Andyjr1515

That will be the same wood I use for the control panel and the pickup cover

For tweaking the body shape, I find Inkscape a decent poor man's CAD package, but I do find it easier to start with pencil, set square and paper. Main reason is that the fundamental limits are very easy to get down - the design envelope, the neck dimensions, etc.. For the envelope, I traced round a P bass body I have hanging around (as you do), then marked against that the fretboard dimensions (including 12th fret relative position) using a Squier hanging on the wall and then overlaying the maximum dimensions of the walnut - which, at 320mm max is a touch narrower than a P. Using @fleabag 's photo as a guide, I drew a general outline that I will then transfer into Inkscape to do the aesthetic tweaking. But here's the rough pencil-drawn outline: Initial thoughts are that the leading edge of the top horn needs to be a touch steeper and the top waist maybe a tweaked a bit to match the offset of the tail. But I can tweak that to my and @fleabag 's hearts content on Inkscape. The other part at this stage is to look at the thicknesses of the various components at the neck joint: This is full scale, again using a Squier neck for dimensions - although when @fleabag 's arrives I'll double check it - and here we're in a bit of good luck. Because the walnut is relatively thin (we'll be using basically two tops rather than a top and thicker back) the plan is to have a central splice. And in a flash of inspiration I think I know what that should be! @fleabag wants a purpleheart pickup cover and the neck to be stained to match. So why not use the purpleheart neck splices that David Dyke sells as the body splice. These are the splices in my Swift Lite neck: And they are 6mm thick. And 6mm in between top and back walnut of 13mm each is 32mm - perfect! But there's another bit of good luck. Have another look at that drawing: See the (to scale) back wood. And the 6mm central layer (ie purpleheart) and look where the bottom of the neck heel sits! On top of the back assembly. Then add the depth of the neck - and the fretboard is EXACTLY where my Squier neck fits in relation to the top of the top. And the bridge that @fleabag is sending me is the Schaller low height roller unit - which is the within the adjustment range of a standard Fender P or J bridge I'm chuffed at that Next jobs are to draw the back and then load the drawings into Inkscape - and that's tomorrow's job.

Genius!

Haven't got my finger out.... ...but I HAVE got the drawing board out

I like that type of figuring. I've always preferred that type on Gibson Les Paul tops against the more frequently seen flame tops.

Actually, a useful distraction based on the fact that I haven't got any further with @fleabag 's.

Looks good

No Next!

Actually, just put the final touches on the Swift Lite 2 a moment ago so close but no cigar cup of tea!

I'm never shocked at how much I mess up. Disappointed, yes, but never surprised What's wrong with the headstock size? Have you checked the tuner positions and string runs? On the face of it it looks like you could get good straight runs. Have you ever seen an Ibanez SR without the tuners fitted...the headstocks look positively weird. But once the tuners are on it looks fine. If it is big enough for functional reasons, it looks fine to me personally on visuals...

Probably a bit of both I'm going to draw it full size over the next couple of days but I'm pretty sure the bottom of the neck pocket will end up at the level of the back wood. If so, the only thing I have to fillet is the top wood, starting from a rectangular 'neck pocket' shaped hole. If so, a bullnose router bit or similar isn't a bad idea to rough it out @Si600 , and remembering the apprentice school engineer blue fitting techniques- but using blackboard chalk instesd of blue and scrapers to fine finish it all off, @SpondonBassed .... So I might have to retitle to: "Andyjr1515, Si600 & Spondonbassed meet their Nemesis?"

Ah...but if it all fails, I have to buy @fleabag a new neck....

At the moment I'm not planning modding the neck. If I was, then yes, I think something on those lines My thought at the moment is to shape the body a little bit like @eude 's erstwhile Shuker and carve a cradle for the neck to slot into. Do I have proven skills to be able to do that? No - not yet Could this end badly? Please refer to the title

Well that's crazy! I literally bing'd 'single cut bass rear view' to find a picture to show people what I was talking about! The really wierd thing was that three of the other photos were of Kert's camphor single cut - one of my own builds

I'm sure I won't.....

Ah! Full acknowledgement, therefore, to ziegenfuss for a beautiful bass that we will use as our...er hum ... inspiration!

Thanks That was also a fun project. Mike had one of these: ….and he loved the sounds, but didn't like the look and wanted more like a Precision Lyte. We agreed that I'd try a totally reversible conversion - even the headstock - so, if he ever wanted to sell, he could revert to original. Here were the two together: The headstock is just a plate held on with 2 sided tape - you can see the green underneath in the logos And the walnut ( @scrumpymike 's mate Merv was a professional axeman/woodcutter all his life) worked beautifully: An hour's work and it would be back into a Rascal and ready for sale at no loss in value I certainly see what you mean about the controls and, for the life of me, can't remember why they are so close together. Maybe Andyjr1515 actually already met his Nemesis back then. Don't tell Mike, though, in case he hasn't noticed

So this is the neck @fleabag is sending me: And this (again, can't credit anyone because it's just a stock picture) kind of shape: But with a few tweaks, some aesthetic and some to fit front and back onto this piece of lovely English Walnut: ...cut down by @scrumpymike 's late great mate, Merv, and also used on Mike's Rascal conversion: And this is as far as I've got design-wise: Who said precise technical drawing was dead?

Hi All OK - while I've gained a bit of a reputation for being mad enough to take on stuff that any sane builder wouldn't touch in a million years - well, this one could indeed be my Nemesis There's a bit of well-founded and quite logical conventional wisdom that says that you can't use a stock P-bass type of bolt-on neck in a single cut bass re-body. Why not? Well, I can't find who's this beautiful example is, but here is a typical bolt-on single cut: And here is (actually, this is an electric 6-string) a typical big F type of neck carve: And the basic problem is that the neck carve carries on to about the 16th fret - and the neck tapers too But a single cut top horn extends down to around the 12th fret: And that means that the body needs to be carved to the same shape, but mirrored, so that it wraps around the neck between the 12th and 16th frets. And no one would be crazy enough to try that, would they? Hmmmm….. Well, after all, it is our very own @fleabag who's asking And, let's face it, what could POSSIBLY go wrong?

I'm interested in how your experiments go with the router jig. Never thought about the 3d printer stuff...sounds a good idea!

Interestingly, this has the button at the 16th fret - proportions based on the Warwick Thumb. Can't believe Thumbs ever have a neck dive tendency.

To be honest, it's more about physics than aesthetics or ergonomics The interesting thing is that it is a rule of thumb that is just as relevant for 6 string electrics as it is for basses... Of course the rules can be broken, but - in general terms - at 12th fret, the body can be pretty light and/or the headstock pretty heavy and it will still sit OK on the strap. At higher than the 13th fret, then you have to be aware of the relative weights of the two ends leading to corrective action such as light tuners, strap button positioning, weight addition to the body, even! One of my basses has fishing lead shot in a chamber under the bridge - and that has a tiny headstock, light tuners AND a very heavy solid bubinga body!...

Long top horns generally mean decent balancing on the strap. I always regard the button somewhere between 12th and 13th fret as being in the Goldilocks zone. As @eude says, a long bottom horn helps if playing over the knee.

Here's the quick soundclip of the blend set at Bridge / Mid / Neck recorded on a hand-held Zoom and played through a Yamaha Stagepas PA. Tone on max treble; PA EQ neutral Ignore the noisy fan on the PA and some domestic noises off!

OK - the experiment worked. Basically, I took two more slices off the offcut, cut away the tight grained bit and then book-matched. There was less than 1/2mm excess to fit the shape of the cover onto! But this looks more like it's meant to be there: Again, even when adding finishing just one side, no warping at all - but Hawaii is a long way if there are problems the other end so I will be adding a backing plate with grain at 90 degrees to eliminate the possibility of there being an issue. So final set-up and tweaking ongoing before it gets shipped Andy