If you were to angle the neck end of the fretboard and neck the other way, i.e. approximately in line with the body horns, you would gain quite a bit of surface area in the neck joint area. Just a thought.
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Build with 1'' body?
- Thread starter zorgzorg2
- Start date
I'm making the neck longer, but the angle as it is now reflects the one on the end of the body. But maybe I can make it reflect the lower part instead, hmmm....
So, now I ordered a long fingerboard and a flamed Ash top, will be fun!
Ok, here is an attempt to make the heel longer on the treble side. Feedback welcome!
(License is still CC-BY-SA)
(License is still CC-BY-SA)
I absolutely love the design. Looks like something Dusty Hill would have spun around in some crazy ZZ top music video from the 80s 
I have built a long-scale bass with the traditional Billy-Bo design, and even with the short upper horn I didn't have any neck dive issues. The body is a chunky 44mm, though. https://www.talkbass.com/threads/billy-bo-bass-build-blog.1480230/
I think a 1" body thickness is very much possible, but as many around here I would either make it a neck-thru or a deep set neck with a sizable tenon. Of course you can reinforce the heel of a bolt on, but such a large neckplate somewhat negates the sleek design and ergonomics of the thin body.
I have built a long-scale bass with the traditional Billy-Bo design, and even with the short upper horn I didn't have any neck dive issues. The body is a chunky 44mm, though. https://www.talkbass.com/threads/billy-bo-bass-build-blog.1480230/
I think a 1" body thickness is very much possible, but as many around here I would either make it a neck-thru or a deep set neck with a sizable tenon. Of course you can reinforce the heel of a bolt on, but such a large neckplate somewhat negates the sleek design and ergonomics of the thin body.
And since you have a pickguard around the fretboard, you can make a long neck tenon (and pocket) without having to extend the fretboard so far into the body, and hide the tenon underneath the pickguard. Nobody will ever know. This way you can easily rout all the way to the P-pickup cavity.
@TFM94 Gorgeous bass you build there!
Good point with the pickguard, although I'm not so familiar with set necks/tenon&mortise, so that might be a challenge.
Good point with the pickguard, although I'm not so familiar with set necks/tenon&mortise, so that might be a challenge.
It just means make the neck heel longer and pocket longer. Leave the fingerboard normal length and the extended neck pocket will be covered by the pick guard.
Kinda sorta like this
- Apr 18, 2008
- 16,013
- 1
- 31,726
- Disclosures
- I'm highly opinionated and extremely self-assured
The thinnest body I've built was 1 1/8" thick ended up needing to put the control plate on a platform:
It is just some very shallow tool groove mark, the board is one piece. Nothing the radiusing can't take care of...
- Apr 18, 2008
- 16,013
- 1
- 31,726
- Disclosures
- I'm highly opinionated and extremely self-assured
Yep, here's a bolt-on that I built with an tenon that extends under the neck pickup and pickguard:
Works either way, both a set neck or bolt-on would benefit from an extended tenon. It isn't harder to make than a usual heel and pocket, you just need a longer neck blank.
For electronics you can also consider sliders instead of pots as there are many models that don't need much depth. Aesthetically they may even work better with that design.
Most mini pots are only about 10 mm deep so unless you want a push-pull pot or something else fancy I don't see why the pots would be a problem in a thin body. The 1/4" jack is 26 mm depth to the mounting face so that probably won't work for a top mount, but barrel jacks are only about 16 mm across so could go into the side of a thin body.
FWIW I used regular CTS pots in my 1" build with no issues. My jack goes in the side of body.
