Veneer Question

[TheLowDown33]

Hey all, wondering if I could get some advice on the best way to apply a veneer over a headstock that's already drilled for tuners and a truss rod. Can I just glue an oversized piece of veneer and then cut the excess from the side and sand it smooth? My idea is to take a maple neck with a wenge fretboard and make it appear as though is it a wenge/wenge neck. If this is impossible, I'd gladly take advice on what would look best. Thanks.

 

[Paulabass]

I can't see it being difficult. Mark the truss rod cut-out on paper first, then you can transfer it after the veneer is glued up. If it was me, I would trim the veneer with a thin blade knife vs. trying to machine trim it.
Good luck!

 

[rwkeating]

Yes you can do that. To get and idea, take a look at what I did here: https://www.talkbass.com/threadsecurlys/build-4-still-mostly-hand-tools-8-string-tapping-inst.1357252/#post-21634018
I used a 1/32 veneer. The only thing to look out for is to make sure the head stock doesn't get too thick so that your tuners can still be securely mounted.

 

[Beej]

Is the headstock angled back and therefore straight up to the nut? Or is it a fender style, with a curved surface falling away from the nut? Got a pic?

I do this quite a bit when mating found necks to my bodies. Trick is to use a thick caul when gluing to ensure good even pressure. If it's a curved surface you'd need a curved caul with my method. I leave it oversized so I can accurately trim it to the right size with a razor. Cut repeatedly on the same line slowly until it cuts through. If you're slow and careful, you get a perfect cut. Sometimes I block sand the headstock edges to get as crisp a join line as possible during glue up. I perforate the holes and trim them out with a razor, round file and sandpaper. Refinish and go...

 

[barking_spider]

The Good News: What you are asking is entirely possible. Probably easier if the headstock is angled, more difficult if it's Fender-ish (is that a word?). A curvy area near the fretboard, you know what I mean.

The Bad News: The sides and bottom will still be maple, it'll look like someone just glued on a thin piece of veneer. Design 101 says you never make a color/material change on an outside corner, it looks chintzy.

Strip down the headstock and stain the sides and bottom with an espresso stain? Make a wenge inlay with an 1/8" maple frame around the edge? Buy or make an new neck and headstock, exactly the way you want it to look? Grind down the headstock a 1/4" and fab up a piece of 1/4" wenge so that it looks more integral?

All of these answers sound too difficult to take on as an "easy fix". Perhaps some of the folks smarter than myself will have a better answer for you. Good Luck!

 

[TheLowDown33]

Good stuff all! The neck in question is a warmoth gecko, so it is indeed a tiltback with a flat face. Right now, the bass will have a roasted ash body with a maple/wenge neck. The way I'm picturing it in my head, I don't like the light maple headstock peaking above the rather dark neck/body. I would love to do a matched headstock with roasted ash, but I have a feelings that would be difficult to find a piece that was roasted to the same color as the body which is why I thought continuing the wenge up would look neat.

 

[Matt Liebenau]

If that’s what you want, how about an ash verneer and stain it to match the body?

 

[TheLowDown33]

If that’s what you want, how about an ash verneer and stain it to match the body?

This is an alternative I thought about as well. I just worry it might not be convincing enough. I could just stain or dye the maple itself, too

 

[rudy4444]

I've never found Wenge to be particularly friendly to work; too splintery for my liking.

 

[Fender_Bender]

I've never found Wenge to be particularly friendly to work; too splintery for my liking.

This ^. It is brittle and splintery. You have to really be able to read the grain direction properly when trimming to avoid tear out.

 

[Thumpin6string]

I put a birdseye maple veneer on the head stock of my graphite neck to match my body wings. I cut it a little over size and drilled pilot holes for the tuners. I glued it down and clamped it with a board on both sides of the head stock. That kept the veneer flat and kept the clamps from marring the veneer or the head stock. When it was dry, I sanded the excess off the edges and used a small rotary sander to enlarge the holes in the veneer. Pretty easy. The key is getting the veneer glued tightly to the head stock. Good luck with your project.

 

[Ralph Manak]

It's quite possible to finish the headstock with a variety of methods (as practiced by old-school finishers who understand color matching, glazing and the finer elements of touch-up), although I have veneered headstocks on several occasions, including completing a repair on a guitar felled by an errant soccer ball.

 

[TheLowDown33]

Thanks for everyone's input. Still undecided on what I'm going to do, but I'm leaning towards just staining the headstock to match the final color of the body. For whatever reason, a plain maple headstock at the end of this beautiful dark fretboard doesnt seem right.