I must admit, every time I hear somebody pronounce Dejardine as “Dez-Jardins”, I cringe a little, but I keep my mouth shut. Language is all random primate grunts anyway, nobody has it “right”.
Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
Different Thru neck methods for determining angle
- Thread starter chinjazz
- Start date
I know, that's why I don't. I got in one debate with a 40 yr old woman when I was 10. I was curious. I was 10. I've never once lectured someone or pointed out that they say their name funny, since then. All I said was I find it curious and I notice it.
I also said that I never asked my wife's family how they pronounce their name. It came up in a random conversation once, that I didn't even start, and they told me,.... "Our name is actually pronounced xyz,... But we say it like xzy."
Okay. That's odd. But okay.
So, when exactly did this story start where I go around telling people they say their name wrong?
I was figuring it would make a difference in terms of cutting the neck from lumber, since an angled joint at the body part would mandate a wider or thicker piece. And I wondered whether it would affect the cosmetics of the finished piece if the body surface under the strings isn't parallel to the grain (though I'm also not certain whether a 2 degree or so change in angle is visible).
The angles typically involved don't practically change your lumber requirements, most people building neckthroughs are starting with enough waste that the 1/8" or so difference isn't going to cause a problem in terms of lumber choice. And the visual alignment of the grain isn't really going to be a factor - it would be incredibly rare for a board long enough for a neck blank was cut to within 2 or 3 degrees of perfect, so it's more a matter of adding a tiny bit of angle to grain that's already probably further off perfect and not perfectly consistent anyways.
Speaking of lumber requirements and waste. I quite like the method that @dwizum employs here, with essentially a thinner set of laminates and then a tone block on the back.
Build thread: walnut, maple, buckeye burl, pickups, bridge
Nice work there!
Some others start with a thick or tall set of laminates and cut a bunch off from there.
Does come down to either what lumber you have on hand, or you may intentionally start with less waste.
Most of my bolt on necks start with smaller 1 1/2" square laminates...
Build thread: walnut, maple, buckeye burl, pickups, bridge
Nice work there!
Some others start with a thick or tall set of laminates and cut a bunch off from there.
Does come down to either what lumber you have on hand, or you may intentionally start with less waste.
Most of my bolt on necks start with smaller 1 1/2" square laminates...
Im secretly hoping I never have to.a neck angle, straight ones being plenty hard enough. Ive managed to avoid scarf joints too. 
I may never do it, but I'm glad the thread started and folks posted in it.
Now I'm up to speed on why it's done and how it's done.
It would be much easier for me to recess a bridge into the body than build an angled neck. But I can see there being scenarios where you don't want the bridge sunk. It would just have to all be planned out ahead of time.
Now I'm up to speed on why it's done and how it's done.
It would be much easier for me to recess a bridge into the body than build an angled neck. But I can see there being scenarios where you don't want the bridge sunk. It would just have to all be planned out ahead of time.
Thanks for the shout out. The first time I did that method I had unintentionally cut a blank short and wanted to hide it. Now I do it on purpose because I like the way it looks and it helps save on lumber. I can get two necks out of just slightly more raw lumber than I used to get one neck and a bunch of scraps from. I hate having scraps from nice lumber so I really appreciate the efficiency aspect.
I can get pretty aggressive on bass and even more aggressive on guitar, so I appreciate a fair amount of string height above the body. This favors a neck with no angle. Even when I build Gibson style guitars with very tall bridges that are typically accommodated with neck angles, I tend to build with flat neck angles. I just raise the fretboard up above the surface of the body to get the string height needed to match up to the bridge. Here's an example. Flat neck angle, with the neck "ledge" about 5/16" thick.
Im secretly hoping I never have to.a neck angle, straight ones being plenty hard enough. Ive managed to avoid scarf joints too.
I hear you. I’ve taken to doing scarfs. Just a hand full of additional tasks at this point.
