Andyjr1515

So - scary day. Attaching the new fretboard. First job was to make sure that the mating surfaces were absolutely flat. When you are making a neck from scratch, generally you leave the neck as a rectangular section until after the fretboard has been fitted - that way you can clamp firmly along each of the sides of the fretboard to avoid any gaps. But with a finished neck, you can't do that. You can only clamp along the spine of the profiled neck and therefore you are relying on the flatness of the fretboard itself - and the neck mating surface - to fully squeeze out the glue and close the gap at either side of the fretboard. So both the bottom of the fretboard and the neck itself has to be completely flat. I used a scraper to make sure all of the glue residue from the old fretboard was gone and then ran a straight edge all the way along the neck - with its graphite/carbon core - to ensure absolute flatness all the way up. And it wasn't quite. The graphite/carbon (I say that because I don't actually know what the fibres are) was just a teeny bit raised one side. Normally this wouldn't be a problem because the clamping would just force the side gap closed. But with the replacement that wasn't going to be good enough. So some very careful scraping and sanding (I made a small sanding block for the job) ensured that it was made flat. And for this job - with the very fine graphite/carbon/whatever dust - it was the full A1/P2 spec respirator...this is no time at all to end up at A&E with a severe respiratory problem! The neck was masked off to keep the glue off the original finish, the truss-rod adjuster was protected from glue squeeze-out and a clearance channel in the fretboard added to ensure no binding: Then the Titebond, spool clamps, cauls and G-clamps: Note that all of the clamps are running down the centre. This is different to how I will do @Jus Lukin 's where I will have the luxury of being able to clamp along each edge. So in this case, it is the fretboard stiffness that is applying the clamping pressure across the width, and itself protected by the caul on top. The result was better than I expected and as good as I could have hoped: This will now sit at least 24 hours for the glue to fully harden before I do anything with it

And what is this cunning plan? Well it's to use the spool clamps in the photos above, but with a mod. At the heel, all is straightforward because the sides of the heel and the freboard are both square and so the fretboard just can't move sideways at all: But here at the nut, the fretboard is tapered and so I have to mod the clamps otherwise they are just clamping the widest point, which is the top of the fretboard which would allow sideways movement of the fretboard to the neck: And so they are modded to give clearance of the fretboard and clamp the narrower neck/board join: And then - other than the G clamps - I should just need this: - Good quality masking tape for the neck up to the join - A flat hardwood clamping caul for the fretboard - a softer caul for the bottom of the neck. I will scrape a 'C' shape into this so the load is spread a touch But it's still worth sleeping on it before taking the action. And then, while this is gluing tomorrow, @Jus Lukin 's headless will be getting some attention

And - we're back Compliments of the Season to one and all. So having tolerated me over the past few days, MrsAndyjr1515 has encouraged me back down into the cellar. By the ominous click when I went down there, I think I now understand why 'double-security padlocks' were on her Christmas list Anyway - it was useful and, under duress, she has let me out to take some photos in the short daylight hours left. Fretboard! This build - straightforward in many respects - has some 'every ounce of skill and a decent sprinkling of luck' aspects. One is that we are trying to replace the fretboard without the need - at all - to refinish or even touch up the neck itself. Why? Well - it has ageing and player's mojo. It has cracks in the varnish. It has dints from having to escape quickly from bad gigs: And so I will be changing my normal sequence of fretting, attaching and final dimensioning the fretboard. Nowadays I normally cut close to final size, fret, sand and dress the fret ends and board top to final size, glue fretboard, scrape the taper from the fret-ends to the neck join, blending the fretboard and neck profile with scraper and sanding block. For this - to try to avoid scraping the neck anywhere but the glue line - I will be: cutting, planing and scraping the fretboard to exact final dimensions at the board/neck join line; gluing the board to the neck, finishing the fretboard sides from glue join to fretboard top; fretting; sand and dress the fret ends. So first job was to cut the board to shape leaving around 2mm oversize of the neck shape (1mm safety factor for a further 1mm taper between the top of the fretboard and the join line thus allowing the neck profile to continue up to the top of the board): Then some VERY careful work (after a few sacrifices to the Bassmaker Gods) with the block plane to add the taper to the sides so the at the join the fretboard is an exact fit: And the board is ready to glue. Normally, you would drill a couple of holes in a couple of the fret slots to put some panel pins in to stop the board floating out of position on the glue during clamping. But there is so little timber either side of that central graphite slab I'm actually reluctant to do that. I have a cunning plan...but am going to sleep on it just in case it doesn't sound so cunning in the morning

Excellent

I suppose that we should collectively apologise to @Fishman for collectively hijacking the thread. That said, both he and @Jus Lukin have probably concluded that nothing much is likely to be happening on their projects until the next lockdown Boxing Day the next lockdown on Boxing Day. The Good News is that I can be pretty certain of no family or domestic distractions from this weekend on until at least ...gosh...spring, by the look of it. And I've already got some serious 'must get back into the cellar' pangs. And, as maybe you can imagine, MrsAndyjr1515 fully shares that sentiment.

Yes - fairly relaxed about it. I was driving in full Hazmat gear anyway

To ease everyone away from air guitars... ...but still not onto building because the re-distribution of the Christmas feast is still ongoing : I drove to one of the local villages a few miles away yesterday. After about 3 miles, on the road I was on I approached a HUGE red sign. "Oh, not more 'temporary' traffic lights!!" And no. It wasn't. It read "IMPORTANT. YOU ARE NOW EXITING AN AVIAN INFLUENZA CONTROL ZONE" WTF?? And I was EXITING it!! What next? Locusts?

Absolutely. At a bargain price of £27 plus shipping . Want some on the headless?

Hmmmm...think about it, @TheGreek...air guitar modifications. So take said airguitar for, say, three weeks; give it a thorough overhaul and set up; pass back to delighted airguitar player with very reasonable invoice for £300... ...I think @Si600 might be onto something here!

Hi @Kiwi I'd missed TheGreek's earlier post above. Yes indeed - pm @bertbass Mick got him to make me that great AJR Guitarmods display posted above!

No probs at all. But do kick off a thread - I'm sure someone will spot it who can suggest someone they know of.

Not something I use, to be honest. You would be best posting a specific thread either in this section or in 'Repairs and Technical' - more folks would see it than just the ones following this thread.

Very (VERY) wise Been there. Done that. Ended in tears

So the Christmas preparations have moved from working to get everything ready and Covid secure to "how are we going to get the presents to folks who were supposed to be coming here and what are we going to do with the food and drink?" What I have found is that solving that last problem has made solving the other two seem much more straightforward. Cheersch! And it gave me a bit of time to sneak down the cellar for a 'few minutes' : The red on the bench isn't the result of my blood, sweat and tears...it's spilt dye from a previous project.

At the moment it's looking like all the presents are wrapped and no-one going to be there to give them to!

And all the frets are slotted. Don't panic, I haven't mis-measured - the 22nd fret isn't a 22nd fret. It's where the fretboard will end to fit the Superquad beauties in the remaining space The swifts were cut when I was doing @Fishman 's . They are not fitted yet - something I'll squeeze in over the day.

Looks great

Everything was a bit delayed by - well, it is the UK - the weather Hand marking a board (especially an ebony board) to within 0.1mm needs a decent amount of daylight. And over the day there was an hour where there was just enough. So accurate steel rule double-sided-taped to the board, Stewmac fret calculator printout and a very sharp steel punch to puncture the board with a series of dots along the rule : I've found that the best way to ensure that this is accurate is: - the standard engineering method of always taking measurements from a single datum (so ignoring the fret-to-fret info) to minimise any cumulative errors - once all done, check by reading off the dots and writing down their values and only then comparing with the scale printout (if you check that, say, the 25.65 slot is correct, your mind can convince you that's what you are seeing. If you simply measure cold, then you really do see the actual variances) Then onto the same mitre jig. While I use a template plate - to get a consistent slot depth - this time the little index pin has been removed so the plate can slide freely. I use the radius block as a caul to clamp the board once properly positioned. I use a pull saw, and so orientate the board so that the saw pulls it into the mitre-block side. However, the return stroke can push the board, even when it is clamped, so I use a small piece of scrap to help hold it firmly against correct side : And then it's a case of positioning the dot to the point that the saw kerf hides both sides when clamped: 16 done, 5 to go

I've found that buying direct from China is still a bit of a lottery. That said, much of it seems to be decent quality so hopefully the neck is fully useable, albeit not the colour you were expecting. But yes, supply and delivery is very unpredictable at the moment - some arrives superquick and then other stuff takes a surprising time. Good news is that most of it does arrive in the end Building a bass from parts is a great way to start to understand what matters and what you can be more liberal with for your future full builds

Nice paint job

Lovely

That's nice too. I also built one myself that I used for a few years but it wasn't nearly as accurate as the bought one. That said, I think the one you've made there is probably more accurate again - the extra size makes small lumps and bumps much less exaggerated and there is much better control with those handles of the router movement . That said, my workspace is so limited, I would never be able to fit anything of this size. Nice fretboard, that - what's the wood?

Indeed. It's been a long year....

Clearly the thread is moving too slowly And so today was start of fretboard day. First job was to square it up and cut it to the 'widest plus a bit' width. Then it was two-sided taped to the radiusing rig: The G&W rig is great. The fine lines resulting from the fact that the router bottom blades are hardly ever absolutely square but are easily sanded off with a radius block: Tomorrow's job is marking out the radiused board with fret positions for the 30" scale - it's a job where you need some decent daylight! I will be using the same fret slotting mitre jig as used on @Fishman 's Wal board, but indexed manually instead of using a frets template. With luck, I will be able to fit the two MoP swifts at the 12th before attention starts moving towards preparation for the non-Christmas Christmas - which will start with a pretty decent vacuuming of all of the ebony chips and unbelievably fine dust that has settled on most vertical horizontal surfaces. (Did I mention - if you ever sand ebony, you really must wear a proper dust mask...this is no time to end up in A&E with a respiratory condition ).

It's certainly going to be Wicked!