First project: Folk Bass DIY upright

[Bruce Johnson]

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

I agree with keeping the walls thick if you can. They are the weak spot of a Scroll style headstock.

Like T-Bone suggested, you can recess the tuner's mounting plates into the outside walls. I do that on my Walnut Scroll Bass models. And then I add aluminum plates on the outside walls, which surround the tuners and cover up their mounting plates. They give the look of classic upright bass tuners, and also add some reinforcement to the headstock.

 

[NKBassman]

I agree with keeping the walls thick if you can. They are the weak spot of a Scroll style headstock.

Like T-Bone suggested, you can recess the tuner's mounting plates into the outside walls. I do that on my Walnut Scroll Bass models. And then I add aluminum plates on the outside walls, which surround the tuners and cover up their mounting plates. They give the look of classic upright bass tuners, and also add some reinforcement to the headstock.

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Impeccable work as always Bruce. The walls being the weak point was my assessment as well, which is why I erred on the thick side to start with. Worst case Ontario I could just take a swipe off the walls from the outside face with a table saw at some point before I glue on the scrolls. Otherwise that task would get much more complicated after they're glued on.

I'll have to string it up sooner than later for a test I guess. Which means a rough cut of the nut and bridge will have to be be my next tasks.

 

[Videojunkie]

Impeccable work as always Bruce. The walls being the weak point was my assessment as well, which is why I erred on the thick side to start with. Worst case Ontario I could just take a swipe off the walls from the outside face with a table saw at some point before I glue on the scrolls. Otherwise that task would get much more complicated after they're glued on.

I'll have to string it up sooner than later for a test I guess. Which means a rough cut of the nut and bridge will have to be be my next tasks.

You can use a scrap piece of wood for a quick nut to do some testing without worrying about messing up the finish one... I think I made 2 or 3 for my EUB before I was finished. A piece of pine will compress enough to hold the strings in place.

@Bruce Johnson interesting that the round part of the scroll is hollow. I can see it saving quite a bit of weight in the headstock, does it compromise the strength much?

 

[NKBassman]

You can use a scrap piece of wood for a quick nut to do some testing without worrying about messing up the finish one... I think I made 2 or 3 for my EUB before I was finished. A piece of pine will compress enough to hold the strings in place.

That's a good idea. I need something to practice on before I try cutting into the chunk of ebony I bought to make the nut.

 

[Bruce Johnson]

@Bruce Johnson interesting that the round part of the scroll is hollow. I can see it saving quite a bit of weight in the headstock, does it compromise the strength much?

That's exactly why I did it, to save weight. It's right out at the end of the neck, so a small amount of wood removed there is a big gain in balance. I don't think it reduces the strength much. The weakest part of a scroll headstock is those side walls. Smack the headstock on something, and that's where it will break.

I've built 93 Scroll Basses so far, over 27 years, and so far, no one has broken a headstock. I'm sure it will happen eventually, but it hasn't so far. One customer dropped his hard enough that it bent the tuner key, but the headstock didn't break. That's encouraging. It's all about alignment of the rings and grain through the side walls.

 

[NKBassman]

I've built 93 Scroll Basses so far, over 27 years, and so far, no one has broken a headstock.

Hold my beer...

 

[Bruce Johnson]

Back in the early days (1997-1999) I did have three Scroll Bass headstocks crack severely enough that I had to completely rebuild them. But that was while they were under construction. Some early lessons in how to build Scroll Bass headstocks so they don't crack.

There's a whole lot of extra engineering and technical risk in making a scroll-style headstock, particularly when it's shrunken and slimmed down to electric bass size. That's why no major manufacturers will touch them. Too expensive and risky to build.

 

[NKBassman]

You can use a scrap piece of wood for a quick nut to do some testing without worrying about messing up the finish one... I think I made 2 or 3 for my EUB before I was finished. A piece of pine will compress enough to hold the strings in place.

Just saw the pic of your cool upright in your SCP thread! Do you have a build thread you post a link to here?

 

[Videojunkie]

Just saw the pic of your cool upright in your SCP thread! Do you have a build thread you post a link to here?

Homebuilt EUB build thread

 

[NKBassman]

Hold my beer...

LOL. I swear I did not do this on purpose . I was trying to seat the tuner bushings into place by giving them a little tap with a dowel, and the headstock separated from the neck, I assume due to the heel end being unsupported causing the whole thing flex at the joint. It’s a clean break and should glue up pretty seamlessly. We’ll see tomorrow.

 

[Matt Liebenau]

Sympathy like.

 

[Crawforde]

Ouch

 

[NKBassman]

Sympathy like.

haha don’t give me too much sympathy. I was rushing and careless and brought this on myself.

At least it happened before finishing and not after.

 

[Videojunkie]

You might want to think about making some side supports like bruce made...

 

[NKBassman]

You might want to think about making some side supports like bruce made...

Metal plates along the outside of the headstock wouldn’t have helped in this case since it broke at the inside of the fork where it meets the neck.

 

[NKBassman]

Also, the adjustable bridge design will work as a proof of concept, but think I need to make it a little bit bigger overall, and pine probably isn’t the best choice.

 

[NKBassman]

The glue repair looks great. Virtually seamless. Should be all but invisible.

 

[Videojunkie]

The glue repair looks great. Virtually seamless. Should be all but invisible.

Mine did a very similar break, and I was able to reglue it with no problems.

 

[NKBassman]

Good as new. Just needs some sanding cleanup now.

 

[NKBassman]

Would there be any benefit to drilling a hole all the way through this joint and gluing a dowel in there as a means of reinforcing it? I want to say it’s probably not worth it, but I’m open to suggestion.