Fenderbird... P-bass or J-bass neck?

[Denis]

I've been thinking about which neck I'd like to put on the decapitated T-bird body on the way and ideally would like to stick with a '70s P-bass neck. I love the neck on my '78, the way it plays, the way it looks with the old style Precision Bass decal curving around the bottom edge of the headstock and the way the nitro looks on it.

However, '70s necks are expensive! I'd like to stick with a USA neck rather than MIM or MIJ, just to stay in the spirit of the thing.

Thoughts?

P-bass or J-bass?

New neck, '70s RI or original?

Maple (leaning this way) or rosewood?

I'd love to hear what you have to say!

[exiledarchangel]

Maple pee with dark blocks and binding! It doesn't matter if it would be new or old, if you like the feel of it and the price is right.

[Highlander]

"D" profile P neck was the original... why argue with a classic... that's what my Peter Cook's based on and that's as close to the original as I'll ever be...

[gearHed289]

Maple fingerboard for sure. I put a Korean made Mighty Mite "Fender Licensed" Jazz Bass neck on my Fenderbird. Nice neck for a hundred bucks.

[Dr. Aquafresh]

+1 on the Mighty Might necks they are pretty nice for not a lot of cash.

Mine has a 70's style logo on it, and is waiting for a body... Maybe I should build a Fender-bird?

[dadagoboi]

Maple/maple Precision, early 70's profile on the originals.  I prefer Allparts necks, they have correct truss rod adjuster location and are closer to the original fretboard radius than the Mighty Mite.  Somebody has to get a tax number so we can buy wholesale!  They are less than MM necks that way.  Unfortunately, my music store connection folded a while back.

IIRC by the late '70s Fender wasn't using nitro on the headstocks.  You can tell if yours is nitro or not by whether the decal is under the clearcoat or on top.  If it's on top it's lacquer.  If it's under it's not. In a production operation it's too time consuming to dust coats of lacquer on a decal first to keep it from melting before spraying a wet coat.

[Nocturnal]

Personally I would prefer a Jbass neck with rosewood and blocks on mine, but thats just a matter of my taste (and my hand size). I'm more comfortable on a Jazz neck. I think that no matter what neck you put on it will be a winner. Maple with black blocks can be pretty cool too!

[Highlander]

Peter Cook used J necks on the Explorers he built for JAE...

[Lightyear]

Go with what you like to play - looks are nice but if you don't like the feel of the neck you wont't play it as much.

Reliable Fender sells new Fender Japan necks all of the time - not real cheap but not outrageous either

[Denis]

I've seen the necks Reliable Fender is selling and they do look nice indeed. Nearly all though have rosewood fingerboards but I'm browsing the store now...

[Highlander]

Take into account the scale length and the neck, mind you... otherwise you may need to do some bridge repositioning...

[dadagoboi]

I've seen the necks Reliable Fender is selling and they do look nice indeed. Nearly all though have rosewood fingerboards but I'm browsing the store now...

I got a maple lefty Pbass neck from them a while back, very good neck.

[drbassman]

I love maple j necks.