Andyjr1515

Sounds lovely, @ped.

The new neck looks the business, @ped . Ref the old neck, personally, I would take the tension off the trussrod to avoid the possibility of a permanent back bow setting in over storage time...

I have to say, that shiny neck does look the absolute dog's wotsits!! If you can get one/get one done like that, I'll be well impressed

Laser engravers are stunning bits of kit. And this is a stunning use of a laser engraver. 5 gold stars and smiley face - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Wow!!! That is superb. And I struggle to get my head around how your did it. Lovely work generally, but that feature is a 'knock out of the ball park' jobee. Bravo!!

I would second @neepheid in terms of Artec's 'bang for the buck'. I can't think of any Artec product I've used or fitted that hasn't hit way above its weight and I've certainly used their lipstick pickups in my own guitars in the past.

Yes, absolutely. As @Hellzero says, small changes in the angle of the neck make a significant change to the action height. The Amazon link that @Hellzero puts on of the full-pocket tapered shims is also spot on.

It doesn't have to be. Accepting that any mod, good or bad, will reduce the resale value, then if the bass is potentially a keeper but you just want to make it more comfortable to play by taking some weight out of it - then you could do it from the back (upper horn, lower horn, either side of the neck run) without overly upsetting the balance and just leave the back with open chambers. It's a bit 'horses for courses'.

Be aware, by the way, that the amount of material you have to remove to make any tangible difference to the weight can be surprisingly high! You might find this thread for a very heavy Harley Benton I did a few years back for @Harryburke of interest:

Provided that you don't weaken the bridge area, it is unlikely to make any perceptible difference to the sound. And even those cases where the mods are so extreme that it does make a difference to the sound, it is just that - a difference, not a detriment. So, unless the bass is absolutely the best sound that you've ever experienced regardless of make, cost, type...then go for it. A bass that is too heavy is a bass that doesn't get played very often - if at all...

...and I'm assuming you don't have any proper nut files @Skybone The correct answer is 'take it to a guitar tech' but, if you are willing to risk having to do that anyway if it all goes wrong : What I would personally do for a bass - if my precious files got stolen on just the day I needed them - is: - use the new strings themselves as the nut file formers. This is tricky for a G string but, happily, you don't need to do that one - make a sharp thin pencil mark along the bottom of the nut slots - wrap a small piece of some 320-ish grit paper around the string - a half-loop only - hold the paper tight on the string with thumb and finger of both hands and gently file the slot back and forth - be patient...105 to 135 is quite a change - change the sandpaper from time to time - check the string fit without the sandpaper wrap from time to time to see the progress or lack of it - as soon as there is ANY sign that the pencil mark is being sanded away, STOP!!!! Be aware that properly slots are angled down a touch towards the headstock so that it is the very front edge of the slot that is the highest point. You may need to follow this angle as you sand if you find that the string is riding high at the back edge of the slot.

It was certainly an interesting veneer! This is how the final thing came out:

Most kind...but does Andyjr1515 know his epoxies from his onions?? Jury might be out

Well, the worst thing is if there is any area with not enough...that patch will bubble and raise with the moisture of atmosphere/subsequent finish spray/etc. You will be sanding the joint line in any case to use the epoxy in the joint to blend the veneer/joint/original finish, so a bit of squeeze out isn't the end of the world assuming that this is intended to be sprayed afterwards in any case.

With luck, your Jazz body would come out of the vacuum bag a bit like this: Then, ALWAYS cutting across the grain and not along it, you use the curve of the body sides as your blade guide: After some careful sanding along the line, again, across the grain line and not into it, it should blend in pretty well: