3below

You have been very busy looks very good.

I went to buy bulk Guinea pig nuts today (the ba***r*s (10) keep eating), 25% price increase in 6 weeks. My car insurance has risen by 15%, no claims and the camera did not clock the 155mph I was doing at the time(in my dreams). We won't mention fuel price rises. The 20% on BF cab is not untoward and unexpected, although unwanted. Luckily I have owned a BF cab since 2011 and have no thoughts of moving it on.

^ available in 5 string version as well.

Careful with the 2x4 ideas, that will lead you down the rabbit hole of cigar box guitars, diddley bows, 2 string basses, or one of my favourites Longbow bass etc.

Looks promising, my only concern would be the brass inserts. Warwick corvettes (German at least) use similar to hold the j bass pickups in. I have had them pull out/work loose. My 2p worth, I would use some rod e.g. 8mm, 10 mm that has a suitable size hole and thread. Make them the full thickness of the headstock and ca or epoxy them in. They will withstand the turning forces that the string will create.

The brass collet idea looks pretty nifty, but it got me thinking about another solution (inspired by my 1970s Kramer aluminium neck bass). Construct a small flat plate of appropriate spacing / size for the headstock with the keyholes / slots that the ball ends slot into. No moving parts to drop and lose. I have never got the hang of (or had the inclination to) draw in CAD etc so you will have to imagine what I am getting at

Elegant solution

With the fretboard being removed for surgery you might want to discuss carbon stiffening rods with @Andyjr1515 . No idea if the XB500 has them fitted as standard. A very elegant pair of basses

^This, very sound advice imo. Double-ball strings will totally limit what you can do. You could even build an allen key holder/compartment into the bass for the very purpose I will now confess to having kept a set of strings on a bass (that has been gigged extensively in my younger years) for about 40 years. If you are wondering, Rotosound TruBass on an EKO acoustic bass, and yes they were fine. I have TI flats running at 11 years on a regularly used bass.

As fitted on manufacture to my Kramer DMZ4001. Superb pickup, plenty of everything. I also like the DP123 Model Js in another bass. In addition to doing the business live, both types record really well with DI.

Here's some previous thoughts by the collective hive https://www.basschat.co.uk/topic/320848-headless-designing/

Party dampener here, apologies. The Steinberger machines appear to be guitar only, there is some internet debate if they can withstand the tension of bass strings (assuming you can get the core into them). The NS design detail in the patent leaves me wondering how they got a patent (the US patent office is notorious for missing prior art or the 'obvious invention to a practitioner in the field'). It reminds me of a violin fine tuner combined with half of cam lock Patent was filed in 2001 so has expired. If we are lucky lower cost clones or improved versions might appear. The challenge to find a good solution continues

Outstanding quality, this raises the self build bar height beyond attainable for some of us. The diy technique to overcome the lack of a lathe is superb, I find the developing jigs, tools, methods a considerable part of the joy of self builds

As I understand it titles using common phrases are not covered by copyright. @Acebassmusic is on the money, they are using the cheaper to settle than go to court tactic. They might find Maria Carey adopts the Ed Sheerhan stance and takes them on. She will have suitably deep pockets methinks.

tl;dr NewTone strings will be most helpful in just doing it I use a .140 B string on my 34" 5 string, I have a heavy right hand technique. Key (simplified) maths is here https://www.hago.org.uk/faqs/formulae/index.php (or read Resnick & Halliday, Nelkon, Muncaster etc., I will confess to being a Physicist, now retired). Combining the equations gives : t = 16df^2Lu t = deflection force (how floppy or tight they feel) d = deflection (how far you pluck them) f = frequency (f^2 frequency squared) L = string length u = mass / unit length (roughly guided by string gauge, not simple since there is complexity within due to string construction, core etc. In Physics world we do not have roundwound, flatwound etc. we just have solid flexible rods) Bigger, thicker (hence greater u ) and/or longer length will increase string tension, they are of equal importance. There is much said about how 35" scale length improves the B string compared to 34", the physics suggests this is only a 3% increase. It may be that 3% is significant in this situation. However, other factors are in play here, e.g. string length between the nut and machine head, between the saddle and bridge anchor point. They will inherently be involved in the deflection length (unless the bass concerned has clamped strings at the bridge and nut). As @Andyjr1515 states, it is "basically a series of compromises held together by hope". The time honoured Physics approach is needed, do it, try it, and then, because we are Physicists, make it bigger (or smaller) and see what happens . Edward Teller had some concerns that the A bomb would ignite the atmosphere and oceans, other Physicists thought this was improbable (hence still probable), so we just cracked on......

Thank you, appearances can be deceptive, many blunders since it 'evolved' in spite of some attempts at designing The flat fretboard works well, I need to thin the neck, even though I also play an EUB (and previously DB) the profile depth is uncomfortable. The 13.5mm string spacing is just about manageable, there is a reason bass and guitar necks are tapered. As always, the next one will be better and is in the pipeline.

Be warned, it is highly addictive, worse than GAS. From my experience, unless something miraculous happens you will not build the perfect bass (or whatever) in the first attempt. There will be blunders in your construction / design, even when you measure carefully (and then add 5mm on rather than subtract as was needed), miscount (13th fret octave inlay!), or run a template round-over router bit into the body edge jack socket hole (should have been drilled after rounding body edges). The fun (for me) is using the tools effectively, making jigs and fixtures to solve build problems and in working my way out of blunders. I then resolve not to make those on the next build but strangely new incidents emerge. As you build more you get better at it In view of the above, I would suggest not using premium materials in a first build, the costs add up rather quickly. Shameless self plug, a different bass, an experiment because I could. Enjoy the mistakes If you want quality @Andyjr1515 and @Jabba_the_gut spring to mind amongst many others.

Ditto, and as mentioned earlier in the thread, getting to Gogledd Cymru or De Cymru is somewhat slow from Y Canolbarth.

Super work and highly informative for undertaking such a repair. Out of interest, what did you do with the razor saw cut to lose/hide it?

Wish list: something like a VT deluxe on steroids - the Bass Super Deluxe? Programmable with Ampeg/Hiwatt/Fender/Orange/Marshall character plus Trace? or liverpool? or something 'modern clean'? (six would work well with the 2 banks of 3 format of the VT Deluxe, less development cost with the existing technology) . It would have the usual DI, cab sim, etc.etc. This would suit my 'old school' simple bass approach perfectly, one good (excellent?) tone will do for any bass / cab / amp / room / genre / live / recording scenario I am playing in. <Cliche alert>The rest is in my hands</Cliche alert>.

Why do they keep producing kit that I find very desirable, I have six tech21/sansamp items already, resistance seems futile.

If @Andyjr1515is too busy then I can highly recommend Jon Shuker for this type of repair. My G&L fretboard parted from the neck due to the wood compressing with the truss rod adjustment. A dual action rod was fitted, an excellent repair, with better fretwork than the original. If I can build a neck with a removable dual action truss rod major manufacturers should be able to.

Ditto with the Leeds clone, (I have the Tech 21 Leeds, just too scarce to risk losing it at a gig). Mrs 3Below uses the American with her Telecaster direct into PA, very, very good.