Summer ‘24 Oddball

[ctmullins]

Bolt-on should work just fine. What “fluid lines” do you think will need to be sacrificed?

 

[Verner]

Bolt-on should work just fine. What “fluid lines” do you think will need to be sacrificed?

The transition from neck to heel and the sides of the neck into the shoulders of the instrument, and I think I would want to avoid a large metal plate. I think if the bolts were a little lower you could sculpt the top of the body's neck joint right into the heel of the neck. I have to take a look around, I am betting some folks on this forum have already nailed it.

 

[pklima]

I like the offset Rick-y look. Reminds me a bit of my Killer Simmony, which might be another bass to look for design cues when it comes to things like the headstock and pickguard.

Are you tempted to angle the pickups to align with the body offset?

 

[Matt Liebenau]

The transition from neck to heel and the sides of the neck into the shoulders of the instrument, and I think I would want to avoid a large metal plate. I think if the bolts were a little lower you could sculpt the top of the body's neck joint right into the heel of the neck. I have to take a look around, I am betting some folks on this forum have already nailed it.

Something countersunk like ferrules or bars?

 

[pklima]

If you want to go full oddball, Ruina Miyashiro does this...

 

[ctmullins]

A long tenon neck means you can have a bolt-on with no neck heel at all.

I like to run the tenon all the way to the pickup cavity, like this. I’ve been gluing these necks in, but you could easily use bolts/screws as well.

 

[Verner]

I like the offset Rick-y look. Reminds me a bit of my Killer Simmony, which might be another bass to look for design cues when it comes to things like the headstock and pickguard.

Are you tempted to angle the pickups to align with the body offset?

Thanks, I’ll check yours out! I hadn’t thought about angling them, this one is just a prototype. The final version will have invisible pickups under the top, so visually they won’t be in play.

 

[Verner]

A long tenon neck means you can have a bolt-on with no neck heel at all.

I like to run the tenon all the way to the pickup cavity, like this. I’ve been gluing these necks in, but you could easily use bolts/screws as well.

That’s a cool thought! Beautiful work as always @ctmullins.

 

[Verner]

Here is another thought I had, has anyone here ever played on a flat fretboard? Since the pickups will be supremely sensitive to the proximity of the strings, it seems like the radius should be very flat to match the strings as much as possible, but maybe that is overthinking it. I've never played on a flat board, so I am curious about how much it would affect playability on a thin jazz-bass neck. I have a bunch of basses with a 12" radius, and I don't know that I have thought about the difference in that context.

 

[Flying B]

I made my last bass with a flat fretboard. I'll be making all my fretboards flat from now on!

 

[ctmullins]

My standard radius for bass is 20", which is almost flat. And because the action is usually higher on the lower strings, the strings themselves are very, very close to coplanar.

 

[Dave Higham]

I make mine flat. But then, I'm the only one who plays them and I'm a very mediocre bassist; what I once heard someone (talking about himself) call a 'plonker'. I've adopted the description. Flat fretboards are certainly easier to make.

 

[Max Bogosity]

Alright, so having had a few days to sit with this brings some things into focus. Firstly, I think this may need to be a bolt-on design. I want the fluid lines of a neck though design, but I can’t think of any way to make this an efficient yet serviceable design. With a bolt-on design I can sink the neck in right to the tang of the frets or beyond, but still take it out for fretwork in the future.

That would also give me the option of making a uniform-thickness cap for the body, avoiding the potentially catastrophic action of routing into an almost-completed neck-through body to only 1/8” or so.

Not 100% on this yet, I’ll keep pondering. Any thoughts are welcome!

How about a through-neck with bolt-on body wings? With a couple of dowels per wing for alignment, and bolts going sideways in the pickup cavities. Then you could just remove the wings for fretwork. It would be hard to completely hide the joints, but you could make a feature of them with a step like a Thunderbird. And if you get bored, you can swap out the wings for a different shape and/or colour.

 

[Verner]

How about a through-neck with bolt-on body wings? With a couple of dowels per wing for alignment, and bolts going sideways in the pickup cavities. Then you could just remove the wings for fretwork. It would be hard to completely hide the joints, but you could make a feature of them with a step like a Thunderbird. And if you get bored, you can swap out the wings for a different shape and/or colour.

The problem there would be structural. Since the pickups will be hidden under the top, the routs for the pickups will go through the back, and the bass will need the strength of the sides.

 

[Max Bogosity]

The problem there would be structural. Since the pickups will be hidden under the top, the routs for the pickups will go through the back, and the bass will need the strength of the sides.

That could be even better. You could slide the pickups in from the sides of the neck beam and have an uninterrupted top and back, which is structurally stronger. But now I don't see how to attach the wings unless it's with magnets or pocket screws.

Alternatively, carry on as you originally planned, but with a pickguard that covers the entire top like on a Godin Radiator. It could come right up to the plane of the fretboard when installed, but when you remove it then you have access for fretwork.

Or make the thing fretless.

 

[Verner]

That could be even better. You could slide the pickups in from the sides of the neck beam and have an uninterrupted top and back, which is structurally stronger. But now I don't see how to attach the wings unless it's with magnets or pocket screws.

Alternatively, carry on as you originally planned, but with a pickguard that covers the entire top like on a Godin Radiator. It could come right up to the plane of the fretboard when installed, but when you remove it then you have access for fretwork.

Or make the thing fretless.

Some neat ideas there. I think the pickups sliding in from the side particularly clever.