odd neck pocket dims? Identify this bass please!

[Bob Hoover Ross]

I've had this Warmoth 5-string fretless J-type bass for about 10 years now. It was purchased second-hand and judging by all the lacquer checking on the body finish, it was either quite a few years old already at the time I bought it, or else the previous owner left it in the icebox just before playing underneath hot stage lights!

Here's the bass:

Having just recently acquired another (admittedly nicer) fretless 5-string (a Rob Allen MB-2, in case you're wondering) I now want to change this Warmoth to either a fretted 5-string or (preferably) an 8-string. So I want to re-use this body & electronics, and put a new Warmoth neck onto it.

Here's my problem: According to Warmoth's website (http://www.warmoth.com/bass/options/options_bass_neck_pocket.cfm) the neck pocket dimensions for a 5-string body should be 100mm x 74mm, and the neck pocket dims for a 4-string body (which the Warmoth 8-string neck fits) should be 3.875" x 2.5"

My bass appears to be neither of those dimensions!

As best as I can tell, the neck pocket dims of my bass are 3.8125" x 2.625". (In metric that works out to 96.83mm x 66.68mm)

So either
A) I have a completely unique freak of a bass body that's not compatible with any current Warmoth necks; or
B) this is simply within the typical margin of error in Warmoth's published dimensions (which seems unlikely; and even if it were true, I'm still not sure which neck would fit my body); or
C) I suck at taking & reading measurements!

In case C is the likely answer, I humbly submit photos of my neck pocket & neck heel with a steel straightedge ruler:

neck pocket

neck pocket length

neck pocket width

neck heel length

neck heel width

Can anyone help me identify what I've got here, and whether any of the currently-made Warmoth necks (either 5-string or 8-string) will fit this body? Thanks.

 

[Wyliee]

Once upon a time, Warmoth offered Deluxe 5 necks in two widths, wide and narrow.  What you have may well be a wide neck.  Unfortunately, a neck with those dimensions is no longer available.

How about saving it for a backup to your Rob Allen?

-Eric.

 

[Bob Hoover Ross]

Once upon a time, Warmoth offered Deluxe 5 necks in two widths, wide and narrow.  What you have may well be a wide neck.  Unfortunately, a neck with those dimensions is no longer available.

Yeah, I just got an email reply from the Sales Manager at Warmoth, and he basically confirms your observation:

"Our D5 necks used to be classified as Big 5 and Small 5 with each of those neck heels being a different dimension.

We changed all of that a number of years ago to a new D5 based on Fender’s dimensions and discarded all the hand patterns for the Big 5 and Small 5 necks and bodies.

We rarely obsolete a product but that is indeed what we have done to the Big 5 and Small 5. We are unable to make those necks or bodies any longer."

How about saving it for a backup to your Rob Allen?

Heh-heh... a "backup", what's that? 
Seriously, in my 33 years of gigging professionally I have never needed a backup instrument. Oh sure, I've brought 'em just in case...but they just took up space in the truck and on stage. Never broke a string, never had the electronics crap out, never had some idot trip over my patchcord and knock it on the ground... Guess I'm pretty lucky!

Plus I really need a decent 8-string much more than I need a second fretless 5-string. My old Ibanez ST-980 is starting to get pretty long in the tooth. Sigh... Guess I'll sell both the Ibanez & this Warmoth and cobble together a new 8-string from all new Warmoth parts.

Okay, the bass portrayed in post #1 is now for sale!

 

[stubhead]

Pull the bridge & the bridge pickup, fill the bridge pickup slot, convert the neck pickup to a blade-type (maybe it is?) and make it into seven string guitar! (2.625" heel width....)

http://www.warmoth.com/guitar/necks/necks.cfm?fuseaction=warmoth_7string

Everybody needs one of those! :blob7:

 

[bwbass]

Yeah, the heel brand tells the story.  All modern Warmoth 5-string replacement necks have a "Lic By Fender" brand and are made to Fender specs, unlike yours.

Off the subject, I see you're a cyclist too!  What do you ride?

 

[Bob Hoover Ross]

Off the subject, I see you're a cyclist too!  What do you ride?

Cannondale Synapse Carbon 2 and a Bridgestone 600...and I'm about a week away from putting a deposit on a Richard Sachs Signature. Which means I'm about 6 years away from getting my third bike!

 

[bwbass]

Ah, a roadie bass player.  I'm an urban/commuter bass player myself (internal 8-speed hub, discs, fenders, etc).  Sounds like you've got some very cool stuff in your garage, and more on the way!

 

[Alfang]

I'd vote for not changing that guitar at all, I think it looks bitchen as is.

My vote is for you to build a completely new guitar

 

[Bob Hoover Ross]

I'd vote for not changing that guitar at all, I think it looks bitchen as is.

My vote is for you to build a completely new guitar

Thatt's starting to look like the only solution: In addition to Warmoth, two other neck builders have told me "sorry, we can't build a neck with non-standard (i.e., Fender) neck pocket dimensions."  Too bad. I was really hoping to re-use that bass body ('cuz I agree, I think it looks bitchin') but leaving it as a fretless 5-string is pointless and extravagent for me. So I'll probably sell it and look to buy a whole new 8-string.

 

[Bob Hoover Ross]

Thatt's starting to look like the only solution: In addition to Warmoth, two other neck builders have told me "sorry, we can't build a neck with non-standard (i.e., Fender) neck pocket dimensions."  Too bad. I was really hoping to re-use that bass body ('cuz I agree, I think it looks bitchin') but leaving it as a fretless 5-string is pointless and extravagent for me. So I'll probably sell it and look to buy a whole new 8-string.

As it turns out, I was finally able to locate a luthier (Michael Dolan) who could build a custom neck for these odd pocket dims. So I was able to salvage the Warmoth body and EMG electronics, and I now have a new 8-string bass in my arsenal:

And of course, I now also have a spare Warmoth fretless 5-string neck ("wide 5") ...so if anyone is interested, that's for sale. But be sure to read this entire thread re: wide 5 neck pocket dims.

 

[Chris of Arabia]

Sounds suspiciously like a result. Nice one

 

[stubhead]

And, now, that neck will fit into the pocket of a Warmoth seven-string body:
http://www.warmoth.com/guitar/bodies/7_string.cfm?fuseaction=7s

Just roughly eyeballing my G5 bass body and 7S guitar*, it looks like there'd be plenty of room to get a bass bridge on a seven-string guitar body with the saddles 34"  away from the nut, and Warmoth can route for any pickup in any position if you just throw enough money at them.... too bad I've already thrown away all my money this month on car insurance and food and similar dumb junk. :sad1:

*(these two bodies are really, really similar)

 

[Bob Hoover Ross]

And, now, that neck will fit into the pocket of a Warmoth seven-string body:
http://www.warmoth.com/guitar/bodies/7_string.cfm?fuseaction=7s

Not according to Warmoth: I asked Gregg Stewart, Sales Manager @ Warmoth, if that Big 5 bass neck would fit the seven-string guitar bodies you linked to, and his reply was

"No, they are not compatible as stated by our head production manager."


Too bad, 'cuz I was all set to cobble together a 5-string fretless tenor bass (A-D-G-C-F) with a swamp ash body and a Bill Lawrence humbucker... Damn!

 

[Micahbell]

Seriously, in my 33 years of gigging professionally I have never needed a backup instrument.

You are lucky. In the last year of quite frequent gigging I have broken two strings on my bass. Luckily, both times we were playing with other bands, so I finished off the song and grabbed another bass.
But it's my own fault. I find when I drink too much I tend to dig in really hard and mess stuff up.