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I too am watching this closely, as my next project bass will include making my own neck.
Keep it coming Marko!
Thanks Mark, I'm really enjoying this neck build. Slow and steady wins the race
Hi Marko, no - I won't be making a bass, at least not anytime soon. My carpentry skills are more along the lines of framing than furniture and cabinetry. If I ever decide to try, I know who to ask for help!
I do want to hear why you're not concerned that the sharp pointy far end of the headstock is likely to end up snapping off when it eventually gets banged into something. Is there something about the grain of mahogany that makes this unlikely?
Ibanez made a bass back in the late 70s or 80s called (I think) the Black Eagle bass and it had some delicate scroll work and projections on the headstock. In the last 10 years, I have only seen one of these with an intact headstock. (This is online searching, not in the local shops - so global scale search.) Delicate headstocks get broken.
I make one bass every two years, Gibson however make 200 per week. The Les Paul's, Juniors, Specials, SGs and ES models have headstocks that fall off at the drop of a hat! Gibson haven't learnt in over 50 years so I'm willing to take a chance. It's difficult to be original in the guitar marketplace so I'm putting that before caution. Thanks for your concern Sid, it's duly noted
No risk, no reward.
I am so pumped to start my next project, but I won't buy my lumber until I have a design I'm happy with.
Unfortunately, there's not much you can do that hasn't been done already, so being unique is probably a bigger challenge than the actual fabrication part.
I agree there Mark, I just doodled that headstock design and it worked first time, it's as though Leo Fender was guiding my hand! The fact that you are going to do the whole thing is a major step forward, I'm doing this build with basic joinery tools to keep it accessible to anyone who wants to build their own, the only Luthier tool I'll be using will be a Gentlemans Saw to cut the fret slots
Nice.
For my next build I am planning on buying enough materials to make three of the same bass (using the same template). I want to experiment with a quasi-assembly line type of build. The reason for three? One for me, one for my son, and I may try to sell one to cover some of the materials cost.
I also may try three different types of finish on the bodies when done. We'll see.
Does the headstock slant back from the neck? How did you remove the wood to step down from the plane of the neck to the plane of the headstock? Where there is little blowout above the allen wrench, this isn't an issue because the wood will be shaped to give a sloping curve from nut to headstock?
It's a straight through headstock, slanting headstocks are very weak in comparison as the headstock is separate from the neck and glued in place, some people think they are cut from one piece of wood with a slanting headstock but that would be even weaker than a glued on headstock. The straight through headstock has the grain running right through making it quite strong. I cut the face off the headstock with a handsaw, I used a marking gauge around the sides and followed the lines. Yes, when the fingerboard is in place it will curve away from just behind the nut. Once the fingerboard is glued on I will cut out the neck outline, the sides will be left square so the neck can be clamped in the fret slot jig. Once the frets are on, the neck profile can be cut, this is done by cutting the profile shape with Rasps, Files and Sandpaper. These profiles are cut behind the first fret and close to the heel, a spoke shave is then used to remove the wood from between the two.
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