Andyjr1515

What bass model is it? Was the action OK before the last set up?

Also, what problem are you trying to solve? There are many ways to skin a cat (although, admittedly, most of them feel the same to the cat )

As the saying goes...'it depends' It ranges from difficult but doable, to difficult and risky, to nigh impossible. What bass is it? And is it a set neck or through neck?

Yes - that's looking really special

If it's a two way switch (on-off) it is usually a Dual-Pole-Dual-Throw switch as @Rich says above. Something like this: https://northwestguitars.co.uk/products/dpdt-on-on-mini-toggle-guitar-switch-for-coil-tapping-phase-switching

This is going to be lovely!

...and yes, there is a relationship between action height and intonation. When you press the string down to the fret, you are, in fact, bending the string and the pitch rises, exactly the way you can raise the pitch in, say, a vibrato by bending the string sideways. The higher up the fretboard you are, the bigger is the gap between the bottom of the string and top of the fret and the more the string is bending (vertically) and the more the pitch rises. And the higher the action, the more the string will bend vertically. So yes, if you have changed the action height, it's worth rechecking your intonation and giving it a tweak if necessary.

Yes - as above. The action height you need depends on the strings you use, the way you play and how level your frets are. Basically, it simply makes sure that the string's vibration isn't buzzing against the top of (usually) the next fret up. So, actually, one of the simplest and best ways of doing it is to play normally (including the hardest you would regularly pluck or pick) and, for each string, lower saddle a 1/4 of a turn at a time until it does buzz. Then raise the saddle back up a 1/4 turn, check the buzz has gone and job's done. Move to the next string and repeat the process.

That is, assuming that the pickup chambers haven't been routed yet. The whole neck/pickup/bridge design just shifts back a few cm's: The thing that will need to be looked at is whether you will need to create a deeper lower horn cutaway to give yourself access to the upper frets that may then be unreachable.

No problem, but the distance from the bridge to the neck isn't going to change. As such, the pickups, in relation to both/either, will also be unchanged.

Yes - exactly that. Just make sure that you know the dimensions of the bridge plate and bridge position to make sure you can get the saddles and their intonation range covered.

Looking at your drawing, you probably have enough room to move the whole bridge/neck assembly back to give yourself an adequately long neck pocket in the unaffected area. Functionally, the bridge body can be set even at the very back, as long it's not actually overhanging - the Cort Curbow uses that to great effect to get a full scale bass feeling and balancing like a short scale. They are GREAT to play as a result:

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