LeftyBassist.com

Hi all, I've been thinking of switching some necks and bodies around and before I do it I thought I'd ask of the boards wisdom. I intend to let a profesional do the work but am not entirely sure the bass will be everything I'm imagining it will be

I have a beautiful 78 Jazz, natural with a bound and block inlayed rosewood board and duncan Antiquity pickups (when i bought it had EMGs with a battery compartment routed from the back) - so its not the most orginal specimen but I love the neck and love the pickups
The problem is its heavy, really, really heavy. Heavy is fine for one set a night but I've been playing two or three so its been under the bed for over a year now and I miss it. I also have a white 90' 62RI that I like and enjoy playing but it sounds - not as good, more of the at home or backup variety.
I've been thinking of transfering the neck and electronics over to the reissue to make it the best of both worlds - light body that feels and sounds good.

Questions;
I know this has been hit on before on this site but I'm trying to figure out how much the body wood (Basswood) will affect the tone. I don't know if it is basswood but I think the 62RI were all the same wood
Is the neck swap generally straight forward? can there be major problems with fender to fender?
I'm not sure if I should use the 3 bolt neck plate of the 78 or redrill holes for the 4 bolt neck plate of the 90


thanks in advance, Alex

Malfunct8,


I don't think it is a very good idea. As I said on other threads, I previously owned a 62' reissue (basswood body) and an older MIM Jazz Bass (the older ones were basswood) and whatever hardware/pickups I upgraded and tried, I never got them to sound good. It might be a matter of taste since some peoples on this forum seem to really like their 62' reissue.
Even if the pickups are not a originals on your 78', you can possibly get around $1,200 - $1,600 if you sell it. Sell it and buy a new American STD Jazz Bass which are really awesome. Gravesbass is actually selling a used one for a very good price. The American Fenders made since 2008 are much closer to a high-end copies like a Lakland than it used to be.
Don't engage in all kind of crazy modifications which will alter the value of your instruments for an elusive outcome. (like many on this forum, I learnt that lesson the hard way over the past 25 years I have been playing and buying instruments)