I have an 1960s Fender Mustang, all original components, including the 3/4 neck. I've asked a dozen people (some of whom claim expertise in the area) whether I could replace the neck with a full length and have gotten basically a statistical 50/50 response.

I don't trust people wanting to sell me shit, so I humbly beseech advice from this wise forum:

Can I replace the neck or not?

Thanks in advance.

Probably not because of the scale length.

A Fender neck of the same scale length would be ok.

Adjusting the intonation for a longer neck probably wouldn't be possible, plus the neck pickup would no longer sit under the harmonic (node).

Is the scale length pissing you off?

orientalist wrote:I have an 1960s Fender Mustang, all original components, including the 3/4 neck. I've asked a dozen people (some of whom claim expertise in the area) whether I could replace the neck with a full length and have gotten basically a statistical 50/50 response.

I don't trust people wanting to sell me shit, so I humbly beseech advice from this wise forum:

Can I replace the neck or not?

Thanks in advance.

There is no way you would get that to intonate. Period. You can't even take a Strat neck and put it on a Tele, that puts the scale off and it's only a few centimeters different.

Rodabod wrote:Probably not because of the scale length.

Adjusting the intonation for a longer neck probably wouldn't be possible, plus the neck pickup would no longer sit under the harmonic (node).

Agreed. And why would you want to? I'll buy it from you... I love those little basses. I had a yellowish white one for my first bass. Damn, I loved that bass.

Fender (and Squire) are making them again. The Squire ones have maple necks and come in limited colors. The Fender (American) ones can come with rosewood fretboards and more colors. The drag is the Squires are like $250 and the Fender's are like $700. Doh.

Are you planning on moving the bridge? I assume not, and if your answer is "no", then I say this:

The distance from the nut (the zero fret) to the 12th fret *MUST* be the same as the distance from the 12th fret to the bridge. Take your neck that you're considering, and measure how far it is from the nut to the 12th fret... then line the neck up so the distance from the bridge saddles to the 12th fret is exactly the same as that distance you measured on the neck. Does the neck line up properly with the neck pocket on the instrument's body? If not, then no, you cannot use that neck without moving your bridge.

The 12th fret is the exact middle of the string, halfway between the nut and the bridge. Period.

Please, don't fuck up an otherwise nice vintage guitar. If you don't like the scale, sell it and get something more suited to your tastes.

I have a '66 Mustang that's all original, and beautiful - except for the paint. I bought it around 1990 for $140 because some asshat stripped the finish off it. It was a good deal at the time (and I had fun getting creative with acrylics on the shellaced body), and still is, but I'd like to get it back to the way it originally looked - which is going to mean spending some buku bucks getting a reputable shop to match the original red finish, many layers of clearcoat, etc....

Don't fuck up vintage guitars....there, I said it....

you can take a Strat neck off an put it on a Tele. I know several people with that set up and its fine as long as the scale is the same. after all a Tele Deluxe is factory made and is just that.

geiginni wrote:Please, don't fuck up an otherwise nice vintage guitar. If you don't like the scale, sell it and get something more suited to your tastes.

I have a '66 Mustang that's all original, and beautiful - except for the paint. I bought it around 1990 for $140 because some asshat stripped the finish off it. It was a good deal at the time (and I had fun getting creative with acrylics on the shellaced body), and still is, but I'd like to get it back to the way it originally looked - which is going to mean spending some buku bucks getting a reputable shop to match the original red finish, many layers of clearcoat, etc....

Don't fuck up vintage guitars....there, I said it....

I'll second that. I've got a '65 mustang that had the finish stripped and a damn humbucker put in at the neck. I bought because at the time I thought it was interesting and potentially more versatile, but I've grown to really dislike it. bridge pickup sounds great though.

BadComrade wrote:

I've always wanted to play one of the 70's era Fender 5 string basses (tuned E A D G C). John Paul Jones is playing one above. 14 frets. The idea was "Why slide all the way up the neck when you can just add an extra string?" People didn't like it apparently. I'm left handed, and I doubt they ever made a lefty... I love playing a G and C together... that's one of the reasons I'm probably keeping a really expensive bass I got for cheap with plans to resell it.

To me, this seems like a really bad idea for a bass. First off, going to higher strings will get you a nice bottomless sound compared to moving to higher frets. If given the choice between moving up several frets or moving up one string, I'll almost always choose moving up frets, since it will produce the biggest bottom. Obviously this isn't always practical, but...

Second, the scale (and thus fret spacing) is different from the normal basses that everybody spends time getting used to, right? So it forces you to relearn the physical mechanics of playing.

And third, if it's 14 frets, what's that inlay doing at the 15th fret?

Even considering everything "wrong" with it, I too would like to have one of these, or at the very least, to be able to mess around with one for a while.

BadComrade wrote:I just bought a Dietz 15" cab for $60. Same kind David Wm Simms used in The Jesus Lizard. Bob Weston plays through "clones" of them live, I believe. Not a bad price for an indestructable cabinet with a 400 watt EV in it that cost something like $600 new. My downstairs neighbors are gonna be pissed.

Bastard! I am to receive, today, a pair of 15" EV's (the 400 Watt model) for which I paid $160 each. New. This pales in comparison to the deal you got. Batdard!