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First Build

#21
So do I need the bridge in my posession in order to calculate what my neck taper will eventually be? I have stopped construction until I know the answer to this. I do not want to glue on my body wings prior to doing any neck shaping for the taper. I realize on a single cut I am limited as to what I can do to the low side of the instrument from the face anyway. I have all of the rear carving in mind. The other question is; after my truss rod slots are routed, rods installed and then filled. Do I glue my board on before shaping neck. Also in Hiscocks book he cuts the neck profile out on the bandsaw prior to fitting his body wings. I don't think I can do this with a single cut design considering how far up the neck the low side wing connects to it. So many questions....my brain is sizzling, but I'm enjoying every minute of it.

Tony
 
#22
I'm a bolt-on kind guy for all my builds, so I'm not able to help ya out here with any kind of advice based on actual experience. I know there have been several threads from folks who built neck thru basses, and I'm sure at least one of these was for a single-cut

wish I could help out more ...

R
 
#23
well....add me to the list of first time "putz" builders who almost left himself short. i was laying out neck taper on my blank and realized i couldn't carry my lines all the way to the end. I ran off the blank about 1.5" down from my 24th fret. I can approach this one of 2 ways and I'd like some opinions. I can add 1 more walnut lam to each side @ .75" thick a piece and then continue my lines. Or option B...since it's a single cut, stop the taper on the low side at the 12th fret and continue as normal on the high side to the cut away. Looking for some input. Thanks
 
#24
wilser said:
Although it is a fact that laminated necks are more stable than 1 piece necks, I also feel that 1 piece are good enough even for 6 strings, given that the piece of wood you're using has straight grain and the species is stiff and stable enough. For example, I would never build a 1 piece neck our of zebrawood because IME it moves too much with moisture changes.
Click to expand...

Wilser, it's good to get your view on this, I've been reading some of the discussions on this topic across the various build forums. My next bass will be a 6, but I'll go with a laminated neck on that one for the stability.

Regarding the zebrawood, I bought a couple of large boards to make bodies from last year but haven't used them yet. Is there movement in the body you made out of zebrawood or is this general comment on the raw wood?
 
#25
#include <MK> said:
Wilser, it's good to get your view on this, I've been reading some of the discussions on this topic across the various build forums. My next bass will be a 6, but I'll go with a laminated neck on that one for the stability.

Regarding the zebrawood, I bought a couple of large boards to make bodies from last year but haven't used them yet. Is there movement in the body you made out of zebrawood or is this general comment on the raw wood?
Click to expand...

For that bass I bought a 10" wide piece of zebrawood 10ft long. I ripped it 3" from the edge in the hopes of using the remainder for neck stringers. The body that came out of this board was 7" wide on each side and it remained stable while I worked it and still is now that the bass is finished. OTOH the 3" x 10ft piece developed a severe bow sideways almost as soon as it was cut and it has kept moving one way or the other as winter turns to spring. I think that if I use 1/4" or so stringers it should be just fine, but I wouldn't use it as the main bulk of a neck.
 
#26
NYBassMan....I realize you've already glued up your neck pieces, but FYI for future reference....after resawing thicker pieces to smaller dimensioned pieces, it's not a bad idea to let the resaws sit and acclimate for a bit. Resawing can release tensions held in the larger piece. Let the pieces settle for a bit, and recheck 'em for straightness, flatness, etc. Not a bad idea to dimension 'em a little fat initially, to have some extra meat to compensate for possible movement later. I've done single, 2 and 3 piece necks, and they've all held up well. Choose your stock well, learn to "read" it, layout logically, and you should be OK. Unlike what seems to be the common trend around here, I'm not a big fan of the "multi-lam" syndrome. I'm talkin' necks, AND especially bodies. Every lam adds more glue to the piece and robs resonance....my personal opinion.
 
#28
Well...a stroke of good fortune. A friend of mine just passed a beautiful 2.5 sq of Carpathian Elm Burl veneer to me. I think it's either 1/16 or 1/32 thick. I'm not sure. Gorgeous stuff though. Can anyone shed some light on working with this stuff. I was going to lam my body wings obviously before cutting out the shape. However, are there any special procedures to follow when dealing with wood this thin? Like clamping, gluing and such. Thanks guys....so far you've been helping.

Tony
 
#31
well I encountered my first snag/difficulty. When cutting the neck taper with the jig saw I realized that I had to leave a decent amount of material outside my line. Any advice other than 60 grit paper and a block to remedy this situation. Thanks a lot.

TOny
 
#32
#33
NYBassMan said:
well I encountered my first snag/difficulty. When cutting the neck taper with the jig saw I realized that I had to leave a decent amount of material outside my line. Any advice other than 60 grit paper and a block to remedy this situation. Thanks a lot.

TOny
Click to expand...

I use routing templates to cut the initial definition of me necks. I have different templates for the various scales and nut width combinations

you can see my templates stacked at the rear of this image that captures several necks in progress

Necks_WrappingUpTheWeekend.gif


all the best,

R
 
#35
Well...today is the day that I got frustrated beyond help. Did you ever get that feeling on your first build? The one where you think you've screwed everything up and that maybe after all you're really not capable of building one. Today was that day. Just figured I'd venta a tad. Not thinking to highly of myself and abilities today.

:rolleyes:
 
#36
days like this happen ... and more than just once :bawl: even the big guys toast an occasional body, neck, or entire bass (in the case of a neck-thru)

I have a significant collection of botched necks in various states of completion sitting in one corner of the shop. I keep them as a reminder to never do 'that' again ... sadly, some necks have kin :rollno:


but then you learn from what you did, and apply it on a new neck or body, and move forward. this is exactly why I emphatically suggest that people build something simple and 'more traditional' and without really expensive woods for their first project - you get to put it all together in something that is reasonably priced for your first build, and then when you have it all together you can make another one with all the fancy materials and ground breaking techniques. going this route sure saves a load of expensive wood that will never grace a playable instrument (and don't ask how I learned this)


keep pressing onward - it's all a learning experience. the more you learn, the better you'll build. the better you build, the more you'll want to build another, even better instrument

all the best,

R
 
#37
well here's where I am so far. The overall depth at this point is 1 1/16" I am building up the body core section with birds eye maple back to 1 5/8". This of course only after I've purchased my router to true the angle from nut to bottom of body.

Tony
 
#38
I'm not sure that if you gathered a group of repair techs they would agree that a single piece neck - like a Jazz - is a high stability neck. There's stories right here on Talkbass about out of alignment necks - and those are the ones that have been spotted - I though my MIM Jazz was OK until my repair guy sorted it out. My bass tech has told me some other repair stories as well - he always builds multi piece necks.
 

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