Hello everyone,
I'm a long time lurker to this board and would like to thank the contributers for all the great information in these pages. I have a question concerning a project I'm starting and would like to solicit feedback to help me out.
I appreciate that what I am doing may not be practical, but here goes... I want to change the headstock of an Ibanez SR506 to make it wider. In my opinion, the headstock is aesthetically unpleasing. At its widest point, it measures 3 inches. The fingerboard is 3.25 inches at its widest point. Being narrower than the fingerboard doesn't sit well with me visually. Additionally, the E, A, D, and G strings taper in towards the centerline from the nut to the tuning machines. Again, this just feels odd to me.
The head is 3+3 configuration. The sides of the headstock have a concave radius, tapered at the center and wider at the top and neck. I plan on plugging the tuning machine holes, then cutting the head from the neck end to the top along a tangent line to the narrowest part of the radius, then gluing wings to the head and reshaping to a form more pleasing to me. I will not be interfering with the head to neck joint area. The cut will result in creating a trapazoid shaped head.
The neck/head is wenga and bubinga. I will be plugguing the holes and adding the wings with bubinga (nicer wood than what's on the bass now).
1. What type of glue should I use for bubinga? I will prepare the surfaces by cleaning with acetone and a light sanding prior to gluing, but would like to know if Titebond (1, 2 or 3) is adequate for bubunga, or should I use something else?
2. I'd like to get others thoughts on the resulting strength of the reshaped head. The tuning machines for the A and D strings of the newly shaped head will end up entirely on the new bubinga wings.
I'm adding a new veneer to the top and plan on doing a bubinga inlay on the back so the plugged holes will not be an eyesore.
Thank you for your time in reading my post,
Bob
I'm a long time lurker to this board and would like to thank the contributers for all the great information in these pages. I have a question concerning a project I'm starting and would like to solicit feedback to help me out.
I appreciate that what I am doing may not be practical, but here goes... I want to change the headstock of an Ibanez SR506 to make it wider. In my opinion, the headstock is aesthetically unpleasing. At its widest point, it measures 3 inches. The fingerboard is 3.25 inches at its widest point. Being narrower than the fingerboard doesn't sit well with me visually. Additionally, the E, A, D, and G strings taper in towards the centerline from the nut to the tuning machines. Again, this just feels odd to me.
The head is 3+3 configuration. The sides of the headstock have a concave radius, tapered at the center and wider at the top and neck. I plan on plugging the tuning machine holes, then cutting the head from the neck end to the top along a tangent line to the narrowest part of the radius, then gluing wings to the head and reshaping to a form more pleasing to me. I will not be interfering with the head to neck joint area. The cut will result in creating a trapazoid shaped head.
The neck/head is wenga and bubinga. I will be plugguing the holes and adding the wings with bubinga (nicer wood than what's on the bass now).
1. What type of glue should I use for bubinga? I will prepare the surfaces by cleaning with acetone and a light sanding prior to gluing, but would like to know if Titebond (1, 2 or 3) is adequate for bubunga, or should I use something else?
2. I'd like to get others thoughts on the resulting strength of the reshaped head. The tuning machines for the A and D strings of the newly shaped head will end up entirely on the new bubinga wings.
I'm adding a new veneer to the top and plan on doing a bubinga inlay on the back so the plugged holes will not be an eyesore.
Thank you for your time in reading my post,
Bob
