Andyjr1515

Whereabouts? Can you spin the orientation round and 'lose' that in, say, a horn cutaway or similar ?

Can't you just cut a small slice of aluminium tube? Are these the right sizes? 8mm OD 6mm ID: 6mm OD 4mm ID : You would probably find that the knob grub screw puts enough pressure on the ali to hold the knob tight and so not have to drill a hole. If not, then thin aluminium is pretty easy to drill (easier to drill first and then cut the slice off)

Why I like this forum - indeed it is my favourite of any of the forums I've ever used - is that we can debate stuff properly. And there's some great stuff above. I thought that the article that @PaulThePlug posted was informed and logical. But I'm not convinced about the article writer's conclusions that, essentially, 'simple shims are a terrible thing'. My take on the writer's conclusions: - Interestingly, the article writer dismisses the adverse tone impact of the simple shim. I don't. I actually think (and find) on a bolt-on, the firmness and completeness of the neck joint does impact the tone. Not a lot, but tangibly so. And you can see on the Wal photo how much area is not in contact at all! (the dark smudges are from the black paint of the body. I checked with the owner, by the way - it was bought from new and the neck has never been off before). But that impact is small and, to many of us, would not be noticeable - I agree with the article writer's, and @Downunderwonder 's view of the physics that says that - as timber does bend and form over time - there is a possibility of creating a set curve in the heel area. But I think that the aspect ratio is such that the force to do that would need to be quite high - and the two things more likely to happen first with that amount of tightening are: -the neck screw threads starting to fail - the shim starting to crush the neck pocket in that area and sink into the pocket floor. Interestingly, there is evidence of some slight sinkage of the shim into the Wal neck pocket, but still leaving a decent amount of effective shimming for the neck angle needs. There is no ski-slope. So my conclusions are slightly different to the article writer's. They are that: - An incorrect neck angle is BAD - A simple shim is OK - An accurate tapered shim is BETTER Two extras to keep the debate going: Interestingly, later Wals (or maybe upper end ones?) have a glued-on tapered shim - some partial length like this below, some full length. This is one I worked on a while back: The other is that - as many of you know, almost all of my builds, electric or bass, are through-necks. Ah, problem solved! Nope I have to create a fall-away in every one of my builds in the frets or fretboard from the neck body joint to the heel end. I have some thoughts why that is - and I think it's related Cue music: DUM DER UM DUM DERRRRRRRRRR

Coincidentally, last night I took this neck off. And that (it is veneer) is glued on and dated & monikered by the maker Yup - recognise the laminations? The date, if you can't read it, is 1.9.79 As the saying goes, 'If it's good enough for Wal...'

Love it!

Yes - veneer's good

Depending on the thickness I need, I just use a slice of out-of-date credit card (usually that's as thick as you would usually ever need) or thin sheet plastic or other non-crushable material I come across from time to time and snaffle it to keep in my bits box. I also am not convinced by the ski-jump argument.

Good result

There is something to be said with this approach - you can always sell the other neck (it does look nice!) or full bass with the swopped neck. Once you've scraped that nice finish off (and don't forget you need to do the fretboard edges) then its value is already shot - whether it turns out well or not...

Is it just the fretboard or is it the whole kit and caboodle, ie neck as well, @glassmoon ? The only roasted I can remember seeing on a Cort was a very dark brown already. Do you have a photo? If it's just the fretboard, then it is relatively straightforward. If it is the neck also, then that is a much bigger challenge to get it right. For the fretboard only, aiming for 'ebony or close' the way I do it is: - I scrape all of the muck / finish / dints down to bare wood using a single-edged razor blade or Stanley knife blade, held vertically with hand either side, and scraped firmly along the grain from on fret to the other. This sort of thing excepting that it should be held two-handed (my other hand was taking the photo): - I would then use good quality masking tape to mask off anything I didn't want stained - Once ALL finish/oil/dirt has been scraped off and I am down to clean wood, then - for black - I would use Fiebings Leather Die wiped on with a lint free cloth. Wear gloves unless you want to have black stains on your hands for a few weeks! - I then let it dry overnight and see if it needs a second coat, or if any area needs re-scraping and re-staining - once fully dry, personally I use a good quality lemon oil - wiped on, left to soak in, excess wiped off and then buffed up once it's dry. The stain will coat any dots or markers. These will need to be scraped clean once the Fiebings is fully dry That's how I would do it. If the neck is as dark as the examples I've seen, I personally wouldn't stain it - it's much more difficult to get an even coating (the thin grain lines of maple always seem to me to be impervious to any stains I've ever come across) and could end up looking like a dogs dinner

That looks good so far!

I've p.m.'d you @Bassman78 Andy

Wow!! Yes - strip job. Should be straightforward getting the old stuff off too! What I would suggest is get it all stripped off and then have a look at what you've got. You have a number of options - tru-oil / wax / stain / veneer / paint depending what it looks like underneath it all Andy

I've seen some good examples from these folks too. Excellent quality and crazy price for the one I fitted recently (the owner supplied it to me to fit - only just confirmed where he got it from): https://guitaranatomy.com/product-category/https-guitaranatomy-com-product-category-bodies-and-necks/

Coincidentally, I fitted a replacement neck recently to a friend's strat. They were the same tuners and I made myself a little drill guide. You just choose the most convenient one, pop the screwbush of the tuner through the jig and headstock hole, line the rest of the 'stick' up with the other holes to make sure it's square and then use the jig as your guide to drill your two small pilot holes. I found it easier then to take the guide off to drill the peg holes themselves. They don't have to be very deep so there should be little danger of drilling through. If you pm me your address, I'd be more than happy to pop it in the post to you.

Is it 21 fret or 22? Northwest Guitars have rosewood, gloss finished with two options of colour shade for £119 in stock for the 21 fret ones. They also do a 22 fret version although that appears to be presently out of stock. Here's one of the 21 fret ones: https://northwestguitars.co.uk/products/telecaster-compatible-guitar-neck-rosewood-fretboard?variant=44932326785298

As the others above say, it looks/sounds like something not good is going on under the fretboard. Genuine Fender replacements can be quite expensive, but nowadays a 'standard tele' heel generally is pretty accurate even for the cheaper replacements and so neck replacement is usually straightforward and not prohibitively expensive. Personally, with this type of rod and neck - and especially given the availability of affordable and decent quality replacements - I would generally recommend replacing it rather than taking the fretboard off and trying to fix it. If what I think might be happening is happening (I'm with @BreadBin and @Baloney Balderdash on this one), it may not be fixable in any case.

Just followed the Facebook link to the maker's page, Lex Leuthold. He has this photo of the in-progress. Yes - 3D printed. Nice job.

You seem quite close to finishing it with most of the spend already spent. Where in the country are you? Depending how remote your location, I or the other good folk around the country on the 'Basschatters willing to help other Basschatters' list might well be able to finish it off for you for nowt. I'm in the Derby area - any good to you?

Splendid!

Hi Andy You are very welcome to borrow a 9.5" block. PM me your address and I'll pop it in the post. The lineup looks fab!

Looks good from here, @AndyTravis A drunk Ebay visit can sometimes lead to good things

Yes - as @Doctor J says, start with popping the treble strings under the string tree to get the correct break angle of the strings over the nut, and then check the neck relief. That is, checking that there is a tangible gap under the 7th or 8th fret when you hold down the string at the 1st and (I would personally pick the 15th) last frets simultaneously, but that the gap is no more than a mm. This check should be done under full string tension. Once you know that the neck relief is OK then, as @Doctor J says, you can forget about the truss rod for the rest of the setup. Next, adjust the action with the saddle set screws to your preferred action height. If you run out of adjustment, then the neck may need a shim to slightly change the neck angle - if this is the case, let us know and we can take you through how to do that. But if there is enough saddle height adjustment, then great. Lastly, once the action height is set, you can then adjust the intonation as @Doctor J describes.

I have been reminded, having foolishly let a tea bag sit in a slightly damp cup too long for this morning's 2nd cup of tea, that I have used tea as a stain in the past. While you wouldn't want to use it as your primary stain, it can be great to darken a natural finish - and adds a teeny touch of amber too...

The Hipshot Licensed Ultralite machine heads are significantly cheaper than the US made equivalent and are on Hipshots own website - so they are a genuinely approved model. I've never had any issues with them and those are what I would fit on my own basses nowadays. Check whether you need 1/2" or 3/8" and also be aware that, as far as I remember, they are not reversible, so make sure you order the right way round, especially if it's a 5-stringer.