First project: Folk Bass DIY upright

[NKBassman]

Missed this pic in my uploads on the last post. It shows a bit of the shaping that I got done on the headstock joint on this side of the neck. Basically rounding over the large flair a bit. I’m not sure how far I’ll take it yet. Open to suggestions.

 

[Flamingo21]

I'm digging that headstock.

 

[NKBassman]

I'm digging that headstock.

Thanks! I think its time to shift my attention back to the headstock actually.

I wiped down the back of the neck to raise the grain and then sanded it back with 220, and it's actually feeling pretty good! I think I'm going to call the neck carve "done for now" until I can get the whole thing back together and strung up and actually play a few notes to get a feel for it.

I test fit one of the threaded wood inserts for the heel into a scrap of the same wood yesterday and the allen key socket on it completely stripped just as I was tightening it flush to the surface, like I can't even get it back out. I may have pre-drilled the hole a little on the tight side, but that didn't really inspire confidence, so I ordered some different ones off Amazon which will take a couple days to get here.

So that leaves the headstock. First thing I want to do is fit the tuners and make sure I haven't made any horrible mistakes in that department. Then I'll see how that pre-made nut I bought fits with the fingerboard. I have a set of bass nut files incoming from Amazon, which should be arriving today, so I can try my hand at filing the plastic nut to suit the fingerboard radius before I cut into the piece of ebony I originally intended to use.

Aaannd, once the tuner holes are drilled I can start thinking about mounting the pre-made scrolls. I was also thinking about carving some relief into the front face of the "cylinder" to give it a little more character than just a wide flat face. Here's a sketchy sketch, but I'm not going to commit to anything until I know for sure what I'm doing with the scrolls. Kinda looks a bit... top heavy? I dunno... something's off. The scrolls aren't to scale but I don't really like it.

Suggestions?

 

[Reedt2000]

Thanks! I think its time to shift my attention back to the headstock actually.

I wiped down the back of the neck to raise the grain and then sanded it back with 220, and it's actually feeling pretty good! I think I'm going to call the neck carve "done for now" until I can get the whole thing back together and strung up and actually play a few notes to get a feel for it.

I test fit one of the threaded wood inserts for the heel into a scrap of the same wood yesterday and the allen key socket on it completely stripped just as I was tightening it flush to the surface, like I can't even get it back out. I may have pre-drilled the hole a little on the tight side, but that didn't really inspire confidence, so I ordered some different ones off Amazon which will take a couple days to get here.

So that leaves the headstock. First thing I want to do is fit the tuners and make sure I haven't made any horrible mistakes in that department. Then I'll see how that pre-made nut I bought fits with the fingerboard. I have a set of bass nut files incoming from Amazon, which should be arriving today, so I can try my hand at filing the plastic nut to suit the fingerboard radius before I cut into the piece of ebony I originally intended to use.

Aaannd, once the tuner holes are drilled I can start thinking about mounting the pre-made scrolls. I was also thinking about carving some relief into the front face of the "cylinder" to give it a little more character than just a wide flat face. Here's a sketchy sketch, but I'm not going to commit to anything until I know for sure what I'm doing with the scrolls. Kinda looks a bit... top heavy? I dunno... something's off. The scrolls aren't to scale but I don't really like it.

Suggestions?

View attachment 5145882

The headstock may look odd because on a DB the tuners aren't directly across from one another, they are staggered.

That makes the whole thing slimmer. Plus it tapers as it gets towards the scroll. It doesn't look like you've got room for the taper, but your design should function.

 

[NKBassman]

The headstock may look odd because on a DB the tuners aren't directly across from one another, they are staggered.

View attachment 5145894

That makes the whole thing slimmer. Plus it tapers as it gets towards the scroll. It doesn't look like you've got room for the taper, but your design should function.

Yeah, it's probably the taper that's missing and throwing me off. I don't think I have room, time, or the wherewithal to figure out how to do that on mine so I'm just going to leave it.
My headstock was modeled after the Ampeg baby bass, which also tapers in a bit towards the top. I see they left the "face" of the scroll plain, and I may just do the same.

 

[NKBassman]

I did order this fun play on the Kay logo along with the scrolls. Maybe I could just put that on the front of the headstock instead.

 

[Beej]

Ha! I love it.

 

[Reedt2000]

The ampeg has a much less pronounced taper. Maybe you could slightly taper your scroll-base (so not the whole headstock) to get a bit of that visual element?

 

[T_Bone_TL]

I should mention that I tried the Surform pocket plane that I bought back on Page 3 (and almost forgot about) and I didn't really like it. It was too coarse and did more of a scrape than a slice like a normal plane would do. It would work if that's all you have, but I wouldn't recommend you go out and buy one for this task.

I think the way you get a Surform to cut nicely (or more nicely) is to buy it a replacement blade - not a Stanley, a Microplane, if they have one in the size. Last I knew Mr. Lee's fine Canadian woodworking tool emporium had such things. May not be in budget, and if you have a real plane and/or files...

 

[NKBassman]

I think the way you get a Surform to cut nicely (or more nicely) is to buy it a replacement blade - not a Stanley, a Microplane, if they have one in the size. Last I knew Mr. Lee's fine Canadian woodworking tool emporium had such things. May not be in budget, and if you have a real plane and/or files...

I'll keep the Surform around for what it was truly meant for... cleaning up cut drywall edges. And I suppose I might need it when/if I eventually give the very nice hand plane that I borrowed back to its rightful owner.

 

[Bruce Johnson]

For reference, here's a prototype Scroll Bass neck that I made up about fifteen years ago, and never finished. I experimented with adding a center ridge around the head, with the dual grooves. I also added a little center ridge in the volute.

 

[NKBassman]

For reference, here's a prototype Scroll Bass neck that I made up about fifteen years ago, and never finished. I experimented with adding a center ridge around the head, with the dual grooves. I also added a little center ridge in the volute.

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Well yours certainly looks nice!

 

[NKBassman]

Well, they’ll fit! something like that oughta work anyway, But I don’t have the right sized drill bit for the bushings. I’m going to the hardware store later today anyway so I’ll see what they’ve got.

Meanwhile, my new bolts and threaded inserts came. these seem much better than the ones I got from the hardware store. Inserts installed and tightened flush. Moment of truth…

Great success!

And I finally got this little ebony splinter out of my fingertip! Productive day.

 

[NKBassman]

Not surprisingly, Lowe’s didn’t have an 11/16” drill bit on the shelf so I had to order one from… you guessed it… Amazon . Should be here today or tomorrow.

while the neck was attached to the mounting block I did some shaping on the heel. I should have sanded down my stain test before gluing those ears on the heel.

 

[Beej]

Wow, this sure brought the memories flooding back.

 

[NKBassman]

Wow, this sure brought the memories flooding back.
View attachment 5151754

lol there’s no telling how old that pencil is. I get them from my dad who lives in a town with a Coop lumberyard.

 

[Max Bogosity]

We have a few Co-ops around, but they’re strictly feed and seed places. Never seen one with lumber.

 

[NKBassman]

Used the headstock template to pilot drill for the tuners.

Reamed out the pilot holes to 1/4” to accommodate the gargantuan drill bit I got for the tuner bushings. I ordered the first 11/16” drill bit I came across on Amazon and wish I’d spent a little more time looking for something shorter and without the screw tip. I was in a rush and didn’t even bother looking for a forstner bit . I do NOT recommend a drill bit with a screw tip for this kind of work. Good thing I tested it first, because I would have probably destroyed my headstock if I'd just gone straight in to the pilot hole with this. The screw wants to bite and immediately pull the bit in hard, so I had to pre-drill the holes out to the diameter of the screwy part to prevent that from happening. After that the tapered tip actually did a pretty good job of keeping it centered in the hole, but a forstner bit would have been much better at cutting a precise diameter hole... the extra long drill bit combined with a “well seasoned” drill press made a couple of the holes a bit wobbly.

But it turned out ok! One of the bushings is a little loose, but some Teflon tape or a spot of hot stick glue should take care of that on final setup without being too permanent that I won't ever be able to get it out again.

Also looks like I may have made the walls of the headstock a little bit on the thick side, as there's not a lot of tuner shaft sticking through to wrap the strings around. Should be ok though, especially given the length from the nut to the A and D tuners.

 

[T_Bone_TL]

I may have made the walls of the headstock a little bit on the thick side, as there's not a lot of tuner shaft sticking through to wrap the strings around.

You could route fitted recesses for the tuner plates, which would be nice and fancy and get you a bit more projection without thinning down the walls everywhere.

 

[NKBassman]

You could route fitted recesses for the tuner plates, which would be nice and fancy and get you a bit more projection without thinning down the walls everywhere.

I'm going to try stringing it up as is first. That seems like more of a makework project for the winter .