mcnach Posted May 26, 2017 Share Posted May 26, 2017 I've got a ridiculous Squier Jazz, a '94 Korean one from the Cort factory. Why ridiculous? Because I've owned more Jazz basses than I remember, from £40 Westfields to several 75RI Fenders. And this is my favourite. I bought it here for the princely sum of £75. I wanted a cheap Jazz bass at a time when I was Jazzless. This one was offered, the electronics didn't work properly and it was not cosmetically in the best condition, hence the price, but it was ok. I fixed the electronics, cleaned it... and loved it. Well, loved it after I replaced the pickups, they were terrible. After a while I realised that this thing was here to stay and I added a J-Retro preamp. Essentially the electronics are worth several times what I paid for the whole bass But nothing sounds like it, for whatever reason. With Labella White Nylon tapewounds this thing is just fantastic. Except... I really don't like Jazz necks. Or rosewood. So I thought... I don't really want to spend a lot of money on something that is not *necessary* and which if not right might just change too much of what makes me love this bass... but for £60 I might just give it a shot. £60 being the price of some tasty looking Jazz necks advertised on AliExpress, all maple, lacquered (as I like) with a yellowish/vintage tint... I contacted them and asked whether they also have some Precision necks to sell. The ones they had were all 38mm at the nut. The answer came almost immediately: "no, but we can make one for you. what do you want?" So I specified a 42mm nut, etc... oh, and logo... their necks show no logo, but they do mention in the blurb they'll put a logo of your choice. Presumably that means Fender for a lot of people. I said I'd like a replica of the original Squier logo, down to serial number etc and sent them a picture. The answer came again fast "yes, we can do that, we charge $10 for the logo design work"... That sounded great as I thought I was going to make the logo myself, with my limited ability for these things. I found a font that was relatively close and so I could make a logo that would do the job, but if they can do it for $10... let them. They will send me pictures before finishing it, and will change if I felt it needed modification. That was March 22nd. Time started to pass. Time continued to pass. Time had children, which grew, and then they passed too. - "Hi, how is that neck going?" I asked in mid April. - "Next week" was the, again quick, reply. Next week made a whooshing sound as it passed by me (just like deadlines, love you Douglas! ) - "Hi..." - "Next week" 3 times. Now, AliExpress have a very good buyer protection program, from what I hear (I never needed it, I only bought a couple of pickguards and a preamp from the place before)... but it has a time limit, and that time limit was 26th of May for me. It seems that AliExpress gets the payment when you place the order, and they don't release the funds to the seller until the buyer confirms it's received and ok (or a certain time passes after confirmed delivery by the postal company if the buyer doesnt bother to reply). So that makes it much easier than dealing with individual sellers. The last time I heard "Next week", I waited the week and another one without making contact, and I just said "Squier, you're keeping your old neck" and opened a dispute at AliExpress to get a refund. I explained the issue, with copy to the seller, and as indeed there was no tracking number or evidence of shipping anything nearly 2 months after the order... AliExpress quickly refunded me. A day or so later, the seller emails me a picture of a neck and says "we'll be working on the logo tomorrow and will send you the picture in 2-3 days". Then, with a choice of words that sounded almost like they were broken hearted added a question about why did I open a dispute? It was in a nice tone, sounded hurt I replied stating why: "next week" promises unfulfilled and coming to the end of my buyer protection period. Because they sounded nice and genuine, just... slow, I added "the thing is I would still be interested. If you finish the neck, and put it for sale as a new item, please send me the link and I will buy it". They said ok. They will send me pictures when finished "next week" and if it's right, then I can buy it. "Next week" was actually going to be next week, but I got the picture today. My new neck, Precision dimensions, for the Squier... Let's see how it goes! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gary mac Posted May 26, 2017 Share Posted May 26, 2017 Well it looks good Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassApprentice Posted May 26, 2017 Share Posted May 26, 2017 £60 for a neck made to your spec with a decent looking logo. Not bad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul h Posted May 26, 2017 Share Posted May 26, 2017 Looks good I've bought a few bits from Aliexpress. A couple of pedals and a scratchplate or two. Not had anything go wrong so no experience of the customer support in that regard. I am always tempted to try a bass/guitar purchase. Hoping the neck is everything you wanted when it arrives! Looking forward to a happy ending. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcnach Posted May 26, 2017 Author Share Posted May 26, 2017 [quote name='BassApprentice' timestamp='1495789215' post='3306549'] £60 for a neck made to your spec with a decent looking logo. Not bad. [/quote] It'll need a nut, and expect to take care of fret levelling etc... but if it's half decent that's nothing. It was worth a shot. I'll report back when I receive it. I'm also repainting the body... fiesta red? purple? I've got both colours... decisions decisions... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beer of the Bass Posted May 26, 2017 Share Posted May 26, 2017 There can't be many necks in the world with a fake Squier decal! I hope the quality is good - my £30 Chinese guitar neck has fretwire that seems softer than the good stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcnach Posted May 26, 2017 Author Share Posted May 26, 2017 [quote name='Beer of the Bass' timestamp='1495799627' post='3306704'] There can't be many necks in the world with a fake Squier decal! I hope the quality is good - my £30 Chinese guitar neck has fretwire that seems softer than the good stuff. [/quote] "Genuine fake Squier decal! L@@K!" Yeah, let's see how it goes. Going by what different people say, some are very decent and some not so much. There were some for £25. I saw what these guys were selling and they *looked* reasonable and the way they described things made me feel they were above average. But for all I know, they might be buying the £25 necks and selling them to me for £60 Postage will be slow, so I don't expect to have news until another 2-3 weeks from now. Oh, and I'm going with purple Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghost_Bass Posted May 26, 2017 Share Posted May 26, 2017 Ohhh! I feel a new thread comming up! "I don't get the whole putting a Squier decal on a non Squier neck thing" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yorks5stringer Posted May 27, 2017 Share Posted May 27, 2017 I saw those necks when I was looking at the worse case scenario of replacing the neck of my rattling truss rod Squier....however G4M kindly sent the Bass back to Fender who refused to return it! Got a new Bass on the way so fingers crossed. That's a pretty looking neck you've got coming.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les Posted May 28, 2017 Share Posted May 28, 2017 [quote name='mcnach' timestamp='1495785563' post='3306495'] Except... I really don't like Jazz necks. Or rosewood. [/quote] Is your original neck for sale ? Les Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcnach Posted May 28, 2017 Author Share Posted May 28, 2017 [quote name='Les' timestamp='1495968676' post='3307791'] Is your original neck for sale ? Les [/quote] No, I'm going to keep it, I'm sorry. Despite being rosewood and Jazz-like in dimensions, it's not like I cannot play it and it's actually one of the very nicest Jazz necks I have ever played. I want to keep it for as long as I have the rest of the bass. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les Posted May 28, 2017 Share Posted May 28, 2017 [quote name='mcnach' timestamp='1496001749' post='3308070'] No, I'm going to keep it, I'm sorry. Despite being rosewood and Jazz-like in dimensions, it's not like I cannot play it and it's actually one of the very nicest Jazz necks I have ever played. I want to keep it for as long as I have the rest of the bass. [/quote] No worries. Funny how we all like different neck profiles. I have 2 squier P basses, 1 with a jazz neck that I love and 1 with a P neck that I use as a baseball bat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erisu Posted April 30, 2018 Share Posted April 30, 2018 Sorry to drag this thread out from the grave... @mcnach just wondering how did you get on with this? Did you ever receive the neck and get a chance to play with it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcnach Posted May 2, 2018 Author Share Posted May 2, 2018 (edited) I did get it and it was fine. Nut was cut a bit roughly but no worse than in any other budget bass (I bought a replacement, they're cheap). Fretwork was reasonable (minor fret levelling to get the best out of it). The finish will not win prizes, but it's not bad either, it just shows some minor imperfections in the lacquer... it clearly was made fast. It looks good, and the tint was exactly what I was after. They did a reasonable job replicating the logo of my original Squier. It's not identical but it's ok. It is fine. Nothing more. Which is no less than I expected. If you do your own setups and are happy levelling the odd uneven fret and cutting slots on a new nut, then it's just fine. I end up having to do that in a lot of the instruments I buy, no big deal. Edited May 2, 2018 by mcnach Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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