C neck profile

[nofi]

while going through just about every bass fender and squier makes i noticed all the basses use a c profile/width. a couple like the roger waters sig and a tele offered a 'thick c width'. i was looking for something that approximates an old tele bass neck, fat. so what's the deal with this thick c profile. thanks!

[nofi]

i found the info i needed. nevermind.

[copacetic]

Funny you mention that. I have never quite understood the neck profile thing because there are the thicker and thinner ones. I know I have always preferred the Jazz neck (some are thinner and some thicker) and specifically 1.5 at the nut. ( hence my preference for Hofners, EB/ SG Gibsons and the modern TBird etc.). HOWEVER my single favorite bass is my Fender '55 CS Precision which has quite a whale of a neck and I somehow get around that particular profile and width very comfortably. It helps that the entire bass is 7.2 lbs as well.

[Aussie Mark]

A neck = 1 1/2" wide at the nut
B = 1 5/8"
C = 1 3/4"
D = 1 7/8"

[Dave W]

A neck = 1 1/2" wide at the nut
B = 1 5/8"
C = 1 3/4"
D = 1 7/8"

That's true but we're talking about the shape of the back profile. C, D or V shapes, thin or thick, etc.

[Aussie Mark]

That's true but we're talking about the shape of the back profile. C, D or V shapes, thin or thick, etc.

Seemed to be some discussion about widths as well in the thread, hence thought I'd clarify.  There are a lot of people who talk about a "C neck" in relation to profile, but Fender only ever used letters to designate width, not profiles.

[Hörnisse]

I once had a '79 Music Man Sabre bass that had the D width neck.  It was very flat in shape from front to back.  I bought it at Danny's Guitars here in Austin around 1983 for $250.

[nofi]

in this case my research shows people using the words profile and width to mean the same thing, neck profile like dave mentioned. cut your neck in half and see what i mean.

[hieronymous]

I have never gotten a handle on the different neck shapes, just haven't played that many I guess.

The current Fender does have an article about the neck shapes and mentions the confusion with also using letters for neck width:

http://www.fender.com/support/articles/guitar-neck-shape-v-c-u/

[Dave W]

Some sites have profile drawings, e.g. http://usacustomguitars.com/contours.html and http://www.warmoth.com/Bass/Necks/NeckBackShape.aspx

Unfortunately there isn't any kind of universal agreement on descriptions.

Personally I can live with most different contours as long as there's a smooth curve all the way to the top edge of the fretboard. When there's a noticeable transition from the back curve to almost a straight side on the edge of the fretboard, I find that uncomfortable.

[nofi]

the warmoth 8 string neck has the thick profile i would want. like my old 68 tele. i wonder what letter designation fender would assign to it.

[Dave W]

I've seen that called an Oval C on a couple of sites that discuss Fender profiles. Not sure if Fender officially calls it that, I think it's the same profile thy call the "mid-60s C" that you can find on the American Vintage '65 Strat. These also had more of a taper in thickness than modern Fender necks, i.e. the difference between the front-to-back thickness at the first fret vs at about the 12th fret.