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Help Regarding Neck Angles

Cellwelder

Cellwelder

Guest
Dec 25, 2012
87
30
29
Bangkok, Thailand
Disclosures
Gee, I wish I had a commercial affiliation. I could use a little more spending money...
#1
I have been planning for some time to build a fretless, 34 inch scale 4 string bass. I've read Melvyn Hiscock's book about guitar building, and have gotten a very solid idea of the amount of careful planning needed for a functional guitar. The one thing that I'm still unsure of is the issue of the neck angle. Because I want this to be a simple instrument, I'd prefer to not deal with any neck angle, since I believe my woodworking skills aren't up to par with cutting slight angles, and the rather primitive tools I have to work with in a semester of high school.

Is it possible to have a Fender style bridge without having any neck angle? I'm not looking for the lowest possible action, since I'm not too picky with it. But as long as the finished product is playable, consider me sold.

Thanks in advance for any advice,
Rick
 
#2
Well, you started out the right way by reading Melvyn's book! My advice is to read it again... and again. I used it (with no other help; no internet; no computer; just a drawing board) to build my first bass, but it took me several readings before it all started to sink in.

My second bit of advice is to buy all your hardware before you start and then make a full size drawing of what you want to make. That way, you know what height of bridge you have to allow for, etc.

Then you can calculate how much higher the surface of the fingerboard has to be than the surface of the body. If you can't get the f'board low enough because your bridge is very low, you can put a spacer under the bridge (don't listen to anybody who might start telling you that, if you do that, you'll lose sustain, etc., etc., etc.)

If you can draw it out in CAD that's even better.
 
#3
Dave is correct, but the short answer is "No, you don't have to have a neck angle."

That said...it's not as hard to get precise angles as you might thing. I was sweating the 0.86 degree taper on my neck for a long time before I transferred the drawing and started cutting.

Allow yourself to know that working wood with handtools is not the most precise process in the world, and that the dimensions won't be precisely perfect. Then realize that it doesn't have to be precisely perfect to be a high quality, serviceable instrument.

In terms of cutting precision lines, the best thing I did, which gave me the best results, was to mark the cuts with a scratch awl instead of a pencil. It is harder to see the line, but it is a great deal more precise than a pencil.
 
#5
Determine the amount of rise over the length of the neck pocket according to the angle they want, or you have decided on. Then shim the bridge-end of the neck pocket template so that that amount of rise is achieved.
 
#7
Cellwelder said:
Is it possible to have a Fender style bridge without having any neck angle? I'm not looking for the lowest possible action, since I'm not too picky with it. But as long as the finished product is playable, consider me sold.

Thanks in advance for any advice,
Rick
Click to expand...

Just because it hasn't been mentioned yet (unless I missed it) fender basses don't have a neck angle, so you don't need to worry.
 
#8
Tom;

On a bolt-on instrument, you can cut the neck angle into either the neck or the body. Usually it's easier to rout the pocket (in the body) on the angle, by tilting the template. Use old-fashioned trig to figure out the height of shim needed under the back of the template. I usually use a long, narrow shim, like 3/4" wide, along the back edge, all stuck down with double-sided tape.

If you tilt the pocket, you also have to decide what to with the screws. Theoretically, it's better to tilt the screws too, making them perpendicular to the flat surface in the bottom of the pocket. You tilt up the body while drilling the holes down from the pocket. But there may be issues with the neck plate or ferrules, because the screw heads will be tilted in the holes.

On the other hand, if you keep the screws perpendicular to the back of the body, as normal, then tightening the screws may tend to "walk" the neck forward in the pocket.

The other approach is to leave the pocket flat, and cut the angle on the neck heel. It's a little more complicated to set up the fixture to rout the neck heel surface, but it eliminates the issues with the screws.

It's a tradeoff. Any of these approaches can work.
 
#11
Bruce Johnson said:
Tom;

On a bolt-on instrument, you can cut the neck angle into either the neck or the body. Usually it's easier to rout the pocket (in the body) on the angle, by tilting the template. Use old-fashioned trig to figure out the height of shim needed under the back of the template. I usually use a long, narrow shim, like 3/4" wide, along the back edge, all stuck down with double-sided tape.

If you tilt the pocket, you also have to decide what to with the screws. Theoretically, it's better to tilt the screws too, making them perpendicular to the flat surface in the bottom of the pocket. You tilt up the body while drilling the holes down from the pocket. But there may be issues with the neck plate or ferrules, because the screw heads will be tilted in the holes.

On the other hand, if you keep the screws perpendicular to the back of the body, as normal, then tightening the screws may tend to "walk" the neck forward in the pocket.

The other approach is to leave the pocket flat, and cut the angle on the neck heel. It's a little more complicated to set up the fixture to rout the neck heel surface, but it eliminates the issues with the screws.

It's a tradeoff. Any of these approaches can work.
Click to expand...

Thanks luckily he decided to go with the flat neck after all.
 
#12
I'm on my 6th build and 5 have a slight angle. Its easy. get a slightly angled wood sheet, you'll laugh but a cedar shingle will work. mount your template and clamp your template to your body....then route it.

now here is the trick. make the neck normal, flat with perpendicular end cause guess what. your pocket end is angled but at a 90 degree angle to the pocket face.

your gonna drill your holes with the neck clamped in place. this will allow you to drill perpendicular to the back of the bass making your screw heads sit flat, when you bolt the neck on it should be clamped tight so the threading is tight. and as for walking the neck up when your tighting...well guess what. not really a factor because you drilled the holes with the neck in place.

added bonus. because you screws are at an angle to in the neck itself you have more screw length in the neck, stronger, better.

anyway, try it on a test block to get your technique down. works for me badgerbasses.
 

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