Hi all,
Please see attached some pics of my installation of a replacement neck, along with some explanation...
About 11 months ago, I posted about a neck replacement project that I was undertaking (the link is here:
Replacement neck fitting , but I'm starting a new thread because of the huge difference between what I planned and what I ended up doing.
I got advice from a bunch of you, thanks, but ended up taking James Condino's advice to NOT install my Chinese replacement neck on a 40 year old German shop bass. The biggest strike against the replacement neck was that it was mostly finished and had an incorrect (too shallow) angle on the foot.
As "luck" would have it, an earlier neck repair on my Eastman beater bass failed around the same time I was consulting TB about the German bass. When I first bought the Eastman (for $300), it had the neck snapped off at the heal. So my first repair job was to take off the fingerboard, rejoin the two parts of the neck using three screws, then glue the fingerboard back on. It wasn't great, but it held up for a couple of years. Then I started to notice the crack was separating again.
I took off the old neck and junked it. I fitted the replacement neck to the Eastman by recutting the neck block to accommodate the foot angle (this involved cutting the neck block channel deeper in the front). I installed a carbon fibre rod down the centre of the length of the neck. I installed shims on either side of the mortise, as they were in pretty rough shape. Fitting the machine heads took more time than I thought, but turned out fine. In the end, I have the standard 'D' neck and a 41" string length. With careful measuring, I'm very happy with the fit in all directions. My "French polish" finishing skills leave a little to be desired - I was too impatient - but at least it looks approximately the same colour as the body.
In the end, I have a beater bass with a spiffy new unbroken neck, and a much better idea of what to do when I finally do get to fitting a neck on the German bass. Thanks, always, to the TBers who provided advice!
Cheers,
Paul (Eh_train)
