Dazed Posted February 24, 2016 Share Posted February 24, 2016 If you were making a bass from scratch around a finished neck is either more difficult? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scojack Posted February 24, 2016 Share Posted February 24, 2016 (edited) If we are talking a standard neck through then i'd say the bolt on is the fiddliest as there is a bit more work required to fit the neck. [i][size=3][font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]An original Neck Through...[/font][/size][/i] There are the more complex NT's where the neck wood is faced over at the front/back of the body (likes Andys builds )... ..i'd say these were about the same in terms of difficulty. Ian Edited February 24, 2016 by scojack Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beer of the Bass Posted February 24, 2016 Share Posted February 24, 2016 The bolt-on does allow for a certain fudge factor if you don't get the neck angle and bridge elevation spot-on first time, because you can shim or modify the pocket. So the bolt-on could be seen as a bit more forgiving even if there might be more steps involved. Finishing could be a little easier with a separate neck and body too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muzz Posted February 24, 2016 Share Posted February 24, 2016 On every luthier's site I've perused, neck-thru basses are more expensive than bolt-on, so I'd say that pointed to it being more difficult. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stylon Pilson Posted February 24, 2016 Share Posted February 24, 2016 [quote name='Muzz' timestamp='1456333143' post='2987992'] On every luthier's site I've perused, neck-thru basses are more expensive than bolt-on, so I'd say that pointed to it being more difficult. [/quote] Not necessarily. Could be just that they're more desirable, so the market will bear a higher price. S.P. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muzz Posted February 24, 2016 Share Posted February 24, 2016 There is that - it's one way to stratify your product, I suppose... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dazed Posted February 24, 2016 Author Share Posted February 24, 2016 The grand butchery plan is: to attempt a Steinberger-esque 5/6/7 string using a cheap 5/6/7 string bass. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PlungerModerno Posted February 24, 2016 Share Posted February 24, 2016 [quote name='Dazed' timestamp='1456334521' post='2988018'] The grand butchery plan is: to attempt a Steinberger-esque 5/6/7 string using a cheap 5/6/7 string bass. [/quote] Ah - well that's not exactly from scratch is it! If it were I, I'd go for a bolt on design as it allows neck angle changes if you ever change the hardware - plus it makes finishing easier (for different colours where the neck only has clearcoat - otherwise, not so much). If you're installing a headless tuning system where a regular bridge was you'll probably have to do some routing and reshaping to be able to install and tune up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dazed Posted February 24, 2016 Author Share Posted February 24, 2016 Not exactly from scratch, but I did say it would be using a built neck. Or a neck from a complete bass, then make the body or wings. Replace the hardware with headless parts, possibly reuse the existing electrics depending how good or bad they are. Its looking like I'll be using ETS stuff probably as there's not a wide choice available and they can cope with one off spacings etc. The fact that the hardware will cost more than the donor bass is a little irritating. Alternatives are ABM or Hipshot, unless there are other suggestions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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