Product Overview
Nothing about the playing position has to be relearned; the difference is in how the wood behaves once it is bolted on. Three kinds of buyer end up here. A repair shop pulling a twisted, worn or broken neck off a customer's bass needs a part that measures the same and holds its relief on the first setup, so the electric guitar neck dimensions have to match the old neck exactly. A builder assembling a four-string from parts wants a neck that is straight when the bass leaves the bench and still straight a year later. A player with a body they like and a neck they no longer get along with wants to swap one part instead of buying a whole instrument. All three get the same thing: roasted maple at the centre of the build. Roasting is why the colour runs to caramel rather than pale straw, and it is also why the neck feels dry and fast under the thumb. A bone nut is already fitted, the frets are seated and dressed, and a dual-action truss rod runs the length of the neck. Add tuners, strings and a body and you have a bass.
Roasted Maple Construction
Roasting is a controlled heat treatment applied to the maple before the neck is shaped. Held at temperature for a set period, the wood gives up moisture and its cell structure settles. That is why a roasted maple guitar neck behaves differently from a raw one: it is dimensionally calmer, it takes and holds a finish more evenly, and it sounds a touch less glassy on top than untreated maple.
What you see is a warm caramel-brown board with straight, close grain and a satin surface that stays matte rather than building a shine. Neck and fretboard are cut from hand-selected, A-grade Canadian maple, so they read as one piece visually and respond as one piece under the hand — there is no dark-to-light break at the join. The rosewood skunk stripe set into the back adds a traditional bass detail and a dark centre line to an otherwise very clean build.
Roasted stock is also pleasant to work with at the bench: an electric guitar neck made this way drills and cuts cleanly, holds a fret slot without chipping, and takes a satin finish without blotching, so the neck you unbox is the neck that was built. Expect ordinary variation in grain and shade from one piece to the next — that is the material, not a fault — with the colour usually landing somewhere between honey and dark caramel.
Fretwork & Neck Feel
- Level before anything else. Frets are the first thing your fingers meet on any electric guitar neck, so they get the attention: each one is pressed in at the spacing the scale dictates, then checked so the whole set sits level to its neighbours — the foundation a low, even action is built on.
- Crowned and polished by hand. The tops are shaped and buffed to their final form, so notes ring cleanly up the board instead of choking on a high spot.
- Ends rounded and beveled. Fret ends are worked flush with the edge of the board and rounded off, so nothing catches the side of your hand when you slide.
- Rust-proof nickel silver. Medium-jumbo wire that keeps its shape and its bright attack through long service, and shrugs off the corrosion that dulls ordinary frets.
- A fretboard radius that suits bass work. Flat enough to dig in with a pick or run fast fingerstyle lines, curved enough that chords and double stops still sit under your fingers.
- Satin on the back of the neck. No tack and no drag — your hand keeps moving when the room warms up, which is the difference between a smooth shift and a sticky one.
- Smooth board edges and a familiar carve. The board edges are worked so you never meet a sharp corner, and the profile follows one of the most familiar guitar neck shapes — a modern C that fills the palm without feeling like a bat.
Specifications
| Specification | Detail |
|---|
| Model | PBRM3051821M |
| Configuration | 4-string Precision Bass compatible |
| Scale length | 34 in / 864 mm |
| Neck wood | Canadian roasted maple |
| Fretboard | Canadian roasted maple |
| Skunk stripe | Rosewood |
| Nut | Bone, fitted |
| Guitar neck width at nut | 1.65 in / 41 mm |
| Frets | 21 medium-jumbo, rust-proof nickel silver |
| Fretboard radius | 12 in / 305 mm |
| Heel width | 2.5 in / 63.5 mm |
| Heel depth | 1.0 in / 26 mm |
| Peg hole diameter | 18 mm |
| Neck thickness | 0.82 in / 21 mm at the 1st fret; 0.92 in / 23.3 mm at the 12th |
| Neck profile | Modern C — one of the most familiar guitar neck shapes |
| Truss rod | Dual action |
| Finish | Satin, natural colour |
Compatibility & Installation
- Check the figures against your body. Compare the heel width and depth with the pocket, and the nut width with the neck you are replacing — the matching dimensions are in the specifications. If those line up, the rest is routine.
- Confirm the scale. The neck is fixed to Precision Bass scale and the frets are cut for it, so it belongs on a Precision Bass-scale body. It is a replacement neck, not a conversion neck, and it will not turn a 30-inch or 32-inch bass into a long-scale instrument.
- Match the tuners to the holes. The headstock is drilled for a four-in-line bass tuner set sized for its posts; vintage-style tuners with thinner posts need reducing bushes.
- Dry-fit before you drill. Set the neck in the pocket, clamp it lightly, and sight the strings over the saddles and the pickup poles. Sort alignment out now, while the neck is still unmarked.
- String up, then set relief. Bring the bass to playing pitch and turn the truss rod in small increments, letting the neck settle between adjustments.
- Intonate last. Set saddle height and intonation at the bridge once relief and action are settled — changing one afterwards disturbs the other, and you end up chasing your own work.
- Stability that survives the trip home. A roasted maple guitar neck has already given up most of the moisture it is going to lose, so the relief you set in the workshop stays close to the relief the bass still has after a week of gigs and a cold load-out. Fewer comebacks for a repair shop, fewer late-night tweaks for a player on the road. Comfort that shows up in the third hour. Satin is the practical part: the back of the neck stays dry as your hand warms. The carve is the other half — it fills the hand evenly — so nothing about the grip feels new. A dual-action truss rod. Adjustment works in both directions, so the same rod corrects a concave bow and a convex hump. That matters when a player changes string gauge, moves to a drier room, or wants a lighter action than the bass left the shop with. Built to fit rather than to be reworked. The heel has a flat bottom, the peg holes are drilled to fit standard bass tuners, and the guitar neck width at the nut follows the Precision Bass standard, so most aftermarket bodies and DIY builds take the neck with normal setup rather than surgery. Complete out of the box. The guitar neck parts that usually arrive separately — 21 dressed frets, a fitted bone nut, a working truss rod — are already in place. What is left is the part that decides how the bass plays: strings on, relief set, intonation dialled in.
Setup & Long-Term Care
Give the electric guitar neck a day or two in your workshop before fitting it. Wood that has just crossed a shipping route is not the same wood that left the bench, and letting it settle to the temperature and humidity of your room first means the setup you do is the setup that lasts.
Expect a little bench work. Minor fret dressing or leveling may be necessary to compensate for environmental shifts during shipping or to meet a player's specific low-action requirements — plan for that as part of the job rather than as a fault, especially when a bass is going out with a very low action.
Clean the neck with a dry, soft cloth after playing. Satin does not want wax, polish or solvent, and the roasted maple under it needs no oiling to stay stable. Where your thumb rides most, the finish will slowly buff to a soft sheen over months of use; that is normal wear and it does not touch the wood.
Store the bass in its case or on a stand away from radiators, windows and hot vehicles, and check the relief when the seasons turn instead of waiting for a buzz to tell you. If you are working from a drawing rather than a body, run the electric guitar neck dimensions and the scale past the plan before you commit. When you change string gauge, turn the truss rod in small increments and give the neck time to settle — forcing it is how rods and necks get hurt. And if the neck takes a knock, have the frets checked before you start chasing the action at the bridge.
Build Pairing
| Component | What to match |
| Tuners | Four-in-line bass tuners sized for the headstock posts |
| Body | Precision Bass-style body with the matching neck pocket |
| Strings | Long scale four-string set |
| Bridge | Standard four-string bass bridge, intonated once the neck is set |
| Pickups | Precision Bass-style split-coil or an aftermarket set of your choice |
| Nut | Bone, pre-fitted |
Fretboard Wood Comparison
| Attribute | Roasted maple board | Rosewood board |
| Wood as supplied | Neck and board cut from a single thermally treated Canadian maple blank, so the maple guitar neck reads as one piece from nut to heel | Canadian maple neck with a rosewood board fitted on top, so a dark fingerboard sits against a pale neck |
| Colour | Warm caramel-brown with straight, close grain; the satin finish keeps it matte | Deep brown running to near-black, with open grain and a low natural sheen |
| Attack | Quick and tight, with the heat treatment softening the very top of the range | Softer on top and fuller through the low mids, the classic dark-board bass voice |
| Feel | Dry and fast under the fingers, no tack even when the room warms up | Smooth and faintly oily from the first day, a feel most bass players already know |
| Upkeep | No oiling at all; a dry cloth after playing is enough | Wants fretboard oil a couple of times a year, and more often in dry winter air |
| Movement | Moisture is driven out before the neck is shaped, so it answers humidity swings more slowly | The board takes on and gives up moisture more readily, so relief may want a seasonal check |
| Suited to | Players and shops after punch, definition and a neck that travels between climates without fussing | Players after a warmer, rounder tone who are happy to look after the board |
| Fit and setup | Both boards share the same neck dimensions, fret count and tuner hole size, so the choice changes tone and upkeep, not the pocket; moving between the two needs no new hardware | Same fit and setup as the roasted maple version, so switching boards needs no new parts |
Ordering & Delivery
- A single neck is a normal order. The minimum order is 1 piece, so a one-off customer repair or a personal build is business as usual. Ordering guitar neck parts one at a time is exactly what this side of the range is set up for. - Send the measurements if you are unsure. Working from a drawing, a photo, or a body you cannot measure precisely? - Shipping. Orders ship from our Texas warehouse or from our workshop in Guangdong, China, by UPS or USPS. - Delivery. Delivery typically runs 2–15 days after dispatch; ask us for the current estimate for your address. - Look the neck over on arrival. It travels in protective packaging — open it, check the board, frets and heel, and send us photos of anything that looks wrong before you drill or bolt it in. - Larger or custom requests. Pricing for multiple necks is available on request, and custom specification work is quoted individually.
Technical Support & Model Matching
Not sure whether a part will work with what you already have? Tell us what you are building or repairing, or send a few photos and measurements, and our team will help you confirm the match before you order. If something looks off after delivery, get in touch with pictures and details and we will help you find the cause and put it right. We can also walk you through fitting and first setup, step by step. Behind that is more than ten years of working experience, 100% quality control, and customer service that answers around the clock.
FAQ
What type of wood is used for the neck?
Canadian maple, roasted before the neck is shaped. The blank is heat-treated so the wood settles and darkens, and this maple guitar neck is then finished in satin. The fretboard comes from the same treated stock, and a rosewood skunk stripe is set into the back.
Is this neck compatible with standard Precision Bass bodies?
Yes. The heel is cut to the standard Precision Bass pocket and the headstock is drilled for standard bass tuner posts, so it goes into most Precision Bass-style builds with normal setup. If your body is not a standard part, measure the pocket first and send us the figures.
Does the neck come with frets installed?
It does. The neck arrives with all 21 frets seated, so you are not buying a bare board and pressing wire yourself. Each fret is pressed at the spacing set by the scale length, then leveled against its neighbours so the tops sit in one plane. From there the crowns are hand-polished and bevelled into their final shape, which is what gives a clean note rather than a scratchy one. The ends are rounded and worked back to the edge of the board, so your hand does not catch a protruding tang when it slides up the neck. That work is done before packing, but treat the neck as a part rather than a finished instrument: after it has travelled and settled onto a body, a light fret dressing or leveling may be needed to suit very low action or to compensate for movement in transit. Check the fret ends and the relief once it is bolted on, and let your own setup decide whether anything more is required.
What is the fingerboard material?
The fretboard is Canadian roasted maple, cut from the same treated stock as the neck, so board and neck share one colour and one response under the hand. The dark stripe running down the back is rosewood — that is the skunk stripe, not the board.
What radius does the fretboard have?
The 12-inch radius is the board's crown measured across its width, and it sits between the rounder boards of older basses and the very flat boards some modern players prefer. For fingerstyle work it gives you enough curve to feel where your fingers are without fighting the board. With a pick, the surface is flat enough that chords and double stops do not choke out when you dig in. It also leaves room for string bending and vibrato without the note fretting out against a tighter curve. Players who switch between bass and guitar often find this middle ground familiar, because it does not demand a change in left-hand technique. If you like a board that feels almost classical in its roundness, this will feel flatter than that; if you like a very flat modern feel, it will feel slightly more curved. Either way, the radius is fixed, so match it to the feel you already play most comfortably rather than expecting to adjust it later.
How wide is the neck at the nut?
The guitar neck width at the nut is 1.65 inches, the standard Precision Bass figure, and the fitted bone nut spans that width. Players coming from a narrower instrument will feel a fuller first position, which is normal at this scale. The back of the neck has a comfortable, familiar feel rather than a deep, clubby profile.
Will this guitar neck fit a 30-inch or 32-inch short-scale bass?
No. The fret slots and the neck's geometry are cut for a 34-inch scale, so it is not a conversion neck for a 30-inch or 32-inch short-scale body. Scale length is the distance the string travels from the nut to the bridge saddles, and the fret positions are calculated from that number; put a 34-inch neck on a shorter body and the frets will not line up with the notes the body was designed to produce. Intonation becomes a compromise you cannot fix at the bridge, and the instrument will not tune cleanly across the neck. If you are working on a short-scale bass, source a neck built for that scale rather than adapting this one. Before ordering for any Precision Bass-style body, measure the neck pocket and confirm the bridge is placed for a 34-inch scale. This neck is the right part when you are replacing a Precision Bass-scale neck or building a four-string around that scale, not when you are trying to turn a short-scale body into a longer-scale instrument.
What tuners fit the headstock?
The headstock is drilled for a four-in-line bass tuner set, so start by checking the post diameter of the tuners you intend to fit. A set made for the peg hole size will drop through with the correct bushings and line up with the existing screw positions. Vintage-style tuners with thinner posts are not a direct fit: the holes will be too large, and you will need reducing bushes to centre the posts properly. Without them, the tuners can sit off-centre, which shows in string spacing and can make tuning feel uneven. Measure the hole and the post before you order, and confirm whether your tuners include bushings or whether you need to source them separately. If you are unsure, test-fit the tuners in the holes before mounting anything; the neck is easier to work on before it is bolted to a body. Four-in-line means the four tuners sit in a single row along the headstock.
How does roasted maple compare with a rosewood fretboard?
Roasted maple has a tighter, punchier attack with the top end softened by the heat treatment, and it needs no oiling. A rosewood board is darker and rounder through the low mids. Our Precision Bass range also includes a rosewood-fretboard version if that is the voice you want.
