SpondonBassed

I mentioned wanting to put two extra screws in the neck joint to pull the neck into the body towards the bridge. It's an easy mod to do if you get your angles right... gulp. Time to have a go; Our Dremel pedestal can be angled. This is how I planned to keep the drilling angle fixed in both the neck and body. For the clearance holes in the body, I could only drill to a certain depth before the Dremel itself fouled against the body. I used the Dremel's flexi-drive attachment to drill deeper. For this I had to follow the drill angle by hand. Not too easy without experience but fortunately it's a bodge I've done before. Once through I flipped the body and countersunk the holes to a depth suitable for the required depth of bite in the neck. Of course the heads need to be under-flush else you'll snag your strides and other bits on the back of the bass. Nasty. Using the angle set by the drill pedestal I drilled pilot holes in the neck. It's always worth putting a bit of candle wax on the screws. All done up, this is now a six bolt neck. The neck joint is as snug as a bug from the front. The assembly of body and neck feels secure. I can't wait to see how it sustains.

In actual fact, the reason for this topic is that the OP needs to be given a break from him. By the way, I'm not anti. I know he's a member here and I respect his skills and experience. It's just his style of delivery that rankles. It's not for everyone.

At least you're not sitting on the fence... I just find his style irritating. I'm sure he's a nice bloke and all but.

All I did this evening was shape the neck end and grind off the screw shanks that were left in the body. As a respected BC member often says; this is not how to do it but this is how I do it. I found that a medium engineer's file worked well with the neck. It felt remarkably like filing brass! I was quickly able to get to this: The gap is negligible now - Then it was time for the Dremel again... That quickly took off the snaggy bits of screw shanks;

Aw.

You're far too nice for the 'net then. Heeheehee

My sympathy. I never sign in to YT. Just lately they've been trying to get me to but I'm just not interested. I download my clips to watch offline without inline 'verts.

Get a script blocker and stop accepting third party cookies.

Have you posted a topic for the headless bass in the background? That looks interesting too.

I've just received a packet of used parts from Paul by post, free of charge. Assorted pickups, bridges, pots, switches, jack sockets etc. He refuses even to let me cover the postage. Very kind. Cheers!

Welcome L4E.

I found some screws but they are a little oversize and countersunk, oh, and cad plated. Dremel time. Then make pilot holes for screws. All screws fitted and tightened. The fair side (I didn't mention but I've taken the string tree from the Encore as it is a slightly more pleasing piece of metal) - There you go. My challenge now is to make the neck fit snugly in the pocket. The curvature of the neck root is different from that of the pocket. It's a big enough difference to make me want a better fit. Especially as I am going to pull the neck into the pocket with two additional screws a la Billy Sheehan. I shall shape the neck end to achieve this.

Welcome Mike. It'll be the Build Diaries and Repairs and Technical for you then. Looking forward to seeing your project.

Plus... it's a great excuse for a volute!

Just a modest start but I had a minor chip out of the headstock to repair and then fit the ferrules for the tuners. You might just be able to see where the crack is. The ferrules are serrated and they are a press fit. I used my vice to keep the ferrules square to the headstock as I pressed them home. Job done. I have to find sixteen tiny screws for the tuners next. Time for a cuppa.

I'd consider it if it wasn't for the broken-off screw shanks at the original site of the pickup. In this case, it's easier to redrill at the new location than to try and extract what's left of the old screws.

I've thought about that. I have a bit of wiggle room because of the large area that is routed out. I will try to compensate by moving the pup towards the neck a little. Not having heard it before though, I have nothing to compare it to. It will make it interesting trying to fit a pickguard unless I make one from scratch.

Nice one, thank you.

I am still gathering parts for my scratch build but in the meantime I have found myself in possession of enough spares to build a bitsa. My request for unwanted bass bits resulted in several members giving me stuff free and in some cases it was free of postage too. I've got some goodies stashed away for the big build but I also have extra bits of hardware that lend themselves to side projects. Most recently, @Shepster8316 kindly brought me some parts as in the photos he sent me below; What Paul had sent me was essentially an Encore P bass minus neck with hardware stripped out and the body and neck of a Yamaha BB1100s with hardware stripped out. The Yamaha body had suffered a whack that damaged the thin wood over the control cavity. Rather than try to make an invisible repair I'd probably put a plate over it and make it a feature at some point. The Yamaha neck fits the Encore neck pocket though. It is a slightly loose fit but not bad. The Encore body is very heavy but I am happy enough about that. I may put a piece of veneer in to tighten it up with a little fitting to make it snug. I am even considering doing the Billy Sheehan thing and putting in two draw bolts to pull the neck into the body as well as the standard fixings. The bridge will be moved inboard by about three quarters of an inch because of the slightly longer neck. Interestingly the two basses have the same bridge design so I picked the better of the two, the Yamaha. Tuners from the Encore will fit the Yamaha neck. The Encore pickup should be okay as is and I have a control loom in the spares I mentioned at the top of this post. I just need a pickguard. The parts are used and have a good patina. The body has some dings and scratches but nowt serious. Some of the screw shanks have stayed behind after the heads were sheared off. I am not one for relicing but I see no reason not to build this without refinishing as the wear is genuine and it is a bitsa. Just a mock-up photo; Should be a laugh...

Much as I like Andy's work, I wouldn't feel compelled to nail his backsides to a wall.

Welcome Todd.

Welcome AD.

The two band (and the three band modelled upon it) had assymetric boost and cut for bass and treble so the detent wouldn't be at the centre anyway.