Left handed Tokai neck replacement

[tpgwade]

Hi all,
Have a chance to pick up a Leftie 51 style Tokai p-bass pretty cheap and was thinking I’d maybe swap the neck out for something a little better.

I’ve not done a lot of bass mods before so just have a question if anyone has done any similar experiences of this.

Given the tokai neck/pocket looks to be constructed with right angled corners (rather than slightly rounded ones like other Tele style basses), is trying to insert a neck of slightly different shape (although the same width), likely to cause any issues? Or would it purely be an aesthetic thing (ie just wouldn’t be a completely snug fit).

Cheers

 

[sissy kathy]

Hi all,
Have a chance to pick up a Leftie 51 style Tokai p-bass pretty cheap and was thinking I’d maybe swap the neck out for something a little better.

I’ve not done a lot of bass mods before so just have a question if anyone has done any similar experiences of this.

Given the tokai neck/pocket looks to be constructed with right angled corners (rather than slightly rounded ones like other Tele style basses), is trying to insert a neck of slightly different shape (although the same width), likely to cause any issues? Or would it purely be an aesthetic thing (ie just wouldn’t be a completely snug fit).

Cheers

Not likely to cause issues. Might even be possible to either trim the neck or square the body corners for a tight fit. If push comes to shove you could certainly make a filler for the voids.

 

[tpgwade]

Great, will give it a go. Thanks.

 

[Matt Liebenau]

If it’s an actual Japanese made Tokai (or even if it’s not) you might give the existing neck a try first. It could be a good ‘un.

 

[Zooberwerx]

If it’s an actual Japanese made Tokai (or even if it’s not) you might give the existing neck a try first. It could be a good ‘un.

I thought the Tokai stuff was supposed to be fairly respectable and went head-to-head with comparable Fender models. Just how bad is the neck that the swap-out is even a consideration?!?

Riis

 

[kgbeast]

Hi all,
Have a chance to pick up a Leftie 51 style Tokai p-bass pretty cheap and was thinking I’d maybe swap the neck out for something a little better.

I’ve not done a lot of bass mods before so just have a question if anyone has done any similar experiences of this.

Given the tokai neck/pocket looks to be constructed with right angled corners (rather than slightly rounded ones like other Tele style basses), is trying to insert a neck of slightly different shape (although the same width), likely to cause any issues? Or would it purely be an aesthetic thing (ie just wouldn’t be a completely snug fit).

Cheers

Necks are not the same dimension at the pocket. Some are lightly wider. Also necks can be slightly thicker and may require deeper or shallower neck pockets. Obviously, you need to match the scale and the number of frets.
In the other note, Tokai necks are pretty good, I'd say better than Squire for example. If neck is straight, I would definitely keep it.