Now that I’ve oiled the alder PJ bass body – the colour of the bare wood has darkened somewhat. Consequently – the pale, new, shiny maple Fender neck I had originally earmarked for the build, is looking distinctly pasty, next to it. Quite out of place and incongruous. (The Fender neck would probably look much better with a brand new, stock, Arctic White Precision body…). Since the PJ body isn’t an original Fender – I may as well deliberately continue this project as an all generic component build. It will be a good test of my abilities – to see if the finished instrument has anywhere near a good enough finish, and to hear if it can get it to produce an “authentic” sound.
I’ve also, long wanted, to have a look at a fretless bass, and I purchased this generic, almost certainly “imported”, neck with something in mind, a while back. I know it’s not a real Fender neck – I didn’t buy it as a real Fender neck – but I did, at least, hope it might do, as some kind of experiment or project, and all at a somewhat reduced outlay.
It certainly looks solid enough for the job, (it also feels quite heavy)… Solid maple construction, with a, (apparently operable), truss rod concealed behind a dark “skunk stripe” on the reverse – and access for adjustment at the nut end. (Bare cut hole – no pleasing walnut plug as visual contrast. Ah well… you can’t always have everything). The neck has been semi-finished with a vintage amber(ish) looking nitro and – looks-wise – it will probably end-up fitting, much better, with the resultant, hand-oiled PJ body tone and colouration – than it does the clean, white, new maple Fender neck, I’d originally planned to use. The fingerboard is a thick slab of something or other… (but the grain looks way too thin and straight to be rosewood). If it isn’t Rosewood – then it at least appears to have the right sort of dark tone I like, and it seems it’ll also probably be resilient enough to stand up to a set of flatwounds. The fret positions have been marked by thin, contrasting fillets of a much lighter inlay – but the fingerboard is nicely smooth overall, with a “flat”, approximately 12″ radius. In fact – the fingerboard looks great, once the planned, single-ply, black scratchplate is mocked up – all together – along with the neck and the body.
(There’s some obvious adjustment required at the heel, however. More of that later…)
The neck has already been fitted with a pre-slotted nut – and the slots have been filed down, so that the strings practically touch the fretboard as they emerge at the “zero” fret. Clearly – setting up a fretless bass will have a few differences from a “normal” (fretted) bass setup. I’ve already had to think twice about the thickness of that fretboard slab. I eventually realised that – of course – the face of a fretless board would have to, quite logically, lie in the same plane as would normally be marked by the tops of the frets, on a fretted bass. That, presumably, adds the couple of extra millimeters, to the thickness of the fingerboard slab, as seen here – (and dependant on the density of that fingerboard wood, it may also help to explain some of the apparent extra weight). Checking the dimension of the neck construction with a micrometer – (vertical thickness through the fingerboard, at the heel end) – the neck matches my stock Fender Precision neck, close enough. When the neck is eventually under full string tension – it should bow enough to produce the proper playing action down the full length of the neck, and the height of the fingerboard should then work with a standard vintage Fender bridge in the normal location on the body.
However – there are, quite obviously, a few other glaring differences between this, and a standard Fender neck…
Firstly – the headstock shape looks a little… “unfamiliar“. Not quite right… Checking an image of the existing headstock against an accurate eps file overlay, (in Photoshop) – the end scroll is clearly not as pronounced, and the line of the “hook” is also slightly different. (There’s a bit of perspective and parallax in the photograph, which I can’t really fully compensate for, with the overlay – hence the apparent mis-alignment of the pegholes. Hand-drawn approximate string paths at least confirm that the as-drilled pegholes appear to be in correct alignment for the nut and neck). I eventually intend to apply a waterslide decal, (together with one of my “obvious fake” roundels) – so my choice of logo design might well be ultimately influenced by what I can practically fit in-between the edge of the headstock, and the fitted bushings.
I’m also not at all convinced about the location of that pre-drilled, string tree pilot hole. Even by eye – it looks to be totally in the wrong place – (and that appears to be confirmed by my sketched string paths). I could plug and re-drill – but I think I’ll wait until I fit strings. I’ll locate new string guide then and, hopefully – even in the worst case – I should be able to hide the misplaced hole under the guide disc.
The back of the headstock appears to have been previously fitted with tuner mechanisms. There are pre-drilled pilot holes present, together with the shadows of previous tuners. The shape of the backplates looks, at first sight, similar to Fender “Highway One” tuners – (as fitted on a lot of Mexican Fenders). However – checking the dimensions carefully – they appear to be slightly out. I’ll probably have to plug and re-drill the pilot holes, or fit different tuners, (the backplates of which may cover the original holes). I’ll have to make sure, however, that the backplates for the new tuners can fit within a reduced size, (non-Fender), footprint. The usual Fender size bushings are also noted to be a little loose. I’ll probably have to shim them with copper foil, and hope that the post alignments remain in exactly the same place. (Otherwise the strings might not run straight over the nut). It’s something I can’t really check until I get the neck fixed to the body, with neck, tuners and strings all fitted.
It’s around about this point, that I start to realistically consider, if this particular neck is really a worthwhile solution for my PJ project. Cost-wise – it was about a third of the price of a brand new, Fender fretless neck. It also has a nice, dark fingerboard – wheras Fender continue to persist with Pau Ferro boards, (at least on their more “budget” ranges…) Finish-wise – it’s nearly there… I’d like to perhaps refine the, somewhat “patchy-looking” finish a little. A spot of flatting-back, and some careful shading with a little light tint nitro… a few final polished coats of clearcoat… it’s certainly something to do, in the workshop… and I do like a challenge.
Pressing on – I discover another potential problem, (and things begin to look even more challenging). Checking the fit of the neck in the pocket – it’s obviously a couple of millimeters too wide. (I think it’s fair to say this certainly hasn’t ever been fitted to an accurate, Fender dimensioned body before…) Also – compared with the brand new Precision neck – the distance from nut to heel imediately appears to be too long. The twelfth fret is right where it should be – (17″ away from the nut – half way along the, expected, 34″ scale length). However – holding the neck against the “real deal” – it’s obvious that the heel needs, first:- some re-shaping to fit the pocket properly and, second:- that there’s about 5mm of “extra” length to remove. (If I use the neck as it is with the Fender dimensioned body – I probably won’t be able to set the string intonation properly). I note that the previous neck screw holes on the heel are plugged. It looks like the neck was previously fitted into a somewhat longer, (now almost certainly non-Fender), neck pocket. It’s clearly a copy – and not a very faithful one. (I presume the body it was originally used with, was also a not-too-accurate copy).
So – to use the neck here – I’ll obviously need to reduce the width of the heel, which slightly tapers. I think the overall shape of the heels, on Precisions and Jazzes, are the same – but since it’s specifically a fit to a Precision type body, in this case – if I first take some key measurements from my stock Precision neck, (which I know fits the pocket on the PJ body extremely snugly) – and then modify the heel of the new neck to match, leaving enough leeway to add a few fresh layers of finish – I should be getting close… A good result will all, of course, be dependent on accurate work, and on me being able to keep the proper taper and symmetry of the neck – removing equal amounts of material on both sides of the heel. I also need to keep the sides perfectly square – where the neck meets the body, all the way around the edge of the pocket. Of course – on top of that – I’ll then have to successfully shorten, and correctly re-shape the end of the heel. All this with just an “amateur” woodworking setup and tools – and with only the means to make, mostly, “approximate” measurements. However – if I do things carefully, methodically and accurately – I don’t doubt my abilities, and don’t see why I shouldn’t be able to get the neck to fit more suitably.
Taking some careful measurements – the new Fender neck, (with it’s thick urethane finish), measures 62.67mm at the full width of the heel – tapering to 59.54mm, where it “leaves” the pocket, (99mm further back along the neck). By contrast – the replacement neck measures 64.15mm and 60.46mm at those same locations. I need to reduce the dimensions by 1.48mm and 0.92mm. I check the distances from the edges, to the projected path of the central “skunk stripe”, on the back of the neck, and confirm that it has been installed centrally. I’ll check periodically – to ensure that, whatever I remove – it’s done as symmetrically as possible.
First – let’s take the sides off the heel. Using some 120 grit paper over a hard, square-cut backing block – I reduce each side, in turn – the exact same number of strokes each time. I hold the neck down on a flat surface, and use a small recessed shim to lift the base slightly. That allows me to simply slide the squared block over the flat surface, whilst applying the abrasive to the side of the neck. That should keep the sides square. I run the abrasive along the full length of the heel, on each side equally – well past the point where the neck will meet the line of the body – and let the abrasive run out onto the tapered profiles which continue up sides of the neck, towards the 13th fret.
After each sequence of counted strokes along each side of the neck – I carefully re-measure with a micrometer. After every few sequences – I double-check that the line of the “skunk stripe” is still exactly central. Slow and steady… Sand – count – check – sand – count – check… etc..
Eventually – the heel is successfully reshaped towards the desired dimensions. For the final passes – I switch to 360 grit, and carefully smooth the finish, so that it’s free of any working marks from the abrasive paper. The heel now drops snugly into place on the body – but the shape of the heel curve is demonstrably wrong, (too flat) – and I already know that the scale length is also too long. I’ll have to reshape the end. However – if I remove the extra length now – I’ll end up making the sides of the tapered heel slightly smaller than they need to be, (since their relative placement in the tapered pocket, will shift slightly). But – since I’ll need to re-finish the neck afterwards, I could do with a little bit of tolerance, to allow for a few coats of tinted nitro and clearcoat. Checking the heel measurements 5mm, or so, back up the neck – it appears that the shortened neck should still fit the shape of the pocket well enough, albeit with a slightly increased tolerance, of a few thousands of an inch. Plenty of room then for that spot of lacquer, and less danger I’ll damage the eventual finish, by pushing a too-tightly-fitting neck into the pocket….
To get the heel shape I require – I resort to tracing the “proper” shape, direct from the Fender neck. I do this by temporarily taping the necks together, (flat heel to flat heel), with the nut and twelfth fret positions matched. A simple pencil line then gives me an instantly better match to the required heel curve – in the correct position. I then repeat this on the fingerboard side. The line here won’t be as quite as accurate – but it’ll be close enough to act as a visual guide while working the neck. I’ll shape the new curve, and continually check the mark on the reverse – to make sure the eventual shape is as accurate as I can get it.
I don’t want to use any sort of saw to remove the 5mm of wood, at the end of the heel. It would be extremely difficult to maintain a square-cut edge. Instead – I use a sanding drum, mounted on a small pillar drill. The heel of the neck is positioned flat on a heavy block of wood, and the sanding drum adjusted so that it covers the full depth of the heel, (and fingerboard). It’s then just a matter of holding the neck flat, and wiping it past the revolving abrasive wheel – removing a little bit of wood at each pass. It’s actually quite controllable. I check every now and again – and once the “cut” begins to approach the marked line, on the underside of the heel – I switch to sanding and final shaping by hand, with 360 grit – using a square backing block, as before.
Now – the neck fits so much better. It’s still just slightly loose in the pocket, and the line of the neck looks straight and true.(As far as I can tell by sighting along it’s length from either end). It’s certainly much better than it was, (and it may now even intonate properly)… Checking the scale length, and slightly re-located position of the twelfth fret too… let’s just say I still have high hopes…
To fully re-finish the neck now – the existing lacquer could probably do with a bit of a flat sand, and possibly a few body coats of clear lacquer to help take a full polish. Since I want to apply a headstock decal – I’ll first clean, (with naphtha), and then seal the newly-sanded wood, (with sanding sealer). Then, I’ll apply tint coats until I roughly match the existing colouration. Depending on how that’s going – I should then be where I need to be, to gently flat sand, and then apply the decals, with a final build up of polished clear lacquer, over that. There’s still quite a way to go…
Garageland 