24 Fret Fiasco

[dwizum]

That's what I usually do when attempting this. When the body is complete and already has a bridge location, it helps to use a long ruler or straight true board as a surrogate neck so you can mark a centerline on your little drawing.

Then - and this is the important part - make a test piece out of thin MDF to check your pocket fit and alignment, cut to match your rubbing with a saw and files. If it's good, you now have your router template for the neck heel. If it's bad, you toss it and start over, and the only harm done is fifty cents of mdf and 10 minutes of time. I don't bother trying to take measurements from the rubbing, I just use an xacto knife to carefully cut along the rubbed line, then trace the cut piece of paper onto the MDF.

Another technique I did once was to cut a thicker MDF dummy neck with a purposefully undersized heel. Then, line your heel pocket with wax paper, put the dummy neck in, get it all aligned and held to the body with clamps, and pack the void around the dummy heel with Bondo (or epoxy mixed with sawdust). Pop out the finished part and use it as a template to cut a fresh new template in a second piece of MDF. This works super well but it felt like more work to me.

 

[T_Bone_TL]

I'm not going to just find a printable or machined template out there, and trying to measure the dimensions isn't quite straightforward because not only do the sides of the pocket converge in line with the (hypothetical) neck, but the sides of the pocket are very different lengths, so it's hard to square anything up to get the tapering correct.

I might be out in left field, but I read all that and think "this sounds like a place to use the "bondo template" approach that has been posted about here several times. i.e. tape up or saran-wrap the neck heel, build an oversized template by screwing MDF scraps to MDF sheet, pack that with bondo and the neck, wait for the bondo to set, remove the neck, route the MDF sheet below using the bondo surface to guide the bearing, unscrew the scraps and pop off the bondo, now you have a template you cut from the bottom sheet of MDF...

But I might be wrong.

 

[rekrdskratcher]

I might be out in left field, but I read all that and think "this sounds like a place to use the "bondo template" approach that has been posted about here several times. i.e. tape up or saran-wrap the neck heel, build an oversized template by screwing MDF scraps to MDF sheet, pack that with bondo and the neck, wait for the bondo to set, remove the neck, route the MDF sheet below using the bondo surface to guide the bearing, unscrew the scraps and pop off the bondo, now you have a template you cut from the bottom sheet of MDF...

But I might be wrong.

Isn't that the approach for the opposite part, though? If I'm understanding correctly, that would be for the matching the body/pocket route to an existing neck, whereas I'm trying to build a neck to fit the existing pocket.

 

[rekrdskratcher]

That's what I usually do when attempting this. When the body is complete and already has a bridge location, it helps to use a long ruler or straight true board as a surrogate neck so you can mark a centerline on your little drawing.

Can you elaborate on this a bit? Are you suggesting to drop a board in the pocket to determine centerline for the rubbing? Or just to have a ruler going from the bridge to the pocket?

Then - and this is the important part - make a test piece out of thin MDF to check your pocket fit and alignment, cut to match your rubbing with a saw and files. If it's good, you now have your router template for the neck heel. If it's bad, you toss it and start over, and the only harm done is fifty cents of mdf and 10 minutes of time. I don't bother trying to take measurements from the rubbing, I just use an xacto knife to carefully cut along the rubbed line, then trace the cut piece of paper onto the MDF.

Yes, this was exactly what I was thinking about doing, I just couldn't articulate it well (beyond the initial rubbing.) The second method you mentioned also sounds pretty interesting, so I may try both anyway!

 

[T_Bone_TL]

Isn't that the approach for the opposite part, though? If I'm understanding correctly, that would be for the matching the body/pocket route to an existing neck, whereas I'm trying to build a neck to fit the existing pocket.

Obviously I didn't read the whole thread carefully enough to notice that , but the same process in the other direction should still work...

 

[dwizum]

Can you elaborate on this a bit? Are you suggesting to drop a board in the pocket to determine centerline for the rubbing? Or just to have a ruler going from the bridge to the pocket?

Get a scrap of wood and clamp or screw it into the pocket. Doesn't have to be aligned. Or pretty. Definitely doesn't have to be the right size of shape. Just has to be long-ish and roughly centered. Use the bridge position and pickups already on the bass to plot a center line down the board once it's secured in the neck pocket. Then put your paper on, transfer the center line to the paper, and do your rubbing. You now have the rubbing with a dead-on center line on it.

The ruler/scrapwood is really just there to give you a long surface you can draw on to put your fictional neck center line down so you can transfer it onto the drawing. It's hard to get a dead-accurate center line on just a floppy piece of paper.

And keep in mind that neck pocket fit for a bolt on doesn't have to be a 100% dead perfect tight fit. The joint is made by the screws, not the fit. It's probably better if it's actually a few thousandths off on the sides at least. You don't want the neck wedged into the body pocket - unless you enjoy cracked bodies and chipped finishes![/quote][/QUOTE]

 

[TrustRod]

I wouldn't spend too much time trying to extract the exact shape of the pocket. I would just take the measurement of the width of the pocket at the thickest part, decide what nut width you want and make a new drawing with perfectly straight lines. If you're not CAD friendly I could whip this out for you in a few minutes. This body has a square heel and will be a simple match.

 

[rekrdskratcher]

Happy New Year! I'm still alive! Went ahead and did the MDF roughed out with Kwikwood filler/wax paper in the pocket to get the shape a couple weeks ago:





Drew it out on a 1x6 blank I had laying around (forgot to photograph this) and then roughed it out with a jigsaw and used the flush trim bit to test the neck pocket shape (it's only "free" wood if I mess up!):



Of course, this is where the rough quality of the MDF/Kwikwood template (and my lack of skill with the hand-me-down router table) came into play - the flush trim bit followed the template perfectly and left a bit of a gap on one side that I smoothed out with a different kind of wood filler to at least get the straight lines set up correctly. The upper bout corner didn't end up quite as smooth as I wanted, either, but it's pretty close and if I make the final neck with the birdseye blank I picked up, I'm hoping I'll have it cleaned up well enough...











(You can see the birdseye blank underneath the test neck in that last photo.) I'm also going to make a maple/mahogany laminate neck as a second potential candidate (or maybe to use on something else!) and I've got fretboard blanks and a truss rod coming... someday.

With the birdseye blank - it's at the right thickness to keep it as a one-piece neck, is it possible or even advisable to have a dual action rod mounted from the rear, or do I pretty much have to do a curved channel with it being single action?

 

[Beej]

It's not commonly done, but you can install a DA rod from the back. You rout a deep channel from the back down to the back of the "fretboard" thickness and install it flat side against the back of the fretboard. Drill a hole from the end to meet up with the adjustment nut, cut a fillet to fit in the slot at the back, and Bob's your uncle. Probably wise to wax the rod to avoid getting glue into it when the fillet goes in. There was some discussion a while back here in the LC about how to install it this way with some examples, but I can't recall when and nothing came up in my brief search. Probably a decade ago!

 

[rekrdskratcher]

It's not commonly done, but you can install a DA rod from the back. You rout a deep channel from the back down to the back of the "fretboard" thickness and install it flat side against the back of the fretboard. Drill a hole from the end to meet up with the adjustment nut, cut a fillet to fit in the slot at the back, and Bob's your uncle. Probably wise to wax the rod to avoid getting glue into it when the fillet goes in. There was some discussion a while back here in the LC about how to install it this way with some examples, but I can't recall when and nothing came up in my brief search. Probably a decade ago!

Yeah it seems like when I was searching for this there wasn't a definitive up or down answer about a rear install, just a lot of debate on the message boards (weird, right?)

 

[Beej]

I found a couple of examples. Not sure how strong your Czech is, but this one has great pics:
DIY Tele – kmensik – album na Rajčeti

Apparently Big D Guitars has also done it:

 

[Bruce Johnson]

Yes, you can install a modern double-acting double-rod truss rod from the back of the neck. Just rout a long straight slot, deep enough that it's up close to the fingerboard. If you want the access at the headstock, it can be a little tricky to drill the hole up through. For access at the heel, just rout the slot out to the end of the heel.

On Page 2, post #22 of this thread, I show how Keith Horne and I saved a pair of Pat Wilkins necks with broken truss rods by installing new DADR truss rods in from the back. I cut the slots with a fixture in a milling machine, because I had it right there. But you could certainly jig up some guide rails and cut the slot with a router.

Replacing The Truss Rod In A Skunk Stripe MusicMan Neck

 

[bdplaid]

1. Search online for an Ibanez neck.
2. Send it to Bruce and Have him build it for you.

 

[Bruce Johnson]

1. Search online for an Ibanez neck.
2. Send it to Bruce and Have him build it for you.

3. I don't personally build custom necks any more. Too busy with my Scroll Basses. Sorry.
4. I can refer you to two other Luthiers who have shops here in the same building as mine. They are capable and willing to build custom one-off necks. Not cheap, but exactly what you want, top quality.

 

[rekrdskratcher]

1. Search online for an Ibanez neck.
2. Send it to Bruce and Have him build it for you.

...I'm already building it, knowing that it would be difficult to find an Ibanez neck only to fit it, and at the helpful suggestion of just about everyone else in the thread thus far? Obviously Bruce does great work but that's not what I'm here for.