Fender Squire P Bass Broken neck

[Matt Haugen]

Hi all. I purchased a cheapo Squire P bass with a broken neck. Based on what I see, I am in need of a really good gap filling epoxy. I believe I have read a lot about people recommending JB Weldon. I am open to suggestions, so please toss them out. I really don't have much invested into this project, so buying a new neck is really not something I am interested in.

[Mike Kolb]

There's a ton of wood missing and there's a lot of stress & tension on that section of a bass neck.  Really, I think a new neck's in order.  

OK, maybe not "new" but if you keep scouring Craigslist, one of these days you'll find a used replacement neck for dirt-cheap.  

In the meantime, I guess it couldn't hurt to experiment with some epoxy and see how it goes. JB Weld works alright, but it's butt-ugly and can't be painted well.  

[Ned Knepp]

Isn't this the point where you start removing more material in order to have an acceptable chance at patching? Seems like it would require pulling the fingerboard and the truss rod and use scarf joints to replace a section of the neck completely. A new neck would probably be cheaper in the long run IF you expect to make any money on the repair. 

[Matt Haugen]

Thanks guys. I don't expect to make money on this one. I have a friend who has wanted a bass guitar and I told myself that if I found a junker and could fix it up on the cheep, I would gift it to him. I do have a pile of scrap maple and was thinking that if I could epoxy what is there and then maybe remove a section and glue in an overlay it should work. I do not consider my time when working on instruments, at least on  most occasions. Worst case senario, I can't get the neck stable and I keep an eye on craigslist. Thnaks again.

[Paul Verticchio]

Good luck with whatever path you choose.

I wanted to point out that the nature of the break can also be attributed to the crummy piece of neck wood. I wouldn't trust any type of repair on that low quality timbre.   But, that's one of the corner cutting "savings" Fender employs on it's entry level line.

http://www.guitarfetish.com/Bass-Unfinished-Vintage-Style-Neck-with...

Check out this link.  For $43 + shipping, I don't think you could do much better on C's-list.  And... it can't be worse than what you already have.

[Jeff Highland]

Yes, you could easily spend half of that on epoxy, abrasives etc and still have a butt ugly job that is likely to fail again.

[Russell Vance]

Plus one with Paul and Jeff, if not a laminated back-strap with some concealed carbon fiber is my take.

Rusty,