Andyjr1515

I agree - their synthetic ones, in my view, are pretty good (I presume it's GRP or similar?). I have one that came factory-fitted on the most expensive guitar I've ever bought (which maybe says something?), and have used them on my own and other folks basses and guitars a number of times.

Looks splendid, @W1_Pro You'll do absolutely fine. Just shout if you're not sure about anything but this type of project is perfect for starting to understand and tinker with the things that matter vs the things that you can take great liberties with

Gosh - that's nothing like it!

Which colour/type is that?

Looks splendid!

Anyway, @dirgefornovember - yours is a Just-a-Nut III and looks fine. It is held in place by the strings

Yes, you are quite right. I should be been more accurate to say that it is a Just-a-nut III. The Just-a-nut is the one with individually adjustable string heights and is much more expensive. The Warwick web site is here showing the brass versions of them both: https://shop.warwick.de/en/parts-for-instruments/warwick-spare-parts/just-a-nut/19702/warwick-parts-just-a-nut-4-string-brass

Yes - it's a Just-a-nut. This is how they are/were made - and they work well.

You are a very lucky chap. @Jabba_the_gut's basses are superb. Jabba is a real bass-builder's bass builder

Great stuff. Doing these sorts of things yourself is an excellent way of learning how it all works, what affects what and what you can take liberties with vs those things that need to be right.

Nice looking bass, by the way. 👍

Ref Montana, they do a wide range of spray types. Some are more reactive than others to overspraying an existing finish. Worth a deep peruse of their info but, at the end of the day, usually only trying it will tell you if it's compatible or not. Hope this helps

Nice colour. Have a look though on their website ref the application advice. This does appear to be a wood dye that is designed to soak into the timber. As such, it will need the present finish to be completely removed down to bare wood. If you are good with that, it looks worth a punt.

I'm a bit confused and can't see from the photos. Does your 21 fret neck have an overhang of the fretboard? If so, when the heel fits into the pocket, the scale length will be identical between the two necks because the heel will end at the same place relative to the 20th fret and all the rest of them. So yes - to answer your question above - a 20 fret Squier neck ends just past the 20th fret and the fretboard ends flush with the end of the heel, whereas the 21 fret fretboard is extended beyond the end of the heel, creating the overhang, and far enough to fit another fret in it.

Yes. The plastic cover will be invisible to the metal you are tapping it with.

I agree - it's marginal if the nut has been cut right. It is always a surprise to me, though, how many are not cut well - even on high end brands. That said, there are very few big name brands that do fit, or have fitted, zero frets. Vintage Gretsch, one of the Gibson specials from a while back, er...

If it's a two way, it will suddenly feel loose as the rod gets to the straight state before then trying to bend the other way. On a single-way, then the adjusting nut will start unscrewing

For what it's worth, I did a couple of pictures to show the some of the effects of changing body/headstock weight. This is a typical bass: Note the distance between the centre line of the players body and the nut - the 'stretch' Note also that the headstock is pretty much twice the distance from the centre of gravity as the tail end of the body. If you remember your school-time physics, because of leverage, any weight change at the headstock will therefore have twice the effect as weight change at the back of body. So 0.5kg off at the headstock would have the same effect as a 1kg added at the tail in terms of, say, neck dive Removal of the headstock on a headless has two effects. - It has a disproportionate effect on the balance compared with adding weight at the bridge end - It changes where the centre of gravity sits, and therefore the position of the bass to the centre line of the players' body...and thus the 'stretch' And it can be quite a difference in 'stretch' - certainly 1 or 2 inches. That can be a good thing or a bad thing. But also - if you are designing a new body too - it can give you some other opportunities. Like bringing the front horn back a bit...

OK. So, yes, try taking the tension off the strings and fully loosening the truss rod and leave it like that for a couple of days. Then come back to pitch and adjust the rod accordingly. Check it every few days and make any (hopefully small) further adjustments until it settles down.

While it springs to my unreliable and ancient mind, @SamIAm , just a point to consider before you cut the headstock off - give a bit of thought to exactly where you will be putting your clamp (especially if it's an end one like the one in @itu 's picture). Whether or not you are leaving the nut in place or fitting a zero fret, give some thought to ensuring there is going to be a decent break-angle over the nut/fret. You will never suffer from 'harping' on a headless, but a decent break angle will minimise vibration losses in the scale-length of the string. There will be a hole in the clamp for truss-rod access which limits how much you can move it, but there is usually a little bit of wiggle room up and down (and/or for a straight cut or angled cut of the headstock stub). My personal rule-of-thumb is 10 degrees break angle but certainly no less than 5. If it is an angled headstock, then a cut square with the headstock rather than square with the fretboard would be my preference.

Was it stored with strings on and at full tension? If the strings were slack in storage, then the truss rod will have bent the neck into a back curve which may have temporarily set in. Whatever the cause, the timbers may have adjusted and fixed into a new set curve when the bass was in storage. One way is to loosen the strings fully and loosen the truss rod fully too and leave it for a few days for it to settle back to its natural shape. Then string back up and adjust the rod basically from scratch. What make is it / do you know if it is a single action or two way?

Hmmm...not sure. I can't see that is any different to the first fret when you fret the second etc. My guess is that the string is always under tension on the fret, plus maybe a sawing effect over time of tuning adjustments. But it's just a guess...

Well, my take on it is: - They are both fine to use - The best time to put a zero fret in is before the neck is finished, during fret slotting and before a nut slot has been cut. To convert a nutted neck to zero fret is a lot of work for questionable gain - and it would have to be done properly and accurately (and you still have to cut an extra slot for the all string-spacer-nut unless like, in this case, it is a headless clamp being fitted which is self-spacing!) - One advantage of zero fret is that you get spot on 'nut height'. But a good nut slotting job can match as near as makes no difference. - Another advantage of zero fret is that you get very little energy loss of the string's vibration for open strings - but I defy anyone to be able to tell the difference between that and, say, a brass or bone nut. - One disadvantage - maybe less so with basses - is that for some weird reason, the zero fret tends to wear quicker than the other frets - and any differential wear that way round will lead to string buzz. It is not unusual for a zero fret to have to be replaced after a couple of years hard playing (though that is not a difficult job)

Well guesswork - and trial and error - are, after all, the staples of our trade Adding guesswork, trial and error to the physics of it all, I reckon for balance and sit, especially with the extra neck length of a bass, headless is pretty hard to beat.

Interesting thread. And the weight distribution, strap positioning, etc, interaction is a complicated topic! No - it's a VERY complicated topic... I found with my series of lightweight guitar and bass builds a few years back another factor I hadn't really considered before - the effect of the horn strap pin and weight distribution on not only whether the neck dives or not, but also the left/right position that the instrument hangs on your body - which can make a long scale feel like a short scale, a short scale feel like a long scale and every combination in between! I'll draw a few diagrams to illustrate when I get a free moment. One thing is for certain, though: cutting off the headstock removes a major leverage factor. Putting the tuners at the back adds a smaller but useful bit of leverage the other way. Both will change the position of the fretboard relative to the player.