Is This Price for Making A Neck Reasonable?

[Obrienp]

Hi Folks,

 

Just want to see what the hive thinks of a ball park price I have been given (by my local luthier) for making a neck. The price is £350.
 

A bit of background: he made me a custom short scale P/J on a 51 P Bass theme (see photo) but with a split P pickup and some contouring (belly cut and arm cut out). I have since decided that I am happier with a medium scale Jazz style neck, so I asked him for a quote to make one. He gave me a ball park figure of £350, which is more than half what I paid for the original bass (he gave me a big discount because he wasn’t happy with the finish).  Does that sound reasonable? It would be fretted with a maple board and probably just a 12th fret marker and side dots. He is a friend, so I don’t want to quibble too much but at the same time I don’t want to pay hugely over the odds.
 

Obviously this is going to a bit of a compromise because he scaled the body down to make it look in proportion to the short scale neck. I don’t want to be moving the bridge and pickup locations: I may as well get him to make a whole new bass in that case. This means that the neck is going to be two frets longer, or so. I can’t just go and get a pattern medium scale neck (not that I can find one in the UK) because it needs to be made to accommodate the body dimensions (neck pocket, end of pocket to bridge, etc). 
 

What do you folks think? Reasonable price? Suggestions for alternative sources also gratefully received.

[itu]

Very reasonable. Be involved in the process, and get the profile of your dreams.

[MoonBassAlpha]

I'm looking for a medium scale fretless neck that I can use as a 24fret short scale for  my  current fretless. It should work,  as my bass has an unusual neck attachment. 

I  would think that's about right for a bespoke neck. Unfortunately

[MoonBassAlpha]

Looking at it, I  think you could fit a 32" 20 fret neck and move the bridge back 3/4" and  have it intonate ok with the travel on those saddles. I  know you said you weren't keen,  but it's doable,  if you can source a neck!

[Obrienp]

Thanks for the comments folks. Looking at replacement Fender necks online for £280-320, I guess a custom made 32” for £350 isn’t bad at all.

[itu]

By the way, although I love necks with no front dots, you could ask for something special. Just few ideas:

 

http://www.whocollection.com/john's_basses.htm

 

[Obrienp]

I’ll keep you posted how it goes folks.
 

The luthier has been away on holiday but is back next week. He said first step would be to mock it up to make sure I am happy with the appearance. He is worried it might look a bit unbalanced with the SS sized body and a longer neck. I’m not too bothered really. I guess it is going to mean a bit more of a reach with the extra 2 inches all in the neck but I can’t afford to commission a whole new build, so I am going to have to live with that. I don’t want to move the bridge back, because I want to have the option to put the SS neck back on, if my left hand arthritis gets worse.

 

WRT appearance. I’m not a great one for fancy inlays but I might ask him to do something a bit different at the 12th fret, even if it is just his standard headstock emblem. There is no emblem on the bass at the moment because he doesn’t normally put it on custom builds. I’m conscious here that the more work he has to do, the more it will cost, so I want to keep it simple and concentrate on playability.

[Obrienp]

OK a little update on this: the luthier has returned from his holiday and we had a couple of hours looking at options. After some deliberation, he suggested to me that the “problem” I am experiencing with my left hand arthritis is the P bass chunk and width of the current neck. I get on better with a Jazz style neck and therefore width and depth are the important comfort attributes. Increasing the scale length was a bit illogical given my arthritis. In his view something between standard Jazz and the super-thin Nordstrand Acinonyx might be ideal for me.
 

I had to agree with his logic. In which case we were left with two options: make a new 30” super-Jazz style neck, or re-profile the current neck. He said the latter would come in under £200, whereas we were still looking at around £350 for a new neck. Suffice it to say the lower cost option won out. He also said that if it didn’t work out, he would start all over; implying that he would just swallow the additional cost of materials. Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.
 

I left the bass with him and he said he might make a start on pulling the frets over the weekend, if he has time. It sounds as though I might have a rejuvenated bass quite soon! 🤞

[Andyjr1515]

As a hand arthritis sufferer myself (it's a b****r, isn't it!) and adding that I have modded most of my own basses and guitar necks as it's progressed, a few suggestions if they help.

 

• Yes - you are both spot on.  The neck shape and width makes a BIG difference.  And yes, a shorter scale tends to be much easier on arthritic hands - I personally struggle nowadays with full length basses.

• If your builder hasn't already taken the frets out, I suggest he considers a small change to the sequence.  With reference to the width, I would suggest that the neck has a 'rough' narrowing BEFORE the frets are taken out.  I just use the fine side of a shinto rasp, downwards from the fret side so that the frets are being pushed into their slots rather than pulled out of them.  Maybe a bit more extreme than your builder would be comfortable with, but, personally, I do this with the bass still fully strung up so that I, or the owner if it's not my own instrument, can try it 'on the fly'.  The advantage is that - whether the strings are left on or taken off - you can take a bit of width off and try it until the width feels 'right'.  Once it does, your builder can then take the neck off and finish it properly but with the basic width now already determined.   I did this on my own dreadnought acoustic quite recently.  It went from unplayable to public performable in one afternoon.

• I'm sure that your builder will also suggest this, but I would take material off the neck shoulders either side of the neck centre spine before deciding to reduce the actual neck depth.  So I'm talking about a 'soft' V to try first (shape 2 below).  This sort is done by simply taking material off the shoulders, shown in shape 1, up to the dotted yellow line either side of the central depth of the neck :

 

 

The reason is that, especially with arthritis, too thin a neck can be problematic and lead to cramp.  You can always take a bit of thickness off later, but I would start with the the shoulders - I find that it totally transforms the feel of a neck

[Obrienp]

Thanks for those suggestions @Andyjr1515. Yes it is a total b*st*rd, isn’t it.

 

I think you and Tony are definitely on the same page. He has marked the neck up with tape as his starting point for narrowing it. He did talk about taking a rasp to it with the frets in but he was swithering on that. He said once he has taken it down to our tape markings, he will then get me to come over and fit it more to my hand. I will remember what you said about taking the shoulders off first. My inclination is that the Jazz profile is better for me and that definitely does not have the shoulders of the P bass profile. I also agree about the depth: I sometimes get twinges from the base of my thumb when playing the Nordstrand Acinonyx that has a pretty shallow neck.

 

The thing that makes me nervous is that I don’t really get a feel for an instrument until I have played it a lot. Several times I have bought a guitar or bass, having played it in the shop and thought it was great, only to find later that I can’t live with the neck. A classic expensive mistake was a Martin D28 with performance neck that seemed fantastic at the dealer (I like a 45mm nut on an acoustic) but turned out to be just too chunky overall. I think I’m going to ask Tony not to refinish it until I am really certain we have found the Goldilocks profile.

[Norris]

If you have another bass with a neck that you find comfortable, the profile can always be copied from that one

[rmorris]

Going back to the initial post. I'd make the point that you can't reasonably expect the original discount (due to the finish) to be reflected in a new neck price.

But seems you have resolved that anyway by reprofiling etc the current neck. And tbh if you've already had a couple of hours "consultation" it sounds like you're getting a decent deal.

Sounds like a useful luthier. Might want to give them a shout on here ?

[Obrienp]

Folks. I thought I would tie up the loose ends on this. I got my bass back today with the reprofiled neck. I had a couple of fitting sessions with Tony on the way, to make sure he got it right. I find this much more comfortable to play even though the nut width is now around 39mm, not quite as narrow as I had originally expected but it works. The rear profile is much more Jazz like up to about the ninth fret and then starts to flatten a bit. It has also been refretted with narrower and lower vintage style frets allowing the action be lowered a bit more. As per my request, the back of the neck is finished in 2 light coats of clear matte varnish. This doesn’t seem to react with the original nitrocellulose 🤞. All that work came in at around 2/3rds of the original quote for a new bespoke neck!

 

On the subject of nut widths, it prompted me to measure the nut on my other basses. I was surprised how much it can differ from the published specs. My Nordstrand Acinonyx is 38.15mm against the spec of 36mm. My Maruszczyk Elwood (32”) is 37mm against the spec of 38mm (close). All Parts ‘51 precision neck on a bitsa 43mm (just about correct). The prize for manufacturing accuracy goes to my (new yesterday) Sire U5 fretless, which is spot on 38mm.

[rmorris]

Sounds good. But I don't see how changing the fret dimensions facilitates a lower action. Strings nearer the fretboard yes but not closer to the apex of the fret ?

[Andyjr1515]

Excellent.  Thanks for the update

 

[Obrienp]

2 hours ago, rmorris said:

Sounds good. But I don't see how changing the fret dimensions facilitates a lower action. Strings nearer the fretboard yes but not closer to the apex of the fret ?

Good point but he does seem to have achieved it. Might be coincidental I guess. Lower frets, less chance of rattle, so lower clearance possible? Maybe not. Strings are the same, so can’t be that.

[naxos10]

Looks like a goid job well done. I hope it helps with the pain you were originally getting.

[Obrienp]

4 hours ago, naxos10 said:

Looks like a goid job well done. I hope it helps with the pain you were originally getting.

Thanks. Very pleased with it.