Suggestions for an inexpensive P Bass with a Jazz neck

[Minininjarob]

Love my p bass. It’s perfect for a lot of songs I do but I wouldn’t mind keeping it downtuned and having another bass for more delicate tunes where I need to move around the fretboard more with my tiny hands. 
So are there any cheaper basses that have this, or is as simple as buying a P bass and a jazz neck and swapping them around? Are the necks mostly compatible with each other?

Wouid prefer a Fender or Squire but open to thoughts about anything else. 
Budget is maybe around £500 but may mod it for a bit more after the initial purchase. 

[miles'tone]

Squier Sonic P. I have one. £150 of awesome 👌 

Ok, I installed a Lollar P pickup because I already had one but it was fine enough stock tbh.

So on paper that's £300 of awesome that now sounds as good as any P out there imho. 

[Terry M.]

15 minutes ago, Minininjarob said:

or is as simple as buying a P bass and a jazz neck and swapping them around? Are the necks mostly compatible with each other?

I did the opposite some years ago. Stuck a P neck on a J body. They're compatible with each other if we're talking about Fender/Squier.

[ghostwheel]

Sire P7 would do. I'm just not quite sure whether it’s still considered as inexpensive. 

[HeadlessBassist]

The only stock FMIC Precision Bass with a thin neck I can think of is the Nate Mendel Road Worn signature model like mine, but you're not going to get one of those for less than about £8-900. Nut width on these is 1.615", which is not a million miles away from the Jazz's 1.5". Most modern C-neck Precisions are very close at 1.625".

 

The Sire P5 (and P7) are a little wider at 1.653", but there's not a lot in it. What really matters is the thumb-fingers thickness. Go to a store and try a few to see what fits your hand...

 

My other suggestion would be to buy a genuine Fender neck. The roasted Jazz neck is usually around £3-400 new. Which Precision do you have, btw?

 

 

Edited 13 hours ago by HeadlessBassist

[fretmeister]

I put one together - a no-name P body from the classifieds and bought a real Fender Jazz neck (Mexican).

I had tuners and a pickup already but I needed a pickguard.

[gjones]

Recently I bought a very good Chinese, Jazz Bass neck, off Ebay, for £76 including postage. It arrived within about 10 days, all the way from China.

 

I wasn't expecting much but it really is excellent.

 

Even has a cheeky Fender decal on it.

 

I've also spent a lot more from a company in the States, called Stratosphere, for a used, Japanese Fender Jazz Bass neck. It was also very good but it would cost you about £400/£500 these days with the cost of postage and duty.

 

I'd go for the Chinese option if I were you.

Edited 12 hours ago by gjones

[Minininjarob]

1 hour ago, miles'tone said:

Squier Sonic P. I have one. £150 of awesome 👌 

Ok, I installed a Lollar P pickup because I already had one but it was fine enough stock tbh.

So on paper that's £300 of awesome that now sounds as good as any P out there imho. 

Whats the neck like? 

[Minininjarob]

56 minutes ago, HeadlessBassist said:

The only stock FMIC Precision Bass with a thin neck I can think of is the Nate Mendel Road Worn signature model like mine, but you're not going to get one of those for less than about £8-900. Nut width on these is 1.615", which is not a million miles away from the Jazz's 1.5". Most modern C-neck Precisions are very close at 1.625".

 

The Sire P5 (and P7) are a little wider at 1.653", but there's not a lot in it. What really matters is the thumb-fingers thickness. Go to a store and try a few to see what fits your hand...

 

My other suggestion would be to buy a genuine Fender neck. The roasted Jazz neck is usually around £3-400 new. Which Precision do you have, btw?

 

 

Thanks that’s really helpful. I have a Player model, but I have a Musicman Sterling USA which has an amazing neck and I’d like to have the same on a P without messing with mine. 

[Minininjarob]

37 minutes ago, gjones said:

Recently I bought a very good Chinese, Jazz Bass neck, off Ebay, for £76 including postage. It arrived within about 10 days, all the way from China.

 

I wasn't expecting much but it really is excellent.

 

Even has a cheeky Fender decal on it.

 

I've also spent a lot more from a company in the States, called Stratosphere, for a used, Japanese Fender Jazz Bass neck. It was also very good but it would cost you about £400/£500 these days with the cost of postage and duty.

 

I'd go for the Chinese option if I were you.

Got a link for that Chinese neck?

[Minininjarob]

1 hour ago, miles'tone said:

Squier Sonic P. I have one. £150 of awesome 👌 

Ok, I installed a Lollar P pickup because I already had one but it was fine enough stock tbh.

So on paper that's £300 of awesome that now sounds as good as any P out there imho. 

I’ve just checked the specs and it has a 1.5” neck so that’s Jazz size yeah?? I’m thinking a blue one and swapping the hardware to all black, new electrics and a nice pickup set (if the standard ones I don’t like) and that’ll be amazing. For maybe £250 all in minus new pickups. That’ll look amazing. 
Need to go and check one out ASAP. 

[ghostwheel]

1 hour ago, HeadlessBassist said:

The Sire P5 (and P7) are a little wider at 1.653"

Sire P7 has the width at the nut of 38mm according to their web-site as well as Thomann's one. 

[miles'tone]

1 hour ago, Minininjarob said:

I’ve just checked the specs and it has a 1.5” neck so that’s Jazz size yeah?? I’m thinking a blue one and swapping the hardware to all black, new electrics and a nice pickup set (if the standard ones I don’t like) and that’ll be amazing. For maybe £250 all in minus new pickups. That’ll look amazing. 
Need to go and check one out ASAP. 

Yes, 1.5" at the nut is Jazz size. It's very comfy to play 👍🏼

 

[gjones]

2 hours ago, Minininjarob said:

Got a link for that Chinese neck?

 

The seller for my neck no longer has any for sale.

 

I suspect they may be made by a Fender/Squier manufacturer in China and one or two of them disappear out the back door.

 

But these look like the exact same ones https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?item=177280017838&rt=nc&_trksid=p4429486.m3561.l170197&_ssn=ningbohante20231205

Edited 9 hours ago by gjones

[fretmeister]

The cheaper the neck the more work it is likely to need so sometimes that £50 ebay neck might need £150 worth of fretwork to get it playing right.

 

Mind you, sometimes a real Fender neck will need that as well.

[gjones]

49 minutes ago, fretmeister said:

The cheaper the neck the more work it is likely to need so sometimes that £50 ebay neck might need £150 worth of fretwork to get it playing right.

 

Mind you, sometimes a real Fender neck will need that as well.

 

I agree. I decided to take a punt and I was surprised, as the neck is pretty good. No sharp fret ends or anything. The action is not bad but could probably do with a bit of a tweak by a guitar tech to make it 'really' good.

[police squad]

5 hours ago, gjones said:

Recently I bought a very good Chinese, Jazz Bass neck, off Ebay, for £76 including postage. It arrived within about 10 days, all the way from China.

 

I wasn't expecting much but it really is excellent.

 

Even has a cheeky Fender decal on it.

 

I've also spent a lot more from a company in the States, called Stratosphere, for a used, Japanese Fender Jazz Bass neck. It was also very good but it would cost you about £400/£500 these days with the cost of postage and duty.

 

I'd go for the Chinese option if I were you.

I have done this too

2 x ebay necks and one from Aliexpress

of the two I've fitted both nuts were cut well and they set up really well

I'm going on a Crimson guitars course, to learn how to refret/ level and set up etc and will take them along to level the frets (but I don't think they need it, they play great)

I've got some unknown bodies from an auction and used one. Turned out ok

Bought Northwest guitars own brand tuners and bridge and a tonerider pickup, it gets gigged in the U2 tribute I'm in

[fretmeister]

I'd like to do a guitar course like that.

 

Would be very handy.

[police squad]

54 minutes ago, fretmeister said:

I'd like to do a guitar course like that.

 

Would be very handy.

600 quid. You get a discount on the tools too

My luthier that I've always used has retired now, although he still does a few jobs for his mates (I have a neck reset that needs doing on my hofner) I have decided it can't be that hard

I understand how to level frets and know that they have to be crowned after levelling.

May as well learn to remove frets, plane the board and fit new ones etc

you can buy tools that show you when the neck is dead straight, so you can start levelling etc

Crimson guitars down Dorset way

[jd56hawk]

I'm not the biggest Fender fan but this one came as a pleasant surprise.

Saw it at Guitar Center last month.

152 basses there.

Everything else was hanging on the wall but the Fender was sitting in a stand right inside the door to the bass room, just asking to be picked up and plugged in.

Twenty amps on the floor but for some reason, only an Ampeg Rocket was actually plugged in so I used that instead of a Rumble.

Must've played for half an hour or more and the truth is, I never sounded better...hadn't touched a bass in two weeks.

Sure, tone is all in the fingers, but I have to think the bass had a little to do with it.

Seriously, though, what a nice P bass!

I used a strap and the bass felt very comfortable...I'm guessing it was under 8 lbs...and the neck was perfect. I don't believe the fretboard edges were rolled, but the edges were definitely rounded...1.65 nut, felt like a Jazz bass neck to me.

Looked very nice with the Candy Cola finish, but I think a black pickguard would've looked better...that's just nitpicking, though.

Played along with my ipod as I always do.

Must've played along to 9 or 10 songs...some hard rock and some softer stuff, too.

Sounded great!

I can only imagine it'd sound even better with some tapewounds or flatwounds.

Edited 4 hours ago by jd56hawk

[Norris]

My Indonesian Squier P-bass Special has a neck like a matchstick. It's still about my favourite bass even though I've moved on to 5-string for the last couple of years. It's a PJ with P body and J neck, circa 2004. I bought it from the BC classifieds many years ago for not a lot at all. I gigged it for many years, preferring it over much more expensive basses