Andyjr1515

So when you say 'tilting forward', which way is it tilting? Are you talking about a tilt in the same direction as neck dive (isn't that just neck dive?) or that the top edge of the body is leaning away from you? Or something else? I ask because the possible solutions are different in each case. In terms of whether the top horn would take a button screw, the answer is 'probably' unless the whole of the sides are made of thin bent laminate.

Yes - I've gone for the maple fretboard, undotted, paddle head. Leaves the options open. It's taken less than two days to get to Heathrow...I'm expecting it to take a lot longer to get here from Heathrow!

I 've got an Eden 30" 21 fret coming from USA. I'll let you know what I think to it when it arrives...

Thanks. And yes - I'm following your thread closely too!

Beats me why Fender don't do this as a matter of course. It makes SUCH a difference to the upper fret access, whether a Rascal bass or a Stratocaster electric. It's not even that they can claim it affects the performance - they do fit a similar plate on some limited models. Anyway, we've got it here now : The Fender plates are hard to come by, so this is one from Northwest Guitars - nice quality. Holes were a teeny bit out, though, so I drilled out and plugged all three and started again. I will carve the neck heel to match. And, talking of the neck, that's already gone from Eden to Los Angeles and Los Angeles to New York and New York to UK and has just landed at Heathrow! If the UK mail gets fully into gear, hopefully it should be with me by the New Year

Looks good. On to the next one, then

Bit of waiting time until the neck arrives. What Mike and I will be arranging while we are waiting is him taking profiles of his favourite playing neck. I do this for scratch-built necks as a matter of course but it is usually possible to do with bought necks too. All basses have their own feel, but what it seeks to do is to achieve a comforting familiarity of playing experience. I'll send Mike some proper instructions but it is a simple process. Basically, you protect the neck with sellotape or low-grip masking tape at the 1st, 7th and 12th fret positions, then use a simple carpenters profile gauge (which will be in the post to Mike this afternoon ) to take the shape at the three points and the depth of neck at the 1st and 12th: Each profile is transferred onto a piece of A4 paper: And then Mike just sends me the piece of paper: I then check the depth of the neck and then cut a profile template and get the scrapers out and tweak the shape to match: Right. Better get the profile gauge in the post!

Actually, the neck I've ordered does already have side dots - on both sides! So when you do that stuff, Mike, that we all enjoy at the bash where you wrap the bass round the back of your neck and keep playing, you'll even be able to see them then Actually, that's a good reminder. Don't forget to invite the chiropractor this time...it did take an awfully long time to extricate the bass last time...

By the way, if ever you did want to put a pickup in it, I can thoroughly recommend the K&K Pure Mini. It is passive and has no controls. Just three small disc tranducers that fix directly on the bridge plate inside the body. Only mod to the bass is drilling a hole for the jack. It is not overly expensive, is simple, and returns one of the most natural acoustic sounds on the market.

The similar one on Amazon shows electrics (4th picture): https://www.amazon.co.uk/APC-BG300-MX-CW-Guitar/dp/B00KIIPXT2 They make some interesting instruments of all sorts and a number of models have closed tops, but all the ones like that I've seen also have a preamp block next to the player soundhole. Looks nicely made, @Elfrasho. Let us know how you get on with it in the mix

Not saying you can't have dots too...but, like in an M&S ad, they will not be any old (Eden) dots - these will be Andyjr1515 dots

Yes. I've gone for one with no top dots so a couple of swifts at the 12th?

A cancelled visit has given me a few hours I wasn't expecting so I've been sanding! To be honest, not bad at all. Ibanez's are the worst - the last layer is like armour plate! But this cleaned up relatively easily. A little more to do to get rid of dinks and dints, but this is looking pretty good: I had assumed that I might have to veneer or cap the top but - even though this is a 3-piece body, the grain matches so well I don't know that you'd tell it from a one-piece, especially once the scratch plate is on it. This afternoon's job is more web searching. I'm going to put a cut-away plate on it if I can find one (and take more of the corner off than this example) to aid the upper-fret access: I'll also look at how large sheets of ebony stretch to - Mike wants an ebony scratchplate if that's possible. I'm not sure that Ebony sheet gets to that size but have a few ideas up my sleeve if not I'll probably wait until the neck arrives, but I also have a cunning plan about what to do with the cutaways that the original Rascal bridge needed and which will probably show in front of the bridge that Mike's sent to me or any other suitable design. It's good to be back in the dark cold cellar again!

I'm pretty sure it isn't the same Eden but, as you say, the online feedback is generally reasonable. I'll know within 5 minutes of receiving it whether or not I can use it so no great shakes. It will be useful if it is OK because I am asked quite often about short scale builds and custom built necks do add a significant cost hit, which often knocks the project out of the running.

There are many very nice features in this build. Some great stuff going on here.

This is where experience really comes into its own. Someone doing this the first time might naively think that the original finish has been removed But not so. The experienced know that there are eons of tortuous sanding sessions after which your fingers have been worn down to stumps and everyone refers to you as The Dust Man in your vain attempt to actually reach bare wood through the fiendish sealing coats that guitar and bass manufacturers put on for the express purpose of deterring maniacs such as Andyjr1515 who wish to attack their beautiful products. Or in short...quite a bit more to do but at least the green is off

This is where @scrumpymike says, "Just saw your post, Andy. No - those lines aren't where I want it cut - that was just marks on the scanner glass." and then I say, "Nooooooooooooooooooooooo!" Because this is how interpreted the lines: Which, with a quick visit to the band saw became: with this left over: Don't worry Mike. It'll glue back. Bit of David's Isopon I'm sure you won't be even able to see it...

Looked at the China products again - some look ropey, some look fine. But, while I have bought many things direct from China and I wouldn't have any issue with bodies, I still think necks are a bit of a gamble. I looked through my past notes of where I've bought components in the past and came across Eden in USA who I have bought from and they do, indeed, do short scale 21 fret necks! Now, I have no doubt whatsoever that a lot of their stuff is made in China, but the items I've bought from them in the past have been all reasonable quality timbers and accurate build spec. So - in that even with shipping and duties it is still cheaper than the raw timber would cost me here - I have taken a punt on one of their shortscale, paddle-headed, unfinished necks. It, too, has a headstock adjustment but my view - which I've bounced off Mike to make sure he's OK with it - is that there is no sonic or performance impact from that option. So while I'm waiting for that to arrive, I'm going to start having a look at the body shape. Mike sent me a 'this sort of thing' sketch, overlaid on the Fender Rascal drawing: So there would be nothing functionally affected and the proportions would end up much closer to the Lyte that is then pretty close to the walnut modded bass he likes so much. At the moment, all looks good

Hmmm...I did see something like this but China can be quite variable and wasn't entirely sure it was worth the gamble. I'll maybe have another peep before I pull the trigger on the wood. Thanks for flagging

You've been peeping! Damn those webcams!

Excellent!

I've interpreted it the same way, Paul @Basscabman ?

Sounds like your neck relief is OK. I aim for 'just perceptible movement' tapping the top and bottom string at the mid point between the 1st and the 16th - which sounds pretty much what you have described. Holding down at the first fret, what is your 12th fret action height currently for, say, the G? In general terms, two possibilities occur to me: First is that there are some high spots somewhere that you haven't picked up. But, as I gather you have already deduced, it is actually quite difficult to pick this up if it is the last fret because you can't use the 3-fret rocking method. You actually can't do too much harm taking the last fret down a tad so this is certainly something worth considering. If it is this, then it wouldn't take a lot - masking tape either side of the fret, then a few even strokes of a fingernail emery board along the top, then removal of the scratches with emery paper 400 through to 2000 (I think you can get a mixed pack at Halfords) would do the job. Second is that you are at such a low action that you need to consider a gentle and even dropaway of the upper fret heights. If this is needed it should be done by an experienced tech or luthier because, other than the end fret, every fret will affect every other fret - so it does have to be done right! I'm no expert, but I gather the reason some builders incorporate a dropaway (basically angling the upper frets progressively lower - but we are talking teeny amounts) is that the geometry of the neck and fretboard changes as the heel starts deepening and the neck meets the body. Before this, the neck is flexible and the relief curve is smooth. But near and over the body, the neck is rigid and straight - it can't and it doesn't bend. In most cases - because we are talking about very small measurements here - the action height is high enough that this gives no problems at all. But if you are talking VERY low action, then these sorts of things matter a lot. Hope this helps

Well, the plan was a simple one. Aren't they all : - buy a 30" 21 fret neck - buy some Fender lipsticks - reshape the body - refinish - send back to @scrumpymike with suitable demand for a king's ransom The reality started hitting home when we started looking more closely. 1. See discussion in the similar thread here (remember me taking about buses?) The above is a fascinating parallel project but, if you read into the detail, you will see the general agreement that 21 fret 30" necks are as rare as hen's teeth. So, unless someone reading the thread has one they want to sell, I'll be making a neck for this project. 2. The 'Fender lipsticks' are, in fact. Seymour Duncan 6-string electric pickups. And they are expensive (we are talking at least 1/2 a kings ransom for a set) and - for those of you familiar with Stratocaster pickups - the centre pickup has to be a 'RWRP = reverse wound, reverse polarity'. This arrangement gives you humbucking in positions 2 and 4 of the 5-way switch. But finding a 3-piece full set in the UK was looking challenging, let alone the cost! In that the cost would have blown Mike's preferred budget sky high, I've taken a punt on these: It is an Artec set - including the all-important RWRP centre one. A full set at less than half the cost of ONE of the Seymour Duncan ones. And - accepting this might be the one to break the rule - to date, I have never come across a bad Artec product. So that's where we are so far. Mike has given me a bridge and some tuners that might be able to be used and also an initial sketch of the body reshape and tomorrow, I will be ordering the neck wood and starting to strip the finish off the Rascal body to see what's underneath. Mike and I have discussed the neck. We will go for a fender-ish shape headstock - maybe 3+1 if the tuners are reversible. My strong preference is an angled headstock (iconic as it is, I think the dogleg concept of the fenders are a bit compromised with ref to the string break angles) and we'll go for a zero-fret on, probably, a maple fretboard. So that's everyone up to date. Time to get out of my winter nightgown...

Hopefully before that... A bit like buses, a few more potential projects have all come at once. So, even though the winter hibernation instincts are beckoning like the sirens of legend, apparently I have to get off my fat a**e instead and get into the cellar cutting wood!