become frustrating for me. I'm looking for a Jazz with a thick/chunky/baseball bat style neck profile. I believe that would be what they call the "U" shape, right?

Aside from the vintage market, which recent models fit the bill? I had an American Vintage Hot Rod (AVHR) Jazz a couple years ago that had a terrific neck (allegedly a U shape according to Fender), but wasn't loving the PJ pickup configuration on that bass.

I've heard that I should be looking for a '74 American Vintage Jazz. Can anyone comment on how the current American Original Jazz neck (60s or 70s) compares to the former to '74 AV? Or is the '74 even the thickest of the bunch in the first place? Where does the even older AVRI '75 jazz fit in? And finally, would the Vintera or former Classic series Jazz necks fall into the "baseball bat" category?

Thanks!

I was playing a Jazz with a Warmoth neck for a lot of years. When I finally decided that this 10.5 lb. bass is too heavy for long gigs, I started looking for lighter alternatives among instruments with more or less a J-style. My hands seemed to have an aversion to pretty much everything I tried. I should note that I didn't try everything under the sun, including Fenders. I've had a couple disappointments with their rigs in the past.

Turns out that I had been playing on a J neck that was much more like many P necks despite its 1 1/2" nut width. Not a U-shaped baseball bat profile, but nice depth under the fingerboard and it also has max'ed out string spacing. My luthier pals made a nut for it with a lot of space between the grooves and also re-filed new notches in the bridge saddles (BadAss II) to give me an un-crowded layout.

Post #25 also mentions Warmoth. Their steel reinforced necks like mine are rather hefty, but nicely crafted and absolutely rock solid. I might go shopping for one of their P necks down the road, but I'd likely try to find a lighter one with graphite rods for reinforcement. I'm off of the Jazz quest for now.

 

[metron]

If you want a baseball bat, get a ‘74 AVRI. Period. Chunkiest neck Fender has ever put out since the late ‘60s/early ‘70s Tele basses.

I wish I had something I could use to measure my '74 RI. Visually, there is almost no rear taper from heel to nut so it's almost at maximum thickness of the neck plank.