Jazz necks....really are tiny!

[Musicman20]

So, Ive been a P player for most of my life.

Recently tried a few Lakland DJ5s but they went back....not happy with certain bits, but the necks were great.

Ive also been playing Stingrays for quite a while. Again, the necks feel great.

I intend to play my Jazz a lot more now. Just picked it up out of the case for a few mins tonight, and Im shocked at how small and quick the necks are. I know they are smaller anyway, but for some reason it was really noticeable tonight! I have smallish hands, yet P necks feel normal to me.

I thin almost any neck can be comfortable as long as its setuo correctly. The Jazz necks really are fantastic.

[budget bassist]

tell me about it, i used to have a fender reggie hamilton jazz, the neck on that was amazing. I just don't get on with the jazz sound, give me one with a slightly smaller body, dual mm style humbuckers and a 2 band pre and i'll be happy now there's an idea....

[Golchen]

I was drawn to the skinny neck of a jazz originally, but then I got a 5 string and they feel completely different!

[Cat Burrito]

It's what puts me off Jazz basses. I used to get pain in my forearm from long term use of my old 75RI Jazz. I love the tone and look of Jazz basses but prefer a chunkier neck. I had wondered if the 60s RI had a thicker neck.

[basshead56]

The difference between Jazz and Precision is astounding.
I too have smallish hands. I started on a Jazz and went through a good few before I settled on one.
Loved the necks on all of them (bar one), just wasn´t thrilled with the tone.
Got a Geddy Lee and that changed everything! Neck profile was weirdly amazing. So thin and quick!
Then I discovered that as much as I thought I disliked Precisions, I had a revealation (I now know it was some sort of Divine Intervention/cosmic/Karma shift etc).
Cast out were all but two jazzes and in flooded the Precisions, sometimes two by two
I love the necks on precsions-they feel RIGHT-big, chunky and heavey-like a REAL bass should be!

[neepheid]

+1 for smaller than average hands but chunky necks. I've said it before but I think it's more to do with bulk than width necessarily - I played a Warwick Rockbass Corvette a while back and although the neck was 38mm wide at the nut, it had a well beefy profile and I got on fine with it.

[retroman]

I think I can come at this from the other direction

I'm more used to Rickenbacker, Gibson, and Jazz neck profiles, so my P basses fell quite chunky, and my Stingray feels huge! The 'Ray is hung on the wall, next to my Ric, and the neck physically looks way bigger than the Ric's

I don't find P's, or the Ray uncomfortable to play, but they do feel really odd after playing the Ric. Dunno why, but I am starting to find that I like the P for playing finger style above anything else.........

[BottomEndian]

I think it's worth remembering how much the Fender neck profiles have changed over the years.

I've had a quick noodle on wateroftyne's early-70s Jazz and although the neck's narrow across the board, it's really quite chunky front to back. Maybe even chunkier than a present-day Precision neck. I mean, it was smaller than his early-70s Precisions, but nothing like the necks I've played on more recent Jazzes. The slimmest Jazz neck I've played was on an Aerodyne. That one was so slim I could barely play it at all. Felt like a twig.

I'm slowly coming to the realisation that my comparatively small hands don't necessarily mean I'd prefer little necks. It's all personal ergonomics, and the height at which I wear my basses seems to make more difference to their playability than the neck profiles.

[Jerry_B]

I've got fairly long hands (i.e. not wide but quite long palm and fingers) and have no problems with either. That said, Jazz necks seem faster overall. There is a slight change from one jazz to another in terms of neck thickness, I've found. Not by all that much tho' - for example, the Squier Standard Jazz I have has a neck which is around 1-1.5mm thicker across the fretboard than my MIJ Fender Jazz, but only towards the body.

[BottomEndian]

[quote name='retroman' post='720972' date='Jan 22 2010, 11:22 AM']I don't find P's, or the Ray uncomfortable to play, but they do feel really odd after playing the Ric.[/quote]
IIRC, don't Rickenbackers have a relatively small "spreading-out" of the strings from nut to bridge? I mean, the strings aren't parallel, but they're much more so than you'd find on a Fender. That could account for the difference in feel. Unless IDRC.

[dave_bass5]

[quote name='Musicman20' post='720728' date='Jan 22 2010, 01:53 AM']So, Ive been a P player for most of my life.

Recently tried a few Lakland DJ5s but they went back....not happy with certain bits, but the necks were great.

Ive also been playing Stingrays for quite a while. Again, the necks feel great.

I intend to play my Jazz a lot more now. Just picked it up out of the case for a few mins tonight, and Im shocked at how small and quick the necks are. I know they are smaller anyway, but for some reason it was really noticeable tonight! I have smallish hands, yet P necks feel normal to me.

I thin almost any neck can be comfortable as long as its setuo correctly. The Jazz necks really are fantastic.[/quote]

Exactly what i went through last month after playing a 5 string for almost two years. For the first few mins it felt cramped but then suddenly it clicked and that was the point i decided the DJ5 had to go, whether i sorted the tone out or not.
Really loving playing a slim neck with only 4 strings on it again.

[Clarky]

I have owned two models - a 2009 US std and a Highway 1 - and the latter had the skinniest neck I have ever seen on a bass, was very fast. I preferred (as a P player) the 2009 neck which was 'medium thin', very comfortable if maybe not as fast. I now have a Nash 63 Jazz relic and the neck, while narrow at the nut, is very chunky front to back. It is taking some getting used to, even as a P player! I assume 60s Jazzes have this profile too

[casapete]

I sold my Sterling due to the neck shape-just could n't get on with the slim design after years of playing Stingrays and Precisions.
I'm the same with guitars too - need to have big necks for me to get on with them.

Would love a Jazz, but the skinny necks always a deal breaker for me. Guess its just what you get used to.

[fatback]

I used to have a '68 jazz back in the eighties and that neck was so fast. But later jazzes just don't feel the same to me.

It must be the profile. I've got small hands, but whether or not I get cramp seems to depend on how U-shaped the profile is. I play with my thumb always anchored behind the neck (i play fretless) and pivoting, so the depth really matters. A wide flat board like my bb400s (P type neck) is sometimes more comfortable to me than a more rounded neck, even if it's slimmer.

Do the specs of basses tell you the neck profile? I've never looked, and I should really cos i feel GAS coming on.

fatback

[Jerry_B]

[url="http://www.fenderjapan.co.jp/fender/2008fender/jazzbass.htm"]This[/url] might make your GAS worse... I particularly like the Standard/PJ version of the Jazz. Mind you, I like MIJ Fender Jazzes in general.

[xilddx]

[quote name='Musicman20' post='720728' date='Jan 22 2010, 01:53 AM']and Im shocked at how small and quick the necks are.[/quote]
You should try my 2009 Warwick Corvette fretless (the new Wick neck profile) some time. It makes a Jazz feel like a RSJ, it's titchy! I love it, wonderful neck to play.

[retroman]

[quote name='BottomEndian' post='721009' date='Jan 22 2010, 11:48 AM']IIRC, don't Rickenbackers have a relatively small "spreading-out" of the strings from nut to bridge? I mean, the strings aren't parallel, but they're much more so than you'd find on a Fender. That could account for the difference in feel. Unless IDRC. [/quote]

Spot on
The strings on the Ric are also really close to the edge of the board as well. The neck on my 4001 has to be my favourite

[BottomEndian]

[quote name='retroman' post='721323' date='Jan 22 2010, 03:42 PM']Spot on [/quote]
So, given that the nut width on a Ric isn't outrageous, the string spacing at the bridge must be pretty tight, or at least much less than the Fender-standard 19mm. Do you know what it is in mm?

[Bassman Rich]

I'm a definite P bass man myself, and thought my 2003 USA P bass (43mm wide nut) was great, until I got my hands on a 1981 USA P bass, with a 45mm wide nut. On a steady rehearsal, it seems ok, comfortable, but when you're on stage, hot lights, big loud noise, sweat and moving about, its really great to have that space between the strings. Or is it that i'm just a sweaty slob handed 4 stringer. Now when I try a jazz, it seems almost like a toy bass (with all due respect, no slight intended), those strings are just so close together its almost unplayable for a minute or two, and 5 stringers are just really cumbersome as well!!!!

[Huw Foster]

[quote name='budget bassist' post='720732' date='Jan 22 2010, 02:06 AM']tell me about it, i used to have a fender reggie hamilton jazz, the neck on that was amazing. I just don't get on with the jazz sound, give me one with a slightly smaller body, dual mm style humbuckers and a 2 band pre and i'll be happy now there's an idea....[/quote]
Talk to Sandberg, maybe?

[fatback]

[quote name='Jerry_B' post='721288' date='Jan 22 2010, 03:16 PM'][url="http://www.fenderjapan.co.jp/fender/2008fender/jazzbass.htm"]This[/url] might make your GAS worse... I particularly like the Standard/PJ version of the Jazz. Mind you, I like MIJ Fender Jazzes in general.[/quote]

Oooooh

[Jerry_B]

Yes, isn't it? Wish I could buy the lot. Alot of stuff there that I've never seen over here. Shame really.

[4000]

[quote name='BottomEndian' post='721326' date='Jan 22 2010, 03:46 PM']So, given that the nut width on a Ric isn't outrageous, the string spacing at the bridge must be pretty tight, or at least much less than the Fender-standard 19mm. Do you know what it is in mm?[/quote]

Mine ('72 & '73) are both about 16mm IIRC. FWIW I don't find Jazz necks thin at all (although they do vary immensely). Thin nuts yes, but I don't spend a lot of time down there. I actually find them pretty bulky.

[readonly]

I've found that Jazz necks can have the same dimensions on paper, but feel very different in real life. Nicest neck i've ever played was on a bog-standard late 90's Mex Jazz. Put any US models to shame. Personally I favour a thicker neck as I'm a fat bastard and hang my flabby left arm off the neck which changes the pitch too much on a slim neck. Tried playing a Geddy Lee once and it felt like the neck was all over the show.