Anyone here with a lathe care to make a small item for me?

[bongomania]

I have extended my upper strap button as shown here:



...with a spacer nut. I'd like to replace it with a nice hardwood spacer. It should have a 4mm (5/32") hole drilled through the center; an OD of maybe 17mm give or take; and a length of about 38mm. The OD and length do not need to be exact at all. The wood could either resemble the clear amber finish on the bass body or the pao ferro of the fretboard, but it doesn't need to be an exact color match. Just something that will not look out of place.

Let me know what you'd charge, and if you have any other questions. Thanks!

[Nelson Guitars]

Sure thing.

Send an email.

nelson_luthier@comcast.net

Greg N

[NKUSigEp]

Interesting concept...

[bongomania]

Thanks Greg!



I re-shaped the bottom end to better fit the bass, but other than that's it's excellent! Now the strap pin is around the 11th fret, which greatly improves the balance (the body is unusually light, making the neck "heavy").

[sublime0bass]

now thats a sexy fix

[Nelson Guitars]

Originally Posted by bongomania

I re-shaped the bottom end to better fit the bass

I completely expected that you would have to do something to it.

I see you chose the straight cocobolo one. I had to chuck up a longer than needed piece in my lathe to do the work so I made Bongo man two in cocobolo and then two others in bubinga just for fun.

I am curious, did it completely fix the neck dive or just help a little?

Greg N

[bongomania]

Before the extension, the bass hung pretty much perpendicular to me (parallel to the floor), let's say the headstock was 90 deg. relative to my feet. After the extension, the headstock is maybe 20 degrees up from that, 110 deg. relative to my feet. Also that extra 1.5" means the strap hangs in a more natural position at my sternum rather than to the right of my sternum. It's not a perfect or extreme fix, but it makes a good bass noticeably better.

[SDB Guitars]

Originally Posted by sublime0bass

now thats a sexy fix

+1 - it's always good to see ingenuity in resolving an issue instead of just "dealing with" the problem.

It's an elegant solution to a common problem. Marketing idea?

[Rudyboy98]

Very Good! I have never seen anything like this before...Well, if I have....it's been too long to remember!

Interesting concept!

[Mon Rominee]

Personally, I would have kept the metal extension, and made a wood encasement to slip over the extension that better transitionned to the strap pin, so it didn't look so much like an add-on, but either way, a nice fix to a problem of discomfort / ergonomics....