• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Neck tapering...How are you guys doin it?

#3
that isnt very practical on a neck through or a glue neck the extends pretty well past the fb. I have found that a straight edge and router bit is best. It helps keep the sides square as well for gluing with the body. I would taper the neck, rough cut the fb, and line it up with the centerline (if if has frets) and glue, then just do a little trim and sand on the fb overhang, or make the neck and fb correct taper, and glue, if the fb can not be roughcut.
 
#4
jordan_frerichs said:
that isnt very practical on a neck through or a glue neck the extends pretty well past the fb. I have found that a straight edge and router bit is best. It helps keep the sides square as well for gluing with the body. I would taper the neck, rough cut the fb, and line it up with the centerline (if if has frets) and glue, then just do a little trim and sand on the fb overhang, or make the neck and fb correct taper, and glue, if the fb can not be roughcut.
Click to expand...

thats the way ive been doing it for a couple years now.

im toying with the idea of cutting the taper on my table saw, then gluing on "ears" for the headstock.

might be kinda fun to add some diffrent woods to the head stock and get a lil more color up there.
 
#5
PasdaBeer said:
thats the way ive been doing it for a couple years now.

im toying with the idea of cutting the taper on my table saw, then gluing on "ears" for the headstock.

might be kinda fun to add some diffrent woods to the head stock and get a lil more color up there.
Click to expand...

that what a friend of mine does, but i have not had enough experience with a table saw to trust myself to set up the angles correctly yet. I assume you are a much bigger fan of non-angled headstocks, correct?
 
#6
well, i am, but really why im looking into this is for some ERB's i want to build. and with the thickness of the blanks, cutting an angle afterwards will still leave plenty of wood for strength.

Add the fact that the blanks i use mainly now are 1" chunks of maple and purpleheart laminated, i think it will hold up either way :P
 
#8
PasdaBeer said:
not to mention cutting 2+ inches of depth per side on a template router just doesnt sound like that much fun to me atm!
Click to expand...

Nah, you actually don't need to do two inches per side. Taper one side with a laminate trim bit that has the guide bearing on the collet side of the bit, then flip over the neck.
Swap the first bit with a laminate trim bit that has the guide bearing on the bottom of the bit, and if you have set your bit depth set up correctly, the bottom bearing will use your already-routed wood as the template.

Lonnybass
 
#10
jordan_frerichs said:
that isnt very practical on a neck through or a glue neck the extends pretty well past the fb. I
Click to expand...

Actually that is what I jut did on my neck thru build. I cut along the fingerbaord with at bandsaw making sure to keep off the board, Then using a belt sander to clean up the edge.

Then I used a trim hand saw to cut the pieces at the body end of the neck since my neck thru was wider then my neck.

3555372389_922971618c.jpg
 
#11
lookin good.

I would use the FB as a template, but my router set up using brass bushings mainly oposed to templat bits ( again, due to cost )

Ive just started remaking my neck templates slightly undersized to make up for the bushings, and seems to work fine ( and its a lot easyer to use my 1" bits and easyer on the cutters)
 
#12
I like to cut the taper on a band saw, straight through the headstock. Then clean up the taper with a jointer. Glue on the FB. Rough cut that with a band saw, then clean up the finger board edge with a flush cut bit on the router table, using the neck taper as the guide. Headstock wings get glued on after that.
 
#13
Stone Age said:
I like to cut the taper on a band saw, straight through the headstock. Then clean up the taper with a jointer. Glue on the FB. Rough cut that with a band saw, then clean up the finger board edge with a flush cut bit on the router table, using the neck taper as the guide. Headstock wings get glued on after that.
Click to expand...


this is what i like to do too. I just bought a 3/4" blade to try for the next round of necks that i hope will help with the cut time.
 
#15
Hey erik +1

Yes the abosolute easiest way to do both the fretboard and neck use a template and a pattern bit after removing most of your waste with a bandsaw.

A table saw will only work if you are using a scarf joint and plan on adding the headstock after the the fact.
 
#18
you could taper the neck blanks w/a planer by making 2 jigs, 1 for each side, then glue the headstock ears back on. if you have access to a shop w/a shaper you could use a shaper with a set of jigs, just like a router. The shaper is the ideal tool if you know how to use it safely. both of these methods work really well for a making multiple necks at one time.
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back