Bridgehouse

I reckon that they are the same radius and that means they look like there is more wood in the centre than the edges...

Yep - frets def look like they are at a tighter radius. Maybe it’s how they are shaped at the edges...

Rather you than me Then again, although there’s extra steps involved I suspect it’s not that tricky. At least you can mount the truss rod a bit higher for that authentic look

7.25” top and bottom would look right in my opinion, just based on staring at mine for a while I think as long as you get the thickness right then it will broadly look no different to mine. The biggest thing will be trying to match some of that wear at the end of the board which has that “old smoothed wood” look about it

That’s exactly the issue I had - the E was taken off and there was a clear kink where it went over the saddle - I straightened and put it back on the other way over to try to increase pressure - combined with reversing the saddle this worked well. I suspect a new string would be fine as well.

Lol - you might say that, but I've got one right in front of me and I still can't work out what they have done 😁 I can however see why fender went back to slab later on as the work involved in this method just to get the truss rod a bit higher does seem a bit extreme.

Those mustang necks aren't a good gauge The board on my P is still pretty thick, and it's def. radiused top and bottom - I wouldn't want to steam/clamp/glue this board back on if the bottom was flat - it'd be quite a pig to do I reckon. Looking at the end grain I'd say it's cut bottom first (concave) out of a rectangular piece, then mounted, then the top carved to match. Then again, I'm getting well out of my depth on this now!!! 😁

I had a similar(ish) thing with my Shuker Fretless. I say ish, because my E was significantly quieter than the others when I refitted all the gubbins after swapping out the preamp etc. (see separate thread for whole long long story). However, It was clear that the issue was break angle - they were metal strings (TI's in fact) and the fact yours are nylons will make little difference. After all, a piezo works perfectly well under an acoustic saddle which is often plastic, bone etc.. I could reverse the saddles in mine, which I did, and it increased the break angle and gave a much stronger contact, and thus all strings balanced equally. Not the best photo in the world.. But hopefully you can see that the break angle is up a bit on the E string compared to the others, and it's sitting on the 'higher' side of the saddle for maximum contact - without the break angle there will be insufficient pressure exerted on the saddle for the piezo to work properly

Interesting. All of the talk of different radii and other such matters piqued my curiosity and I went and looked at my 64.. Ignoring the fact that the corners are pretty much worn down from years of something.. it does look a bit like the board is 7.5" radius top and a similar radius bottom, and thus the neck top is not far off 7.5".. but it is quite difficult to tell. If you follow the lines of the frets vs the bottom of the board then to me, there doesn't seem to be a huge difference in radius - but again it could be less scientific than that. Having measured it, the board (at the frets) is definitely 7.5" but to me, I'd be surprised if the bottom of the board is as much as 12" Having said that, my understanding was the rosewood board was cut to 1/4" or so, the underside then curved appropriately, then the top of the neck pin routed for truss rod, which was then fitted, and then the board glued to it, and then the top of the board radiused to match. It's more than possible that a standard radius was used for the bottom of the board and presumably it was determined by the channel required for the truss rod. I also believe that the logic behind this wasn't to save rosewood and thus cut costs, but to enable the truss rod to be mounted slightly higher in the neck and thus deliver more power and stiffness. This pic of some mustang necks clearly shows the truss rod higher in the veneer board on the right: I've seen some P slab boards where the truss rod nut cuts into the slab board as well which suggests Fender wanted the rod higher but it compromised the board in some way.

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I found a good clip on tuner and a quick check for intonation on each note really helped

I have to admit I was really nervous about fretless. Shouldn’t have been. It’s liberating and a fretted bass feels like a “my first bass” now.

I think no matter which option I go for, given the neck rout and pickguard butchery, if I don't replace the neck cover then I'll need to have a new pickguard cut. Which may not be a bad thing.. but I'll have a scour around the net first to see if I can get hold of a cover - if I do then pretty much anything that fits will work

Those ebay ones are just a bit too short - but they are close tho! My other option is a 51 SD Quarterpounder as they fit in the rout but I'd need a new pickguard cut..

Yes, the Strat 6 string one (ET-270) had black trapezoid covers

Funnily enough, no.. it's really light. The body is ridiculously light. Almost Obeche light...

Tuners are also original - they work, but I think a re-grease is in order to make sure they do the job.

The bridge is original - but needs a strip and clean! Sadly the bridge cover has long gone.. but I'd not put it back on anyway

Covers are definitely original, as is the bridge pickup: But Epiphone did do some other models with different pickup configs..

Neck plate gives us a bit of detail, but they are tricky to date at best..and it's probably a 1980....or 79. Or maybe 78.

Here's the pickup cover after a bit of light cleaning.. will be fine. Just need another to match.. And here's the truss rod cover :

Pickguard was really grubby and had probably 40 years of grime on it. It's clear and painted black on the bottom with the epiphone logo stuck on. It's split, but glue will fix it fine. Virtuoso magic also worked on this: And as a set of raw components, they look fine and are worth £30 of anyone's money...

Body and neck, however, are more than serviceable - and lightweight too! Out came the Virtuoso cleaner and polish.. it's miracle stuff. Cleaner then Polish and it's quite good Before: After:

Let's get the obvious bit out of the way - the electronics. Someone has replaced the neck pickup with a Jazz Neck pickup. Not the end of the world, but it's going to have to go. So - I need a neck pickup cover. Anyone got a spare? @AndyTravis any ideas where I might get one from? The bridge pickup is a bit wrecked, but at least it can be rewound if necessary.. The electronics will be the big challenge. Probably 2 replacement pickups (one rewound) and a new neck pickup cover..

Dunno. Might have one built. The bit I really need is the pickup cover