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Rick Auricchio
Well-known member
Why not just trade basses and avoid any problems completely?
I have changed a Fender Jazz neck from fretted to fretless and had no problems at all, all I did was to take the strings off, remove all the neckplate screws and gently move the neck up and down very slightly and you will feel it start to move.
It should slowly release from the neck pocket and come off, refit is just about the oposite. Get the neck into the pocket and use a couple of screws to ensure it lines up and slowly do up all the screws in rotation to get a solid fit.
It should slowly release from the neck pocket and come off, refit is just about the oposite. Get the neck into the pocket and use a couple of screws to ensure it lines up and slowly do up all the screws in rotation to get a solid fit.
bassmonkeee
Well-known member
Yeah, Dave has the right of it. I swapped the necks on my Bongos without any problem. The only real concern is if the neck pocket is really, really tight, you might crack the finish. But, that's about the only bad thing that can be happen, and that can be avoided easily if you are careful.
MrMusashi
Well-known member
when i do that i also turn the neck plate screws backwards untill they fall into the thread grooves made earlier. that way the threads use the grooves they made the last time instead of making new grooves.
i might be a bit peculiar regarding that matter though..
MrM
i might be a bit peculiar regarding that matter though..
MrM
J Romano
Well-known member
Keep in mind any shims and their placement!!!!!!
There was one shim, but it kinda slipped out when I removed the neck. It's super thin, but obviously important. But will it matter since the new neck will be totally different anyway?
FWIW, I'm pretty sure it was in one of the positions I'm attaching here. Any idea what might be more realistic? On one, the holes in the shim barely come out far enough to line up (the outside edges of the shim hole barely line up with the screw hole), on the other position they're right in the middle. (Sorry for somewhat crude Photoshop job). I'm sure it's one of these positions, so if you know how the shim should line up, please let me know!
Otherwise, the original neck came off really easily. I just hope this shim isn't an issue.
melvin7822
Well-known member
The shim should definitely line up with position B.
melvin7822
Well-known member
It depends on the thickness of the heel of the new neck, you may even need a different shim. However, I would try it without the shim first. You'll definitely know if it needs a shim or not afterwards.
My gut feeling about shims [I've swapped a number of MM
necks] is that they "belong" to the body. This is based on
what seems a reasonable assumption [RED FLAG there ...]
that neck heels are shaped to a greater degree of precision
than are the receiving socket [pocket?].
In reality, neither my assumption nor the reverse of it have
proved true. You just gotta assemble the neck to the body,
string up [in tune] and figger out what changes might be
needed viv-a-vis the shimming/neck-to-body angle. It's just
a crap shoot.
When shimming, keep in mind the drastically differing lever
lengths. The shim is at the rear pair of bolts so the fulcrum
of the lever is the front pair. The shim is roughly 10X closer
to the fulcram than is the nut. a 0.01" shim results in about
a 0.10" lowering of the nut [that a hundredth vs a tenth].
You can make a toadally new shim of a slightly thinner or
thicker material. I favor disposable aluminum bakeware or
aluminum 'take-out' food pans, etc. Just a few layers of foil
added to an existing shim will have a very noticeable effect
on your set up.
FWIW, being pretty handy at shimming, I consider it a part
of full set-up [when needed] on any bass I acquire. This is
one reason I choose bolt-neck basses. They are simply more
adjustable to taste .... especially important to me with my
fave bass genre, the toofless wonders.
`
necks] is that they "belong" to the body. This is based on
what seems a reasonable assumption [RED FLAG there ...]
that neck heels are shaped to a greater degree of precision
than are the receiving socket [pocket?].
In reality, neither my assumption nor the reverse of it have
proved true. You just gotta assemble the neck to the body,
string up [in tune] and figger out what changes might be
needed viv-a-vis the shimming/neck-to-body angle. It's just
a crap shoot.
When shimming, keep in mind the drastically differing lever
lengths. The shim is at the rear pair of bolts so the fulcrum
of the lever is the front pair. The shim is roughly 10X closer
to the fulcram than is the nut. a 0.01" shim results in about
a 0.10" lowering of the nut [that a hundredth vs a tenth].
You can make a toadally new shim of a slightly thinner or
thicker material. I favor disposable aluminum bakeware or
aluminum 'take-out' food pans, etc. Just a few layers of foil
added to an existing shim will have a very noticeable effect
on your set up.
FWIW, being pretty handy at shimming, I consider it a part
of full set-up [when needed] on any bass I acquire. This is
one reason I choose bolt-neck basses. They are simply more
adjustable to taste .... especially important to me with my
fave bass genre, the toofless wonders.
`
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Pardon my ignorance, but how will I definitely know? This is all new to me. I'm think a luthier may be a better choice than me by myself. But let's say for now, no luthier. How would I know?
melvin7822
Well-known member
If you can't get the string height you need with the bridge saddles, you'll need to add a shim (i.e. you drop the saddle as low as it can go and the string height is still too high for you).
I dropped the new neck in place with the shim, and the action is way too high.
jlepre
Well-known member
Seek ye a luthier post haste
melvin7822
Well-known member
Sounds like maybe the shim didn't stay in place when you reattached the neck or you just need a thicker shim. A luthier will help you sort it out as well as save you the hassle of removing the neck several times to get the right shim.
I'm also assuming you added the shim horizontally across the bottom of the neck pocket as putting the shim at the top would raise the action. And also, who knows what the relief was like on the new neck?
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LawDaddy
Well-known member
Hey all, I'm the guy on the other end of the transaction. I loosened the truss rod a little bit before I shipped it, maybe one-half turn. His luthier should be able to get the action back in spec. FWIW, there was no shim in my bass (2007 SR4). Looking forward to getting the fretless neck!
