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Double Bass Changing the overstand

GretschWretch

GretschWretch

Supporting Member
Dec 27, 2013
12,449
25,121
East Central Alabama
#1
Purely a hypothetical question since I have no reason to do this, BUT

if one needs to increase the overstand of a fingerboard, is it better to

1) remove the 'board and install a long shim beneath it,

2) remove the neck and install a shim between the butt of the neck heel and the button, effectively moving the neck forward, or

3) remove the neck and install a wedge shim in the mortise, in effect angling the fingerboard up?
 
#2
I think you're describing two different kinds of mod.

Increasing overstand to me means moving the entire neck forward while maintaining the angle. All else equal, this raises the bridge and reduces break angle over it while raising the fingerboard relative to the top. A player might want this to provide easier access to thumb position.

Increasing the neck angle means keeping the neck in the same position but angling it higher, for a higher bridge and more acute break angle. This can help increase sound volume.

On most basses increasing the neck angle is mainly a matter of removing the neck, adding or removing some material from the bottom of the tenon to make the new angle, and resetting the neck. (It's a little more complicated on a dovetailed neck.) A little change at the heel causes a lot of change relative to the bridge.

Another method is shimming the fingerboard to the new angle, and the downside is essentially thickening the neck as you move up. Less elegant, I think, but conceptually simpler in the shop.

To increase overstand, given that most heels are tapered, blocking the neck forward would be a whole lot of mess. This would best be done with a new neck, imho.
 
#5
It all depends upon the individual bass.

Ever see what happens when one of your buddies puts a much larger engine in an old Volkswagon? The next month they blow the transmission. Then they fix it with a new souped up tranny and the brakes won't stop it. Then.....

I had a buddy who spent over $40k on an endless quest to get a 1983 VW bus trying to get it to be able to go 85 mph over the pass by Mt Hood, only to eventually sell it for $8k and use that to fund the sportscar he wanted all along.

I have an old Kay that is a survivor of a well known flood. Completely collapsed and delaminated top, rebuilt like a champ in the vacuum press and moulds, red spruce belly patch, new bassbar with end grafts, new blocks, original neck angle but with added hidden carbon fiber in the main neck, ebony tapered shim to correct bridge height / neck angle to produce a taller modern bridge height AND a thicker main neck feel, blah blah blah...sounds kick ass and plays great- probably one of the finest sounding Kays you'll ever hear.... BUT what you wind up with is a kick ass old Kay, not a transmogrified 300 year old Italian sound from $300 worth of plywood parts.....

Kay Bass Repair
 
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#7
turf3 said:
Hey, I have a neighbor who's always wanted to work on a bass; maybe I should ask him to pull off the fingerboard, then he can use Gorilla Glue to attach some shirt cardboard as a shim under the fingerboard. that ought to work pretty good, right?
Click to expand...

I've never used Gorilla Glue on an instrument, but the few times I have used it yielded such disappointing results that I will never buy GG again. So I wouldn't advise anybody to go apes**t over Gorilla Glue.

As to the shirt cardboard shim, unless you can find shirt cardboard that tapers to a wedge like the wooden fingerboard shims do, I wouldn't waste my time. Flat shirt cardboard ought to work great, however, for shimming an electric bass neck. ;)
 
#9
james condino said:
It all depends upon the individual bass.

Ever see what happens when one of your buddies puts a much larger engine in an old Volkswagon? The next month they blow the transmission. Then they fix it with a new souped up tranny and the brakes won't stop it. Then.....

I had a buddy who spent over $40k on an endless quest to get a 1983 VW bus trying to get it to be able to go 85 mph over the pass by Mt Hood, only to eventually sell it for $8k and use that to fund the sportscar he wanted all along.

I have an old Kay that is a survivor of a well known flood. Completely collapsed and delaminated top, rebuilt like a champ in the vacuum press and moulds, red spruce belly patch, new bassbar with end grafts, new blocks, original neck angle but with added hidden carbon fiber in the main neck, ebony tapered shim to correct bridge height / neck angle to produce a taller modern bridge height AND a thicker main neck feel, blah blah blah...sounds kick ass and plays great- probably one of the finest sounding Kays you'll ever hear.... BUT what you wind up with is a kick ass old Kay, not a transmogrified 300 year old Italian sound from $300 worth of plywood parts.....

Kay Bass Repair
Click to expand...


My Grandpa used to say "A good hammer will last forever if you replace the head and the handle often enough."
 
#10
E83EB255-B53E-4764-86B8-7487B38BEB38.jpeg
My father owns this hammer. His grandfather bought it 110 or so years ago. It’s all original.

I covet that sucker like you wouldn’t believe.
 

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