The most common neck shape of a bass neck is C. But are all C shapes the same?<\/p>\n
If you have ever entertained the idea of replacing your neck and you absolutely have no idea which shape to choose from, the “safe” option is “Fender Modern C,” even if it’s not made by Fender. In literal terms, this particular shape is a slim oval. To get an idea of what this neck shape feels like, all you have to do is pick up any USA or Mexico-made Fender bass guitar and you’ll know what it is.<\/p>\n
For those of you wanting a more vintage style thicker neck of the Fender-like variety, this is known either as a “Big C” or a “Large C.” While still a C shape, the neck is physically thicker and you will immediately feel the difference once you put your hand around it. <\/p>\n
With certain different C shapes come different widths. The easiest way, at least with a 4-string, to get a feel for neck width is to compare a Fender Precision Bass to a Fender Jazz Bass.<\/p>\n
Generally speaking, the Jazz bass is always skinnier at the nut compared to the Precision.<\/p>\n
At the time of this writing, an American Standard Precision bass has a 1.625-inch (41.3mm) nut width. The Am Std Jazz has a significantly skinnier 1.5-inch (38.1mm) nut width.<\/p>\n
Know that the width gradually increases as you go up the neck, but since the majority of bass players play mostly on the first 5 frets, it’s the width near the nut that matters most.<\/p>\n
As a player, you will know fairly quickly whether you prefer the skinny nut Jazz or the wider Precision, so it is suggested you try both to see which works best for you.<\/p>\n
Can you put a P-style neck on a J-style body and vice versa? Yes. On like-to-like model years for Fender basses for example, it’s usually true you can swap out a P neck for a J neck and it should bolt right up without a problem (but know you will most likely need to adjust the shim along with the truss rod.)<\/p>\n
The C refers to the shape of the rear of the neck. A fretboard radius refers to the curve of the fretboard and changes the playing characteristic of the instrument depending on the curve used. The higher<\/em> the number, the flatter<\/em> the board. The lower<\/em> the number, the rounder<\/em> the board.<\/p>\n The vintage-style fretboard radius is rounder<\/em>. For a Fender style vintage neck, the radius would be 7.25-inch.<\/p>\n The modern-style fretboard radius is flatter<\/em>, and can be anywhere from 9.5-inch and up.<\/p>\n Some players prefer super-flat fretboards, and it is not unheard of to have a 16-inch fretboard radius, even on a 4-string bass.<\/p>\n If you are unsure which fretboard radius to go with for a replacement neck, the safe range is 9.5-inch to 12-inch.<\/p>\n Fender, for example, will periodically release a reissue instrument such as the American Vintage ’64 Jazz Bass<\/a> model, which touts a “period correct neck shape.”<\/p>\n Certain years in which a particular bass was manufactured have a very specific neck shape to it, and the ’64 is one of them. While the shape is a C, it’s a specific-to-1964-shape C. And yes, that does mean it will feel different compared to a Fender Modern C. <\/p>\n The only way to really know how this neck feels is to play it, as this is something that really cannot be described in words, other than saying it’s slimmer (according to Fender.)<\/p>\n And on a final note, “old,” or rather “old design,” does not necessarily translate to “good.” What’s good is whatever feels correct in your hands, be it vintage or modern, fat-necked or skinny, wide or narrow. <\/p>\n Vintage? Modern? Something different? Post a comment or two with your C shape experiences.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The most common neck shape of a bass neck is C. But are all C shapes the same? If you have ever entertained the idea of replacing your neck and you absolutely have no idea which shape to choose from, the “safe” option is “Fender Modern C,” even if it’s not made by Fender. In … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":7548,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[23],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bestbassgear.com\/ebass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7549"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bestbassgear.com\/ebass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bestbassgear.com\/ebass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bestbassgear.com\/ebass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bestbassgear.com\/ebass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7549"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.bestbassgear.com\/ebass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7549\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bestbassgear.com\/ebass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7548"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bestbassgear.com\/ebass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7549"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bestbassgear.com\/ebass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7549"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bestbassgear.com\/ebass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7549"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Neck shape by manufacturing year<\/em><\/h3>\n
What’s your favorite C?<\/h3>\n