My neck is a bit bowed and I have never planed ebony before, so wondered if there's any tips, other than a very sharp plane? Thanks.
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Double Bass Tips for planing ebony?
- Thread starter Marty Forrer
- Start date
Figure out why it is bowing before doing anything. Thinning it will probably make things worse not better.
This is my thinking too. If the maple is bowing badly enough to bend the ebony, planing the fingerboard will probably only temporarily solve the problem and it will likely get worse. Sounds like the fb needs to come off and the neck reinforced and straightened. If it were me, I'd definitely take the bass to an experienced luthier and get their opinion before doing anything...
Before you get going on this idea, you'll want to be sure it's bowing, meaning the neck bending under string pressure. If you're used to thinking in terms of electric-bass necks, you may be misreading your fingerboard. A good fingerboard setup usually includes relief to allow the heavier, lower strings to travel. This can look like neck bowing, but it's not. The board is planed to make that shape, and flattening it out can lead to string buzz in lower positions. There will be progressively less relief on higher strings.
Run a long straightedge along the seam between neck and fingerboard. If that's straight, the neck is not bending.
Run a long straightedge along the seam between neck and fingerboard. If that's straight, the neck is not bending.
Definitely a bow, so I've removed the fingerboard, clamped a neck heater on the neck to straighten it, and at the moment I have the neck heater on the fingerboard. The board itself has a bow from about G or Ab to the nut (E string) of about 5/32" . I think bringing it back to about 1/16" should be right. BTW: the nearest luthier to me is about 6 hours each way, hence doing this stuff myself. I certainly appreciate the input from you guys.
For me planes are for rough shaping; for shaping and setup, I use scrapers. Blades can easily cause tearout on lower-grade ebony, so care is warranted.
Have you determined why the neck is bent?
Have you determined why the neck is bent?
Bent no longer. The heater/straightener sorted it. Most of the bow was in the fingerboard and that is now very close to straight thanks to the heater/straightener. I've got them all glued and clamped up, and it looks like the bow has gone from around 5/32" to around 1/16", so it's all looking good. and much easier than reshaping the ebony!
- Jan 12, 2004
- 1,493
- 1,270
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- Owner, Stand Up Guy Basses (Repair/Sell/Buy upright basses)
Hey Marty,
Sounds like you’ve got it back together. I’ve replaced a few fingerboards lately, so want to chime in.
Another possible solution, if you had some board thickness to spare, would have been to take some material off the bottom of the board (i.e, the side that is supposed to be flat, that joins with the neck). I have a bunch of blank ebony boards, and it’s pretty rare to find one that is nice and flat. So my first stop is at the jointer, to get that edge correct for gluing…
Cheers,
Paul
Sounds like you’ve got it back together. I’ve replaced a few fingerboards lately, so want to chime in.
Another possible solution, if you had some board thickness to spare, would have been to take some material off the bottom of the board (i.e, the side that is supposed to be flat, that joins with the neck). I have a bunch of blank ebony boards, and it’s pretty rare to find one that is nice and flat. So my first stop is at the jointer, to get that edge correct for gluing…
Cheers,
Paul
