Andyjr1515

There is something to be said with this approach - you can always sell the other neck (it does look nice!) or full bass with the swopped neck. Once you've scraped that nice finish off (and don't forget you need to do the fretboard edges) then its value is already shot - whether it turns out well or not...

Is it just the fretboard or is it the whole kit and caboodle, ie neck as well, @glassmoon ? The only roasted I can remember seeing on a Cort was a very dark brown already. Do you have a photo? If it's just the fretboard, then it is relatively straightforward. If it is the neck also, then that is a much bigger challenge to get it right. For the fretboard only, aiming for 'ebony or close' the way I do it is: - I scrape all of the muck / finish / dints down to bare wood using a single-edged razor blade or Stanley knife blade, held vertically with hand either side, and scraped firmly along the grain from on fret to the other. This sort of thing excepting that it should be held two-handed (my other hand was taking the photo): - I would then use good quality masking tape to mask off anything I didn't want stained - Once ALL finish/oil/dirt has been scraped off and I am down to clean wood, then - for black - I would use Fiebings Leather Die wiped on with a lint free cloth. Wear gloves unless you want to have black stains on your hands for a few weeks! - I then let it dry overnight and see if it needs a second coat, or if any area needs re-scraping and re-staining - once fully dry, personally I use a good quality lemon oil - wiped on, left to soak in, excess wiped off and then buffed up once it's dry. The stain will coat any dots or markers. These will need to be scraped clean once the Fiebings is fully dry That's how I would do it. If the neck is as dark as the examples I've seen, I personally wouldn't stain it - it's much more difficult to get an even coating (the thin grain lines of maple always seem to me to be impervious to any stains I've ever come across) and could end up looking like a dogs dinner

That looks good so far!

I've p.m.'d you @Bassman78 Andy

Wow!! Yes - strip job. Should be straightforward getting the old stuff off too! What I would suggest is get it all stripped off and then have a look at what you've got. You have a number of options - tru-oil / wax / stain / veneer / paint depending what it looks like underneath it all Andy

I've seen some good examples from these folks too. Excellent quality and crazy price for the one I fitted recently (the owner supplied it to me to fit - only just confirmed where he got it from): https://guitaranatomy.com/product-category/https-guitaranatomy-com-product-category-bodies-and-necks/

Coincidentally, I fitted a replacement neck recently to a friend's strat. They were the same tuners and I made myself a little drill guide. You just choose the most convenient one, pop the screwbush of the tuner through the jig and headstock hole, line the rest of the 'stick' up with the other holes to make sure it's square and then use the jig as your guide to drill your two small pilot holes. I found it easier then to take the guide off to drill the peg holes themselves. They don't have to be very deep so there should be little danger of drilling through. If you pm me your address, I'd be more than happy to pop it in the post to you.

Is it 21 fret or 22? Northwest Guitars have rosewood, gloss finished with two options of colour shade for £119 in stock for the 21 fret ones. They also do a 22 fret version although that appears to be presently out of stock. Here's one of the 21 fret ones: https://northwestguitars.co.uk/products/telecaster-compatible-guitar-neck-rosewood-fretboard?variant=44932326785298

As the others above say, it looks/sounds like something not good is going on under the fretboard. Genuine Fender replacements can be quite expensive, but nowadays a 'standard tele' heel generally is pretty accurate even for the cheaper replacements and so neck replacement is usually straightforward and not prohibitively expensive. Personally, with this type of rod and neck - and especially given the availability of affordable and decent quality replacements - I would generally recommend replacing it rather than taking the fretboard off and trying to fix it. If what I think might be happening is happening (I'm with @BreadBin and @Baloney Balderdash on this one), it may not be fixable in any case.

Just followed the Facebook link to the maker's page, Lex Leuthold. He has this photo of the in-progress. Yes - 3D printed. Nice job.

You seem quite close to finishing it with most of the spend already spent. Where in the country are you? Depending how remote your location, I or the other good folk around the country on the 'Basschatters willing to help other Basschatters' list might well be able to finish it off for you for nowt. I'm in the Derby area - any good to you?

Splendid!

Hi Andy You are very welcome to borrow a 9.5" block. PM me your address and I'll pop it in the post. The lineup looks fab!

Looks good from here, @AndyTravis A drunk Ebay visit can sometimes lead to good things

Yes - as @Doctor J says, start with popping the treble strings under the string tree to get the correct break angle of the strings over the nut, and then check the neck relief. That is, checking that there is a tangible gap under the 7th or 8th fret when you hold down the string at the 1st and (I would personally pick the 15th) last frets simultaneously, but that the gap is no more than a mm. This check should be done under full string tension. Once you know that the neck relief is OK then, as @Doctor J says, you can forget about the truss rod for the rest of the setup. Next, adjust the action with the saddle set screws to your preferred action height. If you run out of adjustment, then the neck may need a shim to slightly change the neck angle - if this is the case, let us know and we can take you through how to do that. But if there is enough saddle height adjustment, then great. Lastly, once the action height is set, you can then adjust the intonation as @Doctor J describes.

I have been reminded, having foolishly let a tea bag sit in a slightly damp cup too long for this morning's 2nd cup of tea, that I have used tea as a stain in the past. While you wouldn't want to use it as your primary stain, it can be great to darken a natural finish - and adds a teeny touch of amber too...

The Hipshot Licensed Ultralite machine heads are significantly cheaper than the US made equivalent and are on Hipshots own website - so they are a genuinely approved model. I've never had any issues with them and those are what I would fit on my own basses nowadays. Check whether you need 1/2" or 3/8" and also be aware that, as far as I remember, they are not reversible, so make sure you order the right way round, especially if it's a 5-stringer.

One thing not to forget is to solder an earth wire to the chamber shielding. You can also/alternatively add a little copper foil tab from the control chamber towards one of the plate fixing screws so that the top plate and chamber are mutually earthed and form an all-round cage.

Looks fantastic. Inspiring!

Lovely job. I like that a lot

Sounds like success to me Never worry about make-do-and-mend if you are able to get the results.

And there's nothing wrong with that - in the same way that some players prefer a zero fret to be a smidge higher than the other frets. But, from a physics point of view, it is not actually necessary. On these things I always find it helpful to think 'what if I extended the scale from the nut end and added a -1 fret position?' In that event, my playing finger one fret up from the nut - ie, at the 0 fret position - will be holding the string down to the board...exactly as it is at the 1st fret and beyond. The nut groove flush with the board is doing the same thing. But, actually, there is a sound practical reason for opting for cutting the nut/spacer a smidge higher - and that is that the one thing that is VERY bad news is if there is a groove left at the edge of the fretboard from an over-enthusiastic 'one last sweep of the nut file!'.

This. A bridge specifically and carefully designed so as not to work.

Yes - as the others say, the bottom of each slot should be level with the fretboard.