Help me find the right neck

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MC3
PAT. # 2.972.923
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Help me find the right neck

Post by MC3 » Wed Jan 09, 2019 4:18 pm

Hello all

I recently came into ownership of an unfinished Saylor JM body for a good price. I have modded guitars I've owned in the past but I have never started from scratch like this.

The first thing I figured I would try and tackle is the neck. My current offset is a Squier J Mascis Jazzmaster, and I really like the neck on it. I'm starting to learn that many people feel this way about it, so a quick search online makes it pretty clear that there aren't very many JMJM necks floating around online. Anyone know of a neck that is shaped close to the JMJM? Either finished or unfinished I'm not too worried, although I would like to keep it relatively budget friendly if possible.

Thanks

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j mascis
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Re: Help me find the right neck

Post by j mascis » Thu Jan 10, 2019 8:12 am

Hey! I sold you that body. Hope you dig it.
But yeah, just find the measurements of that Mascis neck, and then have USACG (or any after market builder) make one to those specs. It might cost a bit, like $220ish. But, that is probably better than waiting around for years for a Mascis neck to appear on Reverb.

A quick search pulled up the important specs:

Neck Shape
"C" Shape
Scale Length
25.5" (648 mm)
Fingerboard Material
Rosewood
Fingerboard Radius
9.5" (241 mm)
Number of Frets
21
Fret Size
Jumbo
Nut Width
1.675" (42.5 mm)

I usually see 42mm nuts or 43mm nuts, so 42.5 might be hard to find.

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MC3
PAT. # 2.972.923
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Posts: 111
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Re: Help me find the right neck

Post by MC3 » Thu Jan 10, 2019 9:00 am

j mascis wrote:
Thu Jan 10, 2019 8:12 am
Hey! I sold you that body. Hope you dig it.
But yeah, just find the measurements of that Mascis neck, and then have USACG (or any after market builder) make one to those specs. It might cost a bit, like $220ish. But, that is probably better than waiting around for years for a Mascis neck to appear on Reverb.

A quick search pulled up the important specs:

Neck Shape
"C" Shape
Scale Length
25.5" (648 mm)
Fingerboard Material
Rosewood
Fingerboard Radius
9.5" (241 mm)
Number of Frets
21
Fret Size
Jumbo
Nut Width
1.675" (42.5 mm)

I usually see 42mm nuts or 43mm nuts, so 42.5 might be hard to find.
Dude I'm so hyped that it was another OSG member haha. That's funny because I know you said in another thread it wasn't the perfect contours etc. but I kept thinking,"man if i could get a cheaper body like that to figure out my first JM build on I would be stoked".

thanks for pulling the info up on the neck too. I've never really dealt with different nut widths, does something like 42mm and 43mm really make a difference in feel/playing?

@all
forgive me if I have many questions, this is going to be a serious learning project

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j mascis
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Re: Help me find the right neck

Post by j mascis » Thu Jan 10, 2019 9:18 am

Haha. Yeah, weird. CL to Reverb to here...

So yeah, 42 to 42.5 to 43 won't make much difference. I personally like a 42mm nut because it's perfect for my hand size and blending leads with chords, as is a 9.5 radius. If you play mostly lead maybe the 43mm nut will be better. I've never played a 42.5 and didn't even know they existed.

Maybe go to a local shop and play the different nut widths. You live near Wildwood Guitars, so they should be able to help you play a bunch of different widths.

Neck is the most important part of any build, so I wouldn't go too cheap there. Find what you like and then have an after market builder make it. If you do go to a shop and test, also make sure to ask them the thickness and taper. I like somewhere in the .83 to .86 range at the first fret and then getting fatter as you go up. Otherwise I get hand cramps. Fatter is better than thinner, IMO, even with small hands. The Mascis neck doesn't mention the neck width or taper in the specs so I'm not sure.

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