Had to add this image to show the neck has no angle....
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The Hossenfeffer III Build
- Thread starter Gilmourisgod
- Start date
Sure, something like top of the center of the last fret to surface of the body? The vette might be easier to get the measurement cause the top is flat (the streamer is all contoured and such
)So I've got a Corvette FNA Jazzman 5-string. In the center of the fretboard, the surface of the fretboard is .385" above the surface of the body. There is no neck angle. The total thickness of the body on this bass is 1.735". The height of the 24th fret in the center is .059" (top of the fret to the surface of the fretboard). Ive got my action set pretty low, the B string is around .1" above the top of the 12th fret. My bridge is recessed into the body a bit. The center of the tailpiece is .625" from the back edge of the bridge. The tailpiece is also recessed into the body, the top surface of the tailpiece is .25" from the surface of the body. Now some obligatory pics
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Rôckhewer
Commercial User
- Feb 28, 2015
- 2,922
- 9,028
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- Owner/Builder- RockHewer Custom Guitars LLC
Hey bro.... no shade....
My first 5 builds were flat.
And 2 of those were actually wrong... (had to fabricate a bridge plate shim)
... I called it a tone block... yeah, that's the ticket 
... so yeah... probably better to do baby step than my cocky adolescent stumbles
Thanks @Reedt2000 ! Thats some highly useful info. I hadnt considered that the tailpiece might be recessed too. I may avoid that if i can get enough down angle, its pretty close to the Nut Sa.........Heart Omega cutouts, but I will if i have too. I guess all the force get translated down and forward. It looks like the base for the bridge is pretty much entirely submerged and then some. If you dont mind checking one more measurement, how far is the top of the bridge plate (not the saddles, the main bridge body) above the flat top? Im going to totally scarf your numbers right onto my drawing and see how it looks.
There is nothing structurally wrong with flat set-up. Just needs a neck heel proud of the body more then I personally like. My very first build was flat (1982) and then I planned out a tilt back for better ergonomics on my second. Ever since even if a bolt on I route a taper in the neck pocket to create a tilt of 1-2 degrees for the neck. The amount of tilt always depends on the bridge used.
That's the same bridge I used in my mashup build off bass last year. I built with a flat neck angle. My fretboard is raised above the body just shy of 1/8" and the fretboard blank was 1/4". I just checked, and the center of the fretboard is 11/32" up from the body.
I recessed the tailpiece by 5/16" and the bridge itself by 3/4". Those probably could have both been a little shallower, maybe 1/4" and 11/16". As it is, the intonation screws on the bridge are just barely touching the face of the body, so you definitely don't want the bridge any deeper than 3/4". I do think the tailpiece needs to be down from the surface or else you won't have good break angle.
It would be interesting to compare where I ended up to the pocket depths on a "real" Warwick - you could deduce that once you get that height measurement you asked for plus the height of the top surface of the tailpiece above the body.
View attachment 4117486
I recessed the tailpiece by 5/16" and the bridge itself by 3/4". Those probably could have both been a little shallower, maybe 1/4" and 11/16". As it is, the intonation screws on the bridge are just barely touching the face of the body, so you definitely don't want the bridge any deeper than 3/4". I do think the tailpiece needs to be down from the surface or else you won't have good break angle.
It would be interesting to compare where I ended up to the pocket depths on a "real" Warwick - you could deduce that once you get that height measurement you asked for plus the height of the top surface of the tailpiece above the body.
View attachment 4117486
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Just comparing my photo to Reed's it looks like my bridge is deeper but my tailpiece is shallower!
I am surprised that the real tailpiece seems deeper, it must be a pain to get the string ball ends down in the pockets. I picked this depth to allow them to drop in nicely.
Just comparing my photo to Reed's it looks like my bridge is deeper but my tailpiece is shallower!
I am surprised that the real tailpiece seems deeper, it must be a pain to get the string ball ends down in the pockets. I picked this depth to allow them to drop in nicely.
I think you're right about needing to recces the tailpiece. Yours isn't recessed as deeply as mine, if it were 5/16" taller I'd be concerned about break angle. Though it looks like you mounted yours closer to the bridge than Warwick does.
@Gilmourisgod I'll get you the height measurement this afternoon
While those images are not apples to apples, it looks like the break angle is more steep on the bottom picture even though the distance from bridge to tailpiece looks longer.
Hard to tell from the photo, but it looks like maybe the one with more break angle has a bit of fall-away on the body profile behind the bridge? Mine will be flat in that area. I'm warming to the idea of recessing the tailpiece, it has a more finished look and gives a good break angle. Whoop! More templates!
That is a beautiful bass!! That last photo should be super helpful for figuring out how deep the bridge and tail piece need to be set into the body.
I also found this image of the Jack Bruce model from 2005, it has a flat face and what looks like a neck with no angle.
Thanks. ! hope the pic series is found useful.
The more I look at the tailpiece slightly recessed, the more I like it. I could probably make one template to cut both bridge and tailpiece recesses. Beyond the visual appeal, it seems like its probably a lot stronger mechanically than jus the two screws would be if it was surface mounted. Thanks for photos All, gotta love the TB Hive Mind!
So, my bridge is slanted towards the neck to address the issue @dwizum pointed out earlier in the thread, keeping the intonation screws from pressing into the top. On the back edge of my bridge the screws are just a hair above the surface.
I've got the saddles just about as low as they'll go so dipping the neck-side edge of the bridge a little lower let me cheat the action a few thousandths lower
I think this is more of an issue on a vette or other flat-top bass, because on a contoured body bass like a thumb or streamer, the body is falling away from the back of the bridge.
Funny enough, the other option for addressing needing to lower the action would have been adding a shim in the pocket, therefore introducing neck angle
I was able to get where I wanted to be with the current setup, so I didn't go that route
So, long story made slightly longer, if you want to use a height measurement from my bass, the one from the higher, back edge is the way to go cause lower mashes the screws into the body. That measurement is .217" from the top of the bridge plate to the surface of the body. I suppose you could route relief for the intonation screws to recess in, but then you couldn't turn em without lifting the bridge up. Cause you're building from scratch, making the height of the fingerboard a tiny bit higher off of the body surface might be a way to account for some extra action adjusting, or lowering the front edge like I've done.
I've got the saddles just about as low as they'll go so dipping the neck-side edge of the bridge a little lower let me cheat the action a few thousandths lower
I think this is more of an issue on a vette or other flat-top bass, because on a contoured body bass like a thumb or streamer, the body is falling away from the back of the bridge.
Funny enough, the other option for addressing needing to lower the action would have been adding a shim in the pocket, therefore introducing neck angle
I was able to get where I wanted to be with the current setup, so I didn't go that route
So, long story made slightly longer, if you want to use a height measurement from my bass, the one from the higher, back edge is the way to go cause lower mashes the screws into the body. That measurement is .217" from the top of the bridge plate to the surface of the body. I suppose you could route relief for the intonation screws to recess in, but then you couldn't turn em without lifting the bridge up. Cause you're building from scratch, making the height of the fingerboard a tiny bit higher off of the body surface might be a way to account for some extra action adjusting, or lowering the front edge like I've done.
One more template.... probably...
The Nut Sa.. HEART OMEGA, made simpler by the expedient of making the cutouts the diameter of a Forstner bit I have, rather than some random radius. This is still going to be really fragile. Any suggestions on how to stiffen this whole detail up appreciated. It will be three laminations, but still.... awfully pointy.
Learning to cut MOP: A generous TB'er lent me this jewelers saw, surely the Avatar of all jeweler's saws, and used on the Crimson Guitars tutorials on MOP inlays. Predictably, it works like a dream, though I did break a few of the hair-fine #3 blades. I made the jig in about 10 minutes, good enough, and, using the lit magnifier I inherited from my Grandad, proceeded to hack away. I bought some rectangular pieces of MOP on Ebay, which in retrospect wasn't my brightest purchase. the stuff was inconsistent in thickness, tapering from around 1/8" to as little as 1/32" at some points along the edges. The idiot I bought them from shipped them, no padding, no bubble wrap, NADA, taped to a piece of paper and stuffed into a plain letter envelope. Unsurprisingly, one of the pieces was cracked too. I had to do some careful arranging of my oval templates to keep it all on the thicker parts. Once again, a victim of my own inherent Cheapskatery.
My technique... lacks precision, but I got all but one cut out in about 3 hours.
One of the longer ovals at the 12th fret delaminated a little along the pointy end, not knowing what else to use, I grabbed the CA glue and let it wick in, hopefully that will keep it intact. I have enough of the matching MOP to screw up (1) of the inlays, but not the 12th or 24th fret marker. At the Tool Lender's suggestion, I'll try a diamond file to gradually sneak these into perfect ellipses. 220 grit sandpaper works, but it clogs quickly. My hands are killing me, gripping these tiny little things as I grind away.
STILL waiting for my purpleheart neck stringer stock, 4 weeks and counting! The Ebay vendor finally contacted me and let me know it was.. big surprise... a Covid related delay. Sign O' the Times, I guess.
The Nut Sa.. HEART OMEGA, made simpler by the expedient of making the cutouts the diameter of a Forstner bit I have, rather than some random radius. This is still going to be really fragile. Any suggestions on how to stiffen this whole detail up appreciated. It will be three laminations, but still.... awfully pointy.
Learning to cut MOP: A generous TB'er lent me this jewelers saw, surely the Avatar of all jeweler's saws, and used on the Crimson Guitars tutorials on MOP inlays. Predictably, it works like a dream, though I did break a few of the hair-fine #3 blades. I made the jig in about 10 minutes, good enough, and, using the lit magnifier I inherited from my Grandad, proceeded to hack away. I bought some rectangular pieces of MOP on Ebay, which in retrospect wasn't my brightest purchase. the stuff was inconsistent in thickness, tapering from around 1/8" to as little as 1/32" at some points along the edges. The idiot I bought them from shipped them, no padding, no bubble wrap, NADA, taped to a piece of paper and stuffed into a plain letter envelope. Unsurprisingly, one of the pieces was cracked too. I had to do some careful arranging of my oval templates to keep it all on the thicker parts. Once again, a victim of my own inherent Cheapskatery.
My technique... lacks precision, but I got all but one cut out in about 3 hours.
One of the longer ovals at the 12th fret delaminated a little along the pointy end, not knowing what else to use, I grabbed the CA glue and let it wick in, hopefully that will keep it intact. I have enough of the matching MOP to screw up (1) of the inlays, but not the 12th or 24th fret marker. At the Tool Lender's suggestion, I'll try a diamond file to gradually sneak these into perfect ellipses. 220 grit sandpaper works, but it clogs quickly. My hands are killing me, gripping these tiny little things as I grind away.
STILL waiting for my purpleheart neck stringer stock, 4 weeks and counting! The Ebay vendor finally contacted me and let me know it was.. big surprise... a Covid related delay. Sign O' the Times, I guess.
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