Reducing scoop, How much to take out, and how long for Luthier to do?

[Rastus_01]

Hi.
I am fortunate to live in a beautiful part of the world (Cairns, Australia) but the nearest UB luthier is over 1000 miles away. I have contacted a few local Guitar /Violin Luthiers and have seen some of their work, so have narrowed my choice down to two. (some repair work I have seen was atrocious so avoiding them ones).

My main bass is a relatively cheap (for Australia) Bassworks Lachlan Parker Solid. A Chinese bass made out of some lovely wood that has a beautiful tone yet lacks volume which is fine with me. The neck looks like ebony but not entirely sure what quality (I can see some grain, but not much). The bass is used for Jazz/blues Pizz and Arco. The scoop is around 3-4mm and I am considering reducing this and need some advice.

I have noticed on this forum that most recommend a scoop of about a string width. Is this correct for a low / fast action. Benefits are obvious, but what drawbacks are there?

How long should it take a luthier to reduce my scoop? I imagine he will need to take some wood of both ends of the neck though not 100% on this. I need to know roughly how long it will take as he charges by the hour, and I want to be able to negotiate with confidence.

Any advice appreciated thanks
Rastus

[Matthew Tucker]

3-4 mm sounds like it's where it should be for the E string. What's it like for the other strings? What's the string height at the nut?

If the fingerboard has knots then these might tear-out when planing; patching these will add to the time needed.

[Rastus_01]

Hi

The nut is good, about a business card height. No knots in neck that I can see.

All strings have about a 3-4mm scoop.

Thanks for quick reply
Rastus

[Matthew Tucker]

Well you might be able to get away with just flattening the scoop on the G side, towards the nut end of the board. IF all goes according to plan, I'd allow half an hour per string path to get it right and smoothed over and polished. But it could take longer if the wood is cranky. And it could take longer if the rest of the board isn't smooth and well shaped in the first place - lowering the string height might easily bring out more buzzes further up the board than need work. See what I mean? Its kind of like, if you're going to get the board reshaped, you might as well get the whole thing dressed while you're at it. Can be anything from 1 - 4 hours work depending on what the board is like to start with. Sight along the board at an oblique angle from above the nut towards the bridge. smooth and shiny? can you see any ripples? If there are (bet there will be) these should be smoothed out while the strings are off too.

[arnoldschnitzer]

Originally Posted by Rastus_01

Hi

The nut is good, about a business card height. No knots in neck that I can see.

All strings have about a 3-4mm scoop.

Thanks for quick reply
Rastus

That's more than double the scoop you need, unless you play gut strings.

[Rastus_01]

Hi,
So I am looking down the neck and it is actually quite smooth, no bumps or ripples.

I just spoke to the luthier and am comforted by his experience and attitude. He has done several UB’s over time and asked intelligent questions. One question was about the grain of the fingerboard. There are a few spots I can see the wood rings and they have a U or V shape when bass is upright. Apparently this is called a bastard saw (love that term, seems appropriate), which just doesn’t have the inherent strength of the quatersaw. So it’s probably not worth the trouble especially while I live in a highly variable humidity area (the Tropics).

The joys of a cheaper bass . Plan B (which is now plan A), is to just put some lower tension strings on instead to increase playability in thumb position. Currently have Helicore Hybrids and considering Evah Pirazzi Weich’s.

Later on, down the track, if I really love this particular instrument, I will consider replacing the fingerboard entirely.
I am glad I did the research, and have learnt a lot.

May spend that money on a bunch of lotto tickets instead.

Thanks for your help.
Rastus