universal neck heels/body pockets

[Bob Hoover Ross]

Is there any reason they can't make the 5-string bass necks with the same heel dimensions as the 4-string bass necks? Would allow for far more interchangeability and experimentation.

I imagine they'd have to carve/rout/chamfer/something the mating edges of the wider 5-string necks to get the heel to fit a standard-sized neck pocket, but that shouldn't affect the neck's structural integrity

...right?

 

[yddeds]

I think it would be very complicated to do and kind of pointless as all of the other hardware needs to be changed to work for a 5 string

 

[line6man]

Most people don't want string spacing that tight.

 

[stubhead]

It'd easy to say "they should do this, or they should that"; but without been privy to their actual sales figures for particular models, and perhaps even more important their long, long experience with "radical" musicians with their radical tats, piercings, hair, drugs and all - who want nothing more than a picture-perfect '59 Tele just like the one Grandma used to play - it's mysterious to try to out-guess what would, and wouldn't, work. "Work" in the financial sense of action=money. I would hazard a guess, a wild-assed one at that, that the suggestion box here on this forum probably has more peachy-keen ideas collectively than Warmoth receives over the transom, mail, phone, e-mail all put together. And the suggestions here get a certain permanence, even a lee-tle momentum through repetition. But - there has to be a certain number of sales to reach a "break-even" point. And even the tiniest little bit of innovation off the Fender standard invites a whole slew of "Waah! It doesn't work!" comments. Which can't be argued if they only make everything the same size...

Guitar neck pocket width is the very first thing I will change if I get elected God, at least as an option. Big frets + narrow neck + wide bridge doesn't work right, which is why even Fender went over to "modern" string spacing on the newer bridges. I would prefer a neck that got wider towards the bridge but NOT wider at the nut too; oh well.

 

[Bob Hoover Ross]

Most people don't want string spacing that tight.

No, that was precisely my point: Don't make the necks all the same width, just the heels of all their necks. The wider 5- (and 6-) string necks would simply have part of their material hanging out over the top of the instrument's body on either side of the univerally-sized neck pocket.

 

[Fat Pete]

I get what you're saying. Warmoth make the superwide guitar necks that way. It would mean that you could pick from all the 4 string bodies - as long as it wasn't already routed for bridge or incompatible pickups - and attach a 5 string neck.

But... Warmoth are a replacement parts supplier. I don't know what the split is between sales of necks or bodies to fit a customer's existing kit compared to sales of body/neck combos to lunatics like us forum-folk but a big part of their marketing is about (Fender) compatibility.

So it couldn't actually be universal, just yet another option (read: opportunity for customers to buy the wrong product because they didn't read the details properly).

 

[line6man]

Most people don't want string spacing that tight.

No, that was precisely my point: Don't make the necks all the same width, just the heels of all their necks. The wider 5- (and 6-) string necks would simply have part of their material hanging out over the top of the instrument's body on either side of the univerally-sized neck pocket.

The heel of a four string neck pocket of the Fender spec that Warmoth builds to is too narrow for a five string instrument, unless the string spacing is tight.

 

[Cagey]

I put together a Strat for another member here last year that had a super-wide neck, and they kept the same heel but there was some side overhang of the fretboard. I'm sure they could do the same thing for a bass, if they don't already. Might not be much call for it so it's not in the builder, but if you were to call direct and ask, they might do it. They're willing and capable of doing a lotta things that aren't called out in the online builder.

 

[TonyFlyingSquirrel]

My Bari-Tele neck has some side overhang, but it's not really noticeable when playing.

 

[Super Turbo Deluxe Custom]

One problem I could see is the Fender stuff is parts and must fit something Fender sells.  Since Fender doesn't make a 4 string body with a 5 string bridge, Warmoth can't make a neck that does that.  It would have to be a Warmoth neck made for a Warmoth body, so no Fender headstock shape.