Before I ruin a new neck...clever people advice needed...

[donslow]

Hey all, quick question if I may?!

just received a new neck in the post, looking to cut down the headstock to something smaller as I’m not a huge fan of the larger bump at the bottom

despite now printing off 17 templates (all wrong size one way or another) I can’t get one to “work” With the existing wood!

then I tried this... (picture below) 

on the face of it, despite the template being too small to line up with the existing tuner holes, can anyone see anything that would/could go disastrously wrong before I start sanding/cutting?!

[Stub Mandrel]

That won't look right if you use the original holes and leave the bit at left in place.

It will look even worse if it sticks out on a 'stalk' like that.

 

Why not use a Prit stick to put a sheet of clean paper on the face of the headstock, then just sketch off the bump. I think it nees to lose very little more to get that 51 Precision look?

[donslow]

5 minutes ago, Stub Mandrel said:

That won't look right if you use the original holes and leave the bit at left in place.

It will look even worse if it sticks out on a 'stalk' like that.

 

Why not use a Prit stick to put a sheet of clean paper on the face of the headstock, then just sketch off the bump. I think it nees to lose very little more to get that 51 Precision look?

Thanks so much for the reply @Stub Mandrel

the bit on the left, I was going to look at possibly rounding that off a bit more so possibly printing that size template off again and the moving it down

currently, the “top” hole lines up so was thinking “maybe if I move it down so the bottom hole lines up...” the bit on the left could be sanded to suit the template that way?!

terrible idea?!

[Stub Mandrel]

Only you can decide, but 'putting back on' tools are hard to come by.

Whatever you do, avoid having a 'stalk' between the nut and the headstock proper, that will look odd.

[songofthewind]

Let us see what the headstock looks like naked, first of all, then we can hose you down with ideas.

[donslow]

12 minutes ago, songofthewind said:

Let us see what the headstock looks like naked, first of all, then we can hose you down with ideas.

this is the headstock from the original eBay listing, not sure why I didn’t think it looked too bad...

 

11 minutes ago, songofthewind said:

[donslow]

[donslow]

Must just be me but it looks a little....bulbous...

[Stub Mandrel]

[Stub Mandrel]

A bit, but the rest of the profile looks ok.

[songofthewind]

Vast and bulbous. Actually, I think it would look fine if you just straighten the lower edge so that it is a bit more parallel to the top edge, where the tuners will be. Check James Trussart's website for his lovely steel bodied Teles. They have a headstock shape that is just slightly Stratty. Very nicely proportioned.

[donslow]

10 minutes ago, Stub Mandrel said:

Definitely more of the streamlined kind of look after...just can’t seem to find a template that will fit/match what I have :-s 

 

7 minutes ago, songofthewind said:

Vast and bulbous. Actually, I think it would look fine if you just straighten the lower edge so that it is a bit more parallel to the top edge, where the tuners will be. Check James Trussart's website for his lovely steel bodied Teles. They have a headstock shape that is just slightly Stratty. Very nicely proportioned.

Will have a good looky and get the pencil out, thankyou for that

[Ricky 4000]

17 minutes ago, donslow said:

Is that Jazz width at the nut, rather than P?

[TheGreek]

There isn't a lot of headstock on a Tele and it wouldn't take much to ruin one by taking off too much. 

Working with a coloured paper template might give you a better idea what you will get, white just blends in with the natural finish.

Paint 3D will let you play around with bendy lines without you actually committing to anything which might cost you money.

[donslow]

17 minutes ago, Ricky 4000 said:

Is that Jazz width at the nut, rather than P?

Sure is...

[donslow]

8 minutes ago, TheGreek said:

There isn't a lot of headstock on a Tele and it wouldn't take much to ruin one by taking off too much. 

Working with a coloured paper template might give you a better idea what you will get, white just blends in with the natural finish.

Paint 3D will let you play around with bendy lines without you actually committing to anything which might cost you money.

Hmmm never thought of that, if I can work it out, might give that a whirl!

where I’ve put the white paper on it, looks ok to my eyes, I’m just wondering if there’s something glaringly obvious that I’ve missed that could go wrong, shape or proportion wise 

Edited May 16, 2020 by donslow

[Stub Mandrel]

This is the effect of just taking off about 3mm at the most. As @The Greek says you really only want to take off the minimum:

[donslow]

1 minute ago, Stub Mandrel said:

This is the effect of just taking off about 3mm at the most. As @The Greek says you really only want to take off the minimum:

Tis a very good point, wondering if I should just learn to live with it now?!

[Ricky 4000]

33 minutes ago, Ricky 4000 said:

Is that Jazz width at the nut, rather than P?

 

16 minutes ago, donslow said:

Sure is...

I think the temptation may be to take too much wood off, because visually, the proportions of the Telebass / early P headstock come partly from the wider 40mm nut... so I'd maybe just take the lower hump down a bit, but what do I know? (rhetorical).

Edited May 16, 2020 by Ricky 4000

[donslow]

26 minutes ago, Ricky 4000 said:

 

I think the temptation may be to take too much wood off, because visually, the proportions of the Telebass / early P headstock come partly from the wider 40mm nut... 

I think you might be right

[kodiakblair]

Areas to concentrate on.

 

Overall length.  The wee area heading up the E tuner, tiny wee bit sanding. The rounded tip,get that right 👍

 

For the bottom curve to work,place the template on the back and mark the bare wood as the headstock leaves the nut. Move the template up to the rounded tip, make a mark as the tip sweeps to the bottom curve . Move the template again,swinging it until you came join both marks.

 

I'll see about getting a photo or 2 posted.

[donslow]

4 minutes ago, kodiakblair said:

Areas to concentrate on.

 

Overall length.  The wee area heading up the E tuner, tiny wee bit sanding. The rounded tip,get that right 👍

 

For the bottom curve to work,place the template on the back and mark the bare wood as the headstock leaves the nut. Move the template up to the rounded tip, make a mark as the tip sweeps to the bottom curve . Move the template again,swinging it until you came join both marks.

 

I'll see about getting a photo or 2 posted.

Thank you for that, quite insightful although I do have to admit, you lost me a bit with all the swinging and moving and marking of the tips and curves, some pictures (if you can) would be massively appreciated and might help worm it into my skull a bit...

 

[donslow]

thanks for all the comments and tips so far guys (and gals?!) has given me some food for thought before I make it look like I attacked the headstock with a butter knife and teaspoon 

[Delberthot]

This is a Warmoth tele headstock with a jazz width nut if that helps. It's one I had made a few years ago.

[donslow]

8 minutes ago, Delberthot said:

This is a Warmoth tele headstock with a jazz width nut if that helps. It's one I had made a few years ago.

 

I like the look of that, pretty much what I’m going for...not too bulbous but still close enough to look decent and not get confused/mistaken with the real thing

Edited May 16, 2020 by donslow