3 Bolt neck joint.

[arthurhenry]

I have two 70's Fenders with 3 bolt neck joints and gaps in the neck pocket into which you could drive a small family car. They've had lots of use, hundreds and hundreds of gigs and I put them through their paces. The necks have never budged a millimetre. So why is there a negative attitude towards 3 bolt necks? Have they ever really caused problems?

[Mokl]

I have never had a problem with mine. So long as done up tight there's absolutely nothing wrong with it. I had a G&L bass with a 3 bolt too, which was perfect. I heard that G&L changed to a 4 bolt due to customer demand, but that there was no actual technical reason.

[BB3000S]

I have two, and have had another two. Fender Jazz basses all of them. Never caused me any grief whatsoever. I actually quite like the ability to tilt the neck without having to resort to shims.
Then again, the ones that were off maybe got thrown away ages ago anyway - or perhaps they really are technically as good as the fourbolts.

[gafbass02]

Never had a problem with mine either

[machinehead]

I think the bad reputation came from the 70s when people caused their own problems due to a lack of understanding of how to use the adjustment feature. Properly used they are excellent.

I've never had a problem with mine either. You have nothing to fear.

Frank.

Edited February 13, 2012 by machinehead

[3below]

1985 G&L Sb1, 3 bolt neck. Just stays in tune, rock solid. Play, put in case, play, put in case... repeat etc might retune now and then, is a notable event in band when I have to retune it (and yes I do play in tune lol). 3 bolt necks, what is the issue?

[EdwardHimself]

I can't see the problem really. The 2 bolts right on the top of the neck mounting hold the neck down against the tension of the strings, the bolt or bolts at the bottom are basically just there to stop it from moving side to side. I think as has been said the issue was with the tilt adjustment feature and people not being able to get their heads around it.

Edited February 13, 2012 by EdwardHimself

[BigRedX]

In theory it's a good idea (although a better one would have been for Fender to build their instruments more accurately in the first place). However if the plate in the neck joint that the tilt adjuster acts against hasn't been put in flat then it tends to push the neck sideways as well as up and if there's enough play in the joint side to side this can be a major problem.

Every Fender instrument (without exception) with this 3-bolt design that I saw in the music shop where I was helping out in 1979 had this problem to varying degrees from necks that were slightly wonky looking to those where one of the outside strings was off the edge of the fretboard by the 15th fret.

[dlloyd]

I reckon a lot of the negative attitude comes from the guitar playing community, and it's entirely related to fashion.

In the late 1960s/early 1970s, Strats weren't all that desirable, despite Hendrix's use of them. Everyone wanted Gibsons to be like Eric Clapton. Believe it or not, "vintage" Strats were cheaper than new ones. Then Eric Clapton started using strats, etc. (overly simplified, I know).

The trouble was that 1970s strats didn't look entirely like the strats that Clapton et al were playing... people didn't like the big headstock and overly large decal, they didn't like the bullet truss rod, the repositioned 12th fret markers, the black plastic knobs and pickup covers... more seasoned players noticed that the newer guitars also had a three bolt neck, thicker paint, a die-cast bridge, level pole pieces... so they went for the older guitars.

An increased range of budget guitars like the Bronco, the Bullet and the Lead series and slightly iffy QC didn't particularly help Fender's image into the 1980s.

The three bolt neck was a feature of 1970s strats, that was used as a convenient explanation by those who wanted to justify their preference of the older instruments. Or, more likely, by those who wanted to sell an older instrument.

Edited February 13, 2012 by dlloyd