Flat Fretboard???

[HEADLE]

Hello TBer's,

So I am starting on a new project that involves the body and electronics of a Tele guitar and the hardware of a bass as well as an old 60's short scale bass neck. I've carried this neck around for about ten years and am finally going to use it. It is a mahogany neck with a flat heel that almost fits the Tele pocket. It has a large Strat style headstock that is angled rather than dropped. The fingerboard is rosewood. The frets are very thin guitar frets. I will be replacing these with a medium jumbo fret. The neck is in good shape and I'm really glad I finally have a project to use it on. My question has to do with the fingerboard. It appears to have no radius whatsoever. Is this likely to be an issue? I'm generally a roots player and rarely get above the seventh fret. I don't play with a super low action and I'm not a speed demon. I would prefer to leave it as is and just clean it up. Does anyone see an issue with this? Also what's everyone think about the headstock? Do I leave it giant strat style or reshape it Tele style?

H

[SDB Guitars]

I've made a few short scale basses (32") with flat fingerboards, but they've been fretless. That having been said, they were very comfortable. I'd suggest you try it, and see if you like it. Worst case, if you don't like it, you can pull the frets, radius the fingerboard, then re-fret it again.

[()smoke()]

i'm no luthier, but the best guitar neck i've ever played was on a john taggart model with a zero radius board...imo, a slight rolling of the edges is much more important than a radius for comfort, although i do appreciate and currently play a vintage radius neck

[mikeyswood]

I'm a wee bit partial to the non Tele head:

[Bassdirty]

Not to be off topic, BUT..

HEADLE, weren't you in this months Bass Player Magazine?
The whole v/v/t vs. v/b/t jazz knob debate?


T$

[HEADLE]

Originally Posted by Bassdirty

Not to be off topic, BUT..

HEADLE, weren't you in this months Bass Player Magazine?
The whole v/v/t vs. v/b/t jazz knob debate?


T$

Yup that was me. Thanks for all the advise fellas. The flat board makes cleaning it up a whole lot easier without radius tools. I'll post a pic of the headstock later and see what everyone says.

H

[bassmanhamilton]

Go for it! I've built a couple of basses that have flat finger boards and they were very comfortable to me. The guys that play them now absolutely love them.
Sounds like a fun project.
Joe

[DeivoxCarnal]

hey mikeyswood, what kind of wood is that fretboard made of?
The grain is SEXY!!