First parts bass build questions

[mikeynets]

I'm putting together a parts bass for the first time and I have a decent idea on how to do most steps, but what I'm a little unsure of is the order of steps.

This is where I'm at:

• I got an unfinished paulownia P bass body from ebay that is pretty close match size-wise to my Fender Ps that I applied multiple coats of Danish oil to.
• The body came with pickup and control cavities and neck pocket routed and I just shielded the cavities.
• I have all the hardware except the neck — it's en route and the lynchpin to my planning

What I plan to do and need advice on:

• Attaching the neck — the neck pocket is not pre-drilled. When I get the neck, I'm going to use modeling clay or something similar, place in the neck pocket and then set the neck in place to make an impression where the holes are, cross reference with the neck backing plate and drill. Or maybe get some large nails, cut, file and install in the neck holes to mark the pocket. Thoughts?
• Mounting the bridge and drilling the ground wire hole — it's a 30" conversion neck on a full scale body. Once the neck is in place, I'll measure 15" from the 12th fret and mark that spot on some painter's tape on the body. I'll set the saddles approx 2/3 of their screw length extended and use that as my 30" scale target. Draw parallel lines from the neck back to the saddle location, center it and drill the mounting holes. I'll use a Forstner bit to make a little pocket, then use a long 1/8" bit to angle across to the control cavity for the ground wire.
• Pickup placement — the cavity allows for some wiggle room, the pickguard kinda dictates where more precisely, but that's also a variable as there are no holes drilled for the PG yet. I have a Warmoth PG I pulled of a Fender P and it fit perfectly on that neck/body combo. Placed over the body I'm working with now, it contours the neck heel perfectly and looks like it'll work nicely. I don't want to overthink this — just line it up and screw the PU and PG down?
• Shielding the back of the PG — to make an effective Faraday cage, I'll extend copper tape tabs up from the cavity and then put some tape on the back of the PG to create continuity. Should I fully cover the part of the PG that sits over the control cavity?

All my above plans came from thinking about and researching this while I wait for the neck. I have zero hands on experience with this so any advice from those more experienced is what I'm looking for.

Thanks in advance!

 

[mapleglo]

I mark where the neck holes should be using screws that I cut the heads off, screwed into the holes into the neck mounting holes backward, and then position in the neck pocket, and clamp firmly in place. The screws are cut such that about a quarter inch protrudes once they are screwed into the mounting holes.

 

[mikeynets]

I mark where the neck holes should be using screws that I cut the heads off, screwed into the holes into the neck mounting holes backward, and then position in the neck pocket, and clamp firmly in place. The screws are cut such that about a quarter inch protrudes once they are screwed into the mounting holes.

View attachment 7458473

Do you use screws that are about the same size as the neck screws or smaller? Any concern about material loss on the neck holes?

 

[mapleglo]

Do you use screws that are about the same size as the neck screws or smaller? Any concern about material loss on the neck holes?

I use screws that are the same size as the neck screws. No concerns about material loss on the neck holes. I'm not screwing the screws in very deep. Just deep enough to hold tight.

 

[Matt Liebenau]

If I’m matching a body to an already drilled neck I do pretty much the same as our resident warp engineer outlined. Sounds like you’re pretty good on the rest of the steps.

 

[mikeynets]

If I’m matching a body to an already drilled neck I do pretty much the same as our resident warp engineer outlined. Sounds like you’re pretty good on the rest of the steps.

Get the neck dialed first then bridge, is that the best order of operations?

 

[Phreaky Phriday]

You can photocopy the neck heel, cut that out, and use it as screw hole template

 

[ctmullins]

Re: scale length and bridge placement:

• Verify the exact scale length of your neck once it’s in your hands. Measure from nut to twelfth fret and double that. A neck that is marketed as 30” could be 29.6”, or it could be 30.5”, or anything close but not exactly 30”.
• Once you have your scale length marked, run your bridge saddles out to 90% of full travel, not 2/3, and place the bridge so that the crown of each saddle is at your scale length. Intonation always involves moving the saddles further from the nut, and never closer to the nut, than your marked scale length. The missing 10% gives you a fudge factor for mis-measuring, mis-marking, or mis-drilling. But don’t do that.

 

[Gilmourisgod]

^^^^^What @mapleglo said on the neck bolts. Hopefully an exact fit on your neck to pocket. Cover at least the area of the control cavity on the back of the pickguard with foil and pull tabs of copper foil up to a couple pickgurard holes, which should give you nice tight continuity. . I know they make aluminum sheet shielding templates for Srats, I think I've seen them for P's too. One design flaw on P's is having the jack supported by only the pickguard. So if you drop the bass on the cord, it breaks the pickguard. I glued a piece of .060" aluminum sheet to the back of my MIM P to reinforce it.

 

[mikeynets]

Great advice so far! Thanks everyone!

Re: jack placement/support— I was considering running it out the side. While I like the sound and style of Ps, I’m definitely not beholden to every detail. Any strong opinions on top mount vs side?

 

[Phreaky Phriday]

How do you play the bass seated? Make sure the jack isn't where your thigh is.

 

[Sharko]

Where did you get a 34” to 30” conversion neck? Asking for a friend…

 

[Matt Liebenau]

Get the neck dialed first then bridge, is that the best order of operations?

I’m not 100% what you mean but you could drill and bolt on the neck and then use that to lay out for the bridge. Measure the scale length like Mr Mullins said then I have a jig for the side to side placement of the bridge but you could tape off the body, lay out the center line of the neck on the body, use a straightedge to mark lines for the edge of the neck where the bridge will go and use those to place the bridge. Then center punch the bridge mounting screw locations and drill pilot holes.

 

[definenredefine]

Mounting the bridge and drilling the ground wire hole — it's a 30" conversion neck on a full scale body. Once the neck is in place, I'll measure 15" from the 12th fret and mark that spot on some painter's tape on the body. I'll set the saddles approx 2/3 of their screw length extended and use that as my 30" scale target. Draw parallel lines from the neck back to the saddle location, center it and drill the mounting holes. I'll use a Forstner bit to make a little pocket, then use a long 1/8" bit to angle across to the control cavity for the ground wire.

This is more or less what I do, and it seems to have worked out okay. That said, this -

Once you have your scale length marked, run your bridge saddles out to 90% of full travel, not 2/3, and place the bridge so that the crown of each saddle is at your scale length. Intonation always involves moving the saddles further from the nut, and never closer to the nut, than your marked scale length. The missing 10% gives you a fudge factor for mis-measuring, mis-marking, or mis-drilling. But don’t do that.

...is probably good advice. I'm not super experienced as a builder so I tend to defer to the rest of the TB luthiery hive mind.

 

[mikeynets]

Where did you get a 34” to 30” conversion neck? Asking for a friend…

Musikraft

 

[mikeynets]

I’m not 100% what you mean but you could drill and bolt on the neck and then use that to lay out for the bridge. Measure the scale length like Mr Mullins said then I have a jig for the side to side placement of the bridge but you could tape off the body, lay out the center line of the neck on the body, use a straightedge to mark lines for the edge of the neck where the bridge will go and use those to place the bridge. Then center punch the bridge mounting screw locations and drill pilot holes.

What you described is what I plan on doing and tried to describe myself lol

 

[mikeynets]

How do you play the bass seated? Make sure the jack isn't where your thigh is.

Good point. I set the bottom bout cutout on my thigh so there’s plenty of space for a side mounted jack to be free from my body.

 

[petermwright]

...then use a long 1/8" bit to angle across to the control cavity for the ground wire.

As a fellow non-luthier, who had to do this on a DIY build (my second and final DIY build), only thing I'm going to say is practise this beforehand if you possibly can. You might be more skilled than me of course, but luckily for me I had a spare junk body to practise on, and just as well as I did, because the first several goes ended up going straight through the body and coming out of the other side. It's tricky to get the angle shallow enough. Good luck

 

[definenredefine]

As a fellow non-luthier, who had to do this on a DIY build (my second and final DIY build), only thing I'm going to say is practise this beforehand if you possibly can. You might be more skilled than me of course, but luckily for me I had a spare junk body to practise on, and just as well as I did, because the first several goes ended up going straight through the body and coming out of the other side. It's tricky to get the angle shallow enough. Good luck

uh-Yup. Did the same thing myself...

 

[bassdude51]

A really nice looking piece of wood!!!!!!!! WOW!

One of my main goals with putting together a bass is near perfect neck alignment. I mark dead center at the first fret. Mark dead center at the last fret. Then I use a piece of string or thread and stretch the tread from the dead center at fret #1 to dead center at the bridge (center screw hole). Then, I check and see where the string is to dead center at the last fret. The string must be dead center to the last fret. So, the string goes from dead center nut, through dead center last fret and down to dead center bridge. Then, I drill the neck's mounting screw holes. I find neck alignment to the body to be soooo important for string alignment to the neck, pickup magnets and bridge saddles.

Good luck with your build.