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New neck help?

casualmadness

casualmadness

Man About Town
Dec 15, 2005
2,358
1,218
#1
Hi all...
I have a MIM Jazz Fretless that I would like to buy a fretted neck for. I’ve never been much of a modifications guy. In all my decades of playing bass, I’ve really only modded two Basses. One I absolutely destroyed (I stripped it down and pulled all the electronics; wanted to alter the body contours and strip the frets.) I got the shape I wanted and I got the frets pulled and got it all put back together (didn’t paint it; just left it natural wood color) and it actually worked and sounded the same but the action was a mile and half off the board. So I guess I didn’t really destroy it but I was unsure how to fix the action (I was 17); I also lived in a very small town and the only music store within driving range was in the next town over. I ended up giving the bass to a friend who was interested in learning.
The only other bass I’ve modded is my current MIM Jazz fretless. I changed the pups and the bridge and removed the wiring and pots and installed an obsidian harness. I really want to buy a fretted neck so I can have the option of fretless or fretted with a simple neck change. But is it a simple neck change? Is there a drop in neck? Would the neck from any jazz do or maybe I should look at Warmoth? What type of adjustments might I have to make? Would I need to shim the neck or possibly trim it some? Is it just “buy a neck and make it work?” I just want to make sure it will be a fit that allows me to easily play. Sorry for all the questions but this is new to me. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.
 
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#2
The necks are all going to be subtly different, so there is almost no chance your fretted neck will match your fretless perfectly.

Nut adjustment is going to be fiddly swapping necks. I think you'd need a nut shim when going to the fretted neck. And "nut shim" doesn't sound very good to me, sounds potentially abusive...

it would be a total re-setup every time you swap necks: neck relief, string height, nut height, intonation. If it's only once or twice a year, maybe not that bad. You'd get really good at setting up basses if you go this route.
 
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#3
bearfoot said:
The necks are all going to be subtly different, so there is almost no chance your fretted neck will match your fretless perfectly.

Nut adjustment is going to be fiddly swapping necks. I think you'd need a nut shim when going to the fretted neck. And "nut shim" doesn't sound very good to me, sounds potentially abusive...

it would be a total re-setup every time you swap necks: neck relief, string height, nut height, intonation. If it's only once or twice a year, maybe not that bad. You'd get really good at setting up basses if you go this route.
Click to expand...

Yeah I kinda suspected it might not be as simple as I hoped. I’m ok to do light setups; adjusting the bridge, Getting the action where I want it, etc. But I lean more on getting pro setups than DIY. I think the main thing I’m going for is, I’ve recently purged some of my stable. My plan was to get rid of several Basses and then have just a few necessities. Like one jazz bass, one P, an ERB, a fretless and of course my steinberger for travel. That was the plan...but now I have three P Basses, the steinberger and a six string Fodera. The only jazz bass I have is my MIM and it’s also my fretless.
Originally I decided that I needed all of the P Basses I have so I’ll just buy a nice jazz. But now I’m thinking maybe it’s a better idea to buy a fretted neck and that way I can save some cash. I play jazz a lot; definitely enough to warrant having one. I don’t play fretless as much so if I swap the neck, it would mostly just be a fretted Jazz. I would probably rarely put the fretless back on. I just thought this might save some cash as I’ve spent far too much on gear for a guy who’s still waiting for his bands to even rehearse again.
 
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#5
casualmadness said:
Yeah I kinda suspected it might not be as simple as I hoped. I’m ok to do light setups; adjusting the bridge, Getting the action where I want it, etc. But I lean more on getting pro setups than DIY. I think the main thing I’m going for is, I’ve recently purged some of my stable. My plan was to get rid of several Basses and then have just a few necessities. Like one jazz bass, one P, an ERB, a fretless and of course my steinberger for travel. That was the plan...but now I have three P Basses, the steinberger and a six string Fodera. The only jazz bass I have is my MIM and it’s also my fretless.
Originally I decided that I needed all of the P Basses I have so I’ll just buy a nice jazz. But now I’m thinking maybe it’s a better idea to buy a fretted neck and that way I can save some cash. I play jazz a lot; definitely enough to warrant having one. I don’t play fretless as much so if I swap the neck, it would mostly just be a fretted Jazz. I would probably rarely put the fretless back on. I just thought this might save some cash as I’ve spent far too much on gear for a guy who’s still waiting for his bands to even rehearse again.
Click to expand...

I would keep the fretless neck on then, especially if you like how it plays. To do a Fender spec setup you'd need a set of auto parts store feeler gauges , maybe some files for nut adjustments, and of course whichever hex turns the truss rod on each bass. Straight edge, and a pencil. Maybe some very thin veneer like 22/1000th pieces for neck shims.
 
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#6
I’ve done a bit of neck swapping, and each time i need to fine tune and adjust everything while the neck settles. Sounds like a bit of a pain to me, and I’d be afraid the bass wouldn’t play the same! I’ve got my current parts bass all dialed in, and I’d be very hesitant to take it apart. If you did do it, the steel insert idea above would be the way to go.

Looking at budget, you could probably get a nice Squier for the price of a MIM neck, Something to consider...

PS do you really need 3 P basses? ;) :bag:
 
#8
casualmadness said:
Hi all...
I have a MIM Jazz Fretless that I would like to buy a fretted neck for. I’ve never been much of a modifications guy. In all my decades of playing bass, I’ve really only modded two Basses. One I absolutely destroyed (I stripped it down and pulled all the electronics; wanted to alter the body contours and strip the frets.) I got the shape I wanted and I got the frets pulled and got it all put back together (didn’t paint it; just left it natural wood color) and it actually worked and sounded the same but the action was a mile and half off the board. So I guess I didn’t really destroy it but I was unsure how to fix the action (I was 17); I also lived in a very small town and the only music store within driving range was in the next town over. I ended up giving the bass to a friend who was interested in learning.
The only other bass I’ve modded is my current MIM Jazz fretless. I changed the pups and the bridge and removed the wiring and pots and installed an obsidian harness. I really want to buy a fretted neck so I can have the option of fretless or fretted with a simple neck change. But is it a simple neck change? Is there a drop in neck? Would the neck from any jazz do or maybe I should look at Warmoth? What type of adjustments might I have to make? Would I need to shim the neck or possibly trim it some? Is it just “buy a neck and make it work?” I just want to make sure it will be a fit that allows me to easily play. Sorry for all the questions but this is new to me. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.
Click to expand...
Buy another bass. Necks aren't good candidates for frequent swapping. Eventually the neck bolts and the wood in the neck that they bite into will need to be repaired and/or fortified.
 
#10
CallMeAl said:
do you really need 3 P basses? ;) :bag:
Click to expand...

Is that a serious question? Or course I do! Actually, As I said, I had planned To thin the herd down to one necessity each (one P, one J, one fretless, one ERB and my steinberger for travel.) But when I made that call I had two P’s a Mike Lull and a Fender Deluxe Custom. Most people would say, “sell the a Fender.” And yes, that makes sense because Mike Lull. But the thing is; my fender P is amazing. I get a very different P sound from it than I get from my Mike Lull. However I’ve decided that both sounds are required in my life. So two P Basses, one J, one ERB, one fretless and a steinberger. So in the midst of selling off much of my stable, a guy offered me a trade of a smokin’ hot G&L P type. I wasn’t advertising for trade. But man when I played that thing I knew I had to have it. Alas, now I have three P Basses and still no fretted J. Sigh...
I found a really awesome J locally in a store. Thing is, I *can* buy it as in I do have the cash, but man...in the past month I’ve spent some serious cash on not just Basses but recording gear as well. I’m talking new amps, cabinets, Basses, monitors, etc. and as it stands now, I have six Basses and can’t seem to justify parting with any of them. I started my trim with 8 Basses and now I’m at 6. If I buy this local J then I’m at 7. I guess technically 8 down to 7 is thinning the herd.

first world problems
 
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#12
bearfoot said:
the frets are going to make the action at the nut just a tiny bit higher, so I think in swapping back and forth fretted/fretless necks, one would either want to use a separate nut for each neck, or bring the nut up by the thickness of the frets above the fingerboard when switching to fretted ~
Click to expand...
Yup that’s confusing. I would assume each neck would have its own nut attached.
 
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#13
bearfoot said:
the frets are going to make the action at the nut just a tiny bit higher, so I think in swapping back and forth fretted/fretless necks, one would either want to use a separate nut for each neck, or bring the nut up by the thickness of the frets above the fingerboard when switching to fretted ~
Click to expand...
Why on earth would you not have a nut glued into each neck?
 
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#16
@casualmadness - Easiest neck swap would be to get an actual Standard Series Fender fretted neck. They run $249 Invalid Link Removed. The hard part is cutting the nut if you're new to it and you don't have the proper files. So a parted out neck is probably a better option. Check the TB classifieds and (maybe) Stratospher's website.
 
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#18
casualmadness said:
Is that a serious question? Or course I do! Actually, As I said, I had planned To thin the herd down to one necessity each (one P, one J, one fretless, one ERB and my steinberger for travel.) But when I made that call I had two P’s a Mike Lull and a Fender Deluxe Custom. Most people would say, “sell the a Fender.” And yes, that makes sense because Mike Lull. But the thing is; my fender P is amazing. I get a very different P sound from it than I get from my Mike Lull. However I’ve decided that both sounds are required in my life. So two P Basses, one J, one ERB, one fretless and a steinberger. So in the midst of selling off much of my stable, a guy offered me a trade of a smokin’ hot G&L P type. I wasn’t advertising for trade. But man when I played that thing I knew I had to have it. Alas, now I have three P Basses and still no fretted J. Sigh...
I found a really awesome J locally in a store. Thing is, I *can* buy it as in I do have the cash, but man...in the past month I’ve spent some serious cash on not just Basses but recording gear as well. I’m talking new amps, cabinets, Basses, monitors, etc. and as it stands now, I have six Basses and can’t seem to justify parting with any of them. I started my trim with 8 Basses and now I’m at 6. If I buy this local J then I’m at 7. I guess technically 8 down to 7 is thinning the herd.

first world problems
Click to expand...
I figured I wouldn’t talk you into trading one :laugh:

my point was IME the marriage of the neck and body is a delicate balance. I tried 3-4 on my parts body before I found one that really sang. If you’re gonna invest in a neck, I’d just get a whole bass! You’re already in this deep... :smug:
 
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#19
I think if you spring for a nut for each neck, once you get each neck set it shouldn't change much swapping between them. If you'll plan to do this more than once or twice I recommend getting neck inserts for each neck and using machine screws for the neck bolts. Then you have no worry about wearing out the wood holes swapping back and forth. If you keep safety post tuners on each neck it'll be no problem to swap out keeping the same strings.
I have seen this approach quite a bit, periodically you'll see basses sold with their matching fretless neck. I'd want to have tuners and string tree for each neck too. You can carry the fretless and the fretted "bass" in the same case that way, just wrap the one in linen so it stays put mostly.

It is more fun to have whole basses where you can afford to though.

Paulabass said:
Why on earth would you not have a nut glued into each neck?
Click to expand...
Same reason lefties make due just flipping righty nuts: cheapin' out.

I can understand it though - sometimes you're making that demo tape, you only have $80 bucks or whatever to your name but you demand the fretless sound. Its not ideal but it probably happens a lot more than we think.
 
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