Neck-Through question

[AndyMania]

I was curious about something when it comes through neck through construction. Is it possible to have the neck go through the body wood but not the top wood? I have this nice buckeye burl wood that is going to be the top and walnut will be bottom. I wanted to show off the burl as much as possible so could I just attach the walnut body wings to the neck first and then put the burl on top?

 

[Zombbg4]

I'm not sure of the proper method of doing so, but it is possible. I'd just go with a set or bolt neck though.

 

[jworrellbass]

It's easier to glue a strip over the top of the neck section that will go under or butt to the FB. And then attach your body wings. IMO

 

[erikbojerik]

Yeah its possible.

You need a step-down from the end of the fretboard to the body core. The height of the step needs to take into consideration the thickness of the top, and the height of the bridge saddles above the top, so that your bridge height is correct relative to your fretboard surface.

Then you *carefully* cut out a section of the top where it will surround the end of the neck & fretboard, so that you have as small a gap as possible. That's how I did this one - I glued it on mostly with Titebond, but with epoxy around the neck, so you can see a little bit of epoxy squeeze-out. You can minimize it by taping the top around the neck cutout, and peeling it off while the epoxy is still soft - then sand off the rest.

 

[mikeyswood]

Bookmatch to center is pretty common and Erik spot on. You need to be balls-on accurate and that will be a huge challenge if you have not built previously.

 

[salman]

I have done this. I created the neck, then stepped it down 3/4" for the length of the body, I then routed a channel in the back of the body for the entire length of the body then glued the neck in place. In effect it is a single piece body/neck through design. I call it a neck-under The problem I encountered is that some gaps occurred in the joint due to the length of the neck socket...although I did use a single hunk of wood for the neck so it was a little more prone to warping, I suspect in a laminate neck construction this my not be as much of a problem. The resulting bass plays very well has excellent sustain but I consider it only of prototype quality due to the imperfections, I kept it and play it every day though.

bump the previous post, you need to be balls on accurate.

 

[salman]

More Pics...Please note, the yellow discoloration is from the flash, these pictures were taken with a $50 camera from Walgreen's

 

[Son of Magni]

As Mikey mentioned, the term is "Bookmatch to Center".

I couldn't resist trying it with this piece of Limba:

 

[mikeyswood]

Wow! Fingerboard too now that is impressive!

 

[NKUSigEp]

See: Warwick Thumb Neckthru bass

 

[AndyMania]

Awesome guys, thanks for the responses. Also I bought a big piece of Black Limba today for my neck. The guy at the woodshop I recommended doing the neck from one piece of wood as opposed to laminates. Would this be ok? He says Limba is very strong an will not warp.

 

[Ruckus_Instrmts]

Generally a laminated neck is more stable then a one piece neck.

 

[mikeyswood]

30 years old and perfect:

It is up to you to choose good woods and then stability between one and multiple pieces is moot.

 

[SanDiegoHarry]

30 years old and perfect:

It is up to you to choose good woods and then stability between one and multiple pieces is moot.

When I was but a young man, that was my dream bass... I saw one hanging on the wall at the old downtown GC here in SD...

*sigh*

 

[Son of Magni]

Wow! Fingerboard too now that is impressive!

Yeah, I had this big piece of black limba and couldn't resist bringing the grain all the way through, so I bookmatched the fingerboard and even the headstock lam to match

 

[mikeyswood]

I believe that the scientific term for that is "hum-dinger!"

 

[Rickett Customs]

I have a bass:

and a guitar (neck lam is capped in the center, on the back too.Erik should recognize this one....)

 

[Ol'Bass'ead]

I did basically what Eric did-worked great!

 

[Son of Magni]

So, it looks like we've got some great examples here. Maybe we should discuss the sequence of assembly. There are challenges to overcome in this design that are not encountered when you bookmatch to neck.

 

[Rickett Customs]

Maybe we should discuss the sequence of assembly. There are challenges to overcome in this design that are not encountered when you bookmatch to neck.

Good idea.

I have yet to try gluing the top to the necklam, then gluing the wings after.

Typically, I start by cutting the difference of height on the neck lam and the desired body angle. Glue the body wings, level the top surface, then glue my top on.