Matt194

I thought the only things I had to do was angle the pickups and change the bridge to something like the hipshot singles? I was considering making a body from scratch or using the one from my first ever bass as a sacrifice, so routing out the new pickups or other modifications are not really bothering me. I'm just worried about getting the level of precision needed for the frets and the rest of the neck.

Yeah, in a perfect world I'd get a dingwall 4 string and call it a day but its probably more economical to look for a decent 5 string. Definitely a good point about the spacing though, I'm used to a thin neck on the sub4

This is what I currently do with my sub4 but it's the only bass I have and it's a pain to keep switching it around and setting it up every time. I'm basically looking for another bass to have for the low setups and be able to get to drop A, C standard, D drop C or whatever crazy tunings I want to, to be able to play some metal core stuff. Which is what leads me to the fanned fret argument, especially as I'd rather stick to 4 strings because of how thin the neck is on the sub4 and how used to it I am. If money was no object I'd get a dingwall ng3 4 string, so my current idea was to try and look for a neck with a 36.25"-34" scale and put that on the body of my first bass (a terrible £80 ebay find) and replace all the electrics, new bridge etc. But I can't find anywhere to just buy a neck so I either make one from scratch and it almost definitely won't be perfect, or get one custom made which will probably cost just as much as a decent bass on its own.

Thanks for this I'll give it a think

Hi all, Apologies for the rambling, I don't know what I'm talking about and want to get the best advice possible. So I've been playing on and off for about 7 years but self taught and just playing along to stuff, and by no means am I a musician or know what I'm doing. I currently have a sterling sub Ray4 which I love, but I want to start playing prog rock/metal, metal core and just stuff with lower tunings. I'd rather not re-string and set up my bass every time I want to go between tunings so I've been looking into getting something else to have set up for this. I think the general consensus is to get a 5 string and add in a lower B string but I've heard you have to pay close attention to muting strings and a few other bits to sound alright, but I'm not very good and don't want to get frustrated/overwhelmed with something that I genuinely love doing. Which brings me to my possibly weird idea. I was thinking that a 4 string multiscale or fanned fret bass would allow me to reach the lower tunings without feeling too alien (I know the frets are in different places but at least there's still only 4 strings to keep track of). If I'm right, this would allow me to play a wider range of tunings with the tone sounding right and string tightness being correct and all the other benefits of fanned fret instruments. I'm also an engineer and take apart and build things all the time so naturally I'm wanting to build a bass, but the idea of cutting in the fanned frets gives me a headache despite multiple YouTube videos. I've been looking to buy the neck pre-made but can't find anything, which usually means it's a bad idea. I was wondering if anyone had any advice at all? Is a fanned fret a good idea? Am I better off just taking the step for a 5 string? Anyone know where I can get a neck for a decent price? I don't want to pay over the odds for it when I could just keep an eye out for a cheap second hand bass Thanks for reaching the end of the post, any input is greatly appreciated