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Neck doweling issue

#21
joeyl said:
yes if you looked at some old Fenders they have horrendous looking gaps on the side and front of the pocket, you could fit the thickness of a quarter in the gap at it's narrowest :eek:
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Thats what she told me. She said if I paid to have all this work done, that the tight spacing would not look accurate to a 62 Jazz bass.

I'm probably going to just pick it up next week. I want to talk more owners of these older Fenders to see if they agree with Holly's notion of horrible neck pocket spacing.
 
#23
i dunno, i've seen plenty of old and new fenders with gaps on the sides, but never once have i seen one where the end of the neck didn't meet the body pocket.

if you want the stability without re-drilling, just make a shim from a nice hardwood veneer to fill the gap so that the shim takes the string pressure rather than just the sideways force on the screws.

a key set-up step for bolt-ons is to loosen the 4 neck screws a little while the instrument is strung, so that the strings will in fact pull the end of the neck hard against the pocket wall. after making sure the outside strings line up with the neck and then re-tightening, you'll often find the instrument sounds a little better, more "solid" if that makes any sense. (this step was codified in the old G&L factory set-up directions, which is where i first heard of it.)

that big gap makes this step impossible.
 
#24
walterw said:
i dunno, i've seen plenty of old and new fenders with gaps on the sides, but never once have i seen one where the end of the neck didn't meet the body pocket.
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I was referring to gaps at the sides of the neck.

Then again, I did have a more recent MIA P in here with a 1/8" gap between the end of the neck and the end of the neck pocket. I fixed it by filling and redrilling the neck screw holes.
 
#30
Rickett Customs said:
As long as it's doweled properly, there should be no issue. Many people fear it because of the dowels being "end grain" that the screw is turning into.....
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+1

I never had a problem, and it's a common practice for people swapping necks to plug holes with dowels...the procedure is even in Dan Earlewine's book on guitar repair.

My spidy-sense is tingling to the tune of some BS, but do whatever you want...get a custom pickguard to cover it if you're scared to move the neck.

OR...If it were me, I would rather have a small gap on the side that I could shim(if necessary) once the neck is centered, than have a gap at the heel. Buy Dan's book and do it yourself...it get's fixed and you save some bucks on a repair they(she) doesn't have confidence in doing.

Just don't drill thru the neck!
 
#31
I may take it somewhere else. I don't want to push them to do something they aren't comfortable with. I know Kevin would do it, but getting him to do it is the problem.

Doing it myself scares me. I know I should step up, but I just want it done, and I'd rather not experiment on this piece.
 
#35
HaMMerHeD said:
The original BoD has had a new top put on it (incidentally by the same Luthier that bassgod76 is using), so the net pocket fit is probably not the same as it is on a stock '62 J. (It is probably far better.)
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The top is just that, a top. A veneer.
If there is a gap it would still be visable once the neck is removed, if a top covered it the effect would be much like the old Fender trick of covering it with a pickguard. I'm betting KK did not bother to do this, if there was a gap before the top, odds are there is a gap after the top. Not saying it couldn't be hidden like that, just that I don't see KK bothering for Jaco, considering how he had treated the bass. KK literally brought the BOD back from the dead, which was a big enough feat. Also consider the current attitude from his shop towards the gap, which again hints that he wouldn't bother trying to cover one if it existed.
I personally wouldn't care if the BOD had one or not, I would fix it, in BG's shoes. BG has said before, it is a "tribute" and not a "replica".
 
#36
Were you not thinking about sending this back to Dan Atkinson for more relic work? If you do, just let him fix it, as it is probably a common job for him and if he needs to adjust the pocket or anything, and paint gets damaged, he will know exactly what to use to fix that (finish) too.

I think, if more Dan time is in your future, I would let it ride until then. I'm sure he can make it all come together right for ya!
 
#37
THand said:
Were you not thinking about sending this back to Dan Atkinson for more relic work? If you do, just let him fix it, as it is probably a common job for him and if he needs to adjust the pocket or anything, and paint gets damaged, he will know exactly what to use to fix that (finish) too.

I think, if more Dan time is in your future, I would let it ride until then. I'm sure he can make it all come together right for ya!
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Yeah, I might have him screw with it. I was going to send it for relic work anyways. I was also going to have him lay down some bass tracks with it, since he has the computer hardware to record. He's been a great source of info, and is an excellent TBer. I will take a look at the gap when I go grab it on Friday. Maybe I'm being too picky.
 
#38
I got my bass back from Kaufman. After taking a second look, the gap is rather small. I can only fit one business card in the space, and I see it as more of a problem to fix something that will have little affect on sound. Plus the side walls are nice and tight, which will not allow any shifting. I will post more pics of the gap. I'm a bit nuerotic and sometimes I sweat the small things. I played her last night, and I absolutely love this axe. I apologize if I wasted your time. I really appreciate everyone's input here; even if the input was , "Dude you're worrying about some stupid-ass detail!"

I will be sending her to Dan Atkinson in the Winter for further relic love and sound samples.

I plan to make a trip to Jaco Pastorius park in Oakland park. Being that I love 20 minutes away from Jaco's home town, I will post pics of my Jaco tribute in the park.
 
#40
JLS said:
Lemme get this straight--after all this fussing about a virtually unnoticeable "gap", you're going to pay someone, to beat up your instrument, to make it look older?
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Well Dan originally relic'd the body when I was piecing it together. Since last November he said he has leraned new techniques to tweak the body finish. Who knows. No, I'm not paying for the additional relicing.
 

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