aberforth Posted June 11, 2023 Share Posted June 11, 2023 (edited) Hi all. I own a quite old Cort Bass that has cracked neck. It's been glued by luthier but it cracked again after years. In general I'd like to turn it into little project and replace pickups, bridge, tuning pegs etc. For now I'm looking for neck replacement but I can't seem to be able to find anything suitable. Looks like fixing nuts aren't the same size as common ones like Fender Jazz so I feel I need to use Cort one... Anyone has any place I could find it or should I just keep an eye on ebay if it shows up? Thanks? Edited June 12, 2023 by aberforth Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulThePlug Posted June 11, 2023 Share Posted June 11, 2023 Hi... get some pics up... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aberforth Posted June 12, 2023 Author Share Posted June 12, 2023 Added some pics of the neck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
songofthewind Posted June 12, 2023 Share Posted June 12, 2023 That looks like a scarf joint, not a crack. Are the two halves separating? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aberforth Posted June 12, 2023 Author Share Posted June 12, 2023 1 hour ago, songofthewind said: That looks like a scarf joint, not a crack. Are the two halves separating? yes, If I start bending the neck. It caused the bass to go off key and it's unplayable currently. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
songofthewind Posted June 12, 2023 Share Posted June 12, 2023 Ah, yes, I can see from enlarging the pix that the joint is open. If it was mine, I would risk gently prying the joint further open with something thin and sharp, and squeezing in some Titebond or similar, and then clamp it up good and tight. It's not an expensive bass, so probably not worth spending too much money on fixing it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aberforth Posted June 12, 2023 Author Share Posted June 12, 2023 It has sentimental value to me so I would love to get it running again. When it comes to neck buy I assume I need to buy Cort neck? Would any model fit? If I can't find it I would need to make it custom by luthier... Any idea on the cost? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulThePlug Posted June 13, 2023 Share Posted June 13, 2023 Sort the D n G stringing to the tuners out, there's a good chap... Maybe a Ibanez GSR neck? about the £50 mark on the bay. Scarf joint looks clean, I recon a good gluein' by someone who knows what they are doin'... good to rescue a meaningful bass. I'm sure @Andyjr1515 and the like can offer some sound advice on how to go about it... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassBunny Posted June 13, 2023 Share Posted June 13, 2023 8 hours ago, PaulThePlug said: Scarf joint looks clean, I recon a good gluein' by someone who knows what they are doin'... good to rescue a meaningful bass. I'm sure @Andyjr1515 and the like can offer some sound advice on how to go about it... My thoughts exactly. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted June 13, 2023 Share Posted June 13, 2023 Hi 9 hours ago, aberforth said: When it comes to neck buy I assume I need to buy Cort neck? Would any model fit? There are a number of variations of neck heel design across the Cort models. But what I don't know, is whether any of them are compatible with the 'standard' Fender heel shape and length. I would be less worried about the hole positioning, though - you would just drill new holes in the Cort positions. In terms of mending the present one, I think there are three options: 1. The 'proper' way. Big job and not risk free. Removal of the fretboard; splitting of the scarf joint; clean up; reglue; replacement of fretboard; levelling and re-crowning of the frets 2. The DIY 'might work' way. This is a variation of @songofthewind's suggestion. Standard wood glue, such as titebond, is no good for my variation. A proper low-viscosity CA glue is best for this (I can send a link to ones that will work). This glue is so thin that it 'wicks' into the crack by capillary action. - Mask round either side of the join line with decorators masking tape; bend the neck as you described to open the joint a touch more; apply the CA around the joint, which will suck the glue deep into the cracks, until it won't take any more; release the tension on the neck and wait the the CA to fully cure. On this kind of process, I would leave it at least an hour before restringing it. 3. A variation of method 2 and is a DIY method that 'probably will work'. Here, you drill a few very small holes directly into the crack and use a micro tube end for the CA glue. You then push the micro tube into the hole and squeeze the CA glue in until it starts appearing around the crack. You are, of course, left with a few small holes showing but this method ensures the maximum chance to get the CA glue deep inside the crack. I'm out in a few minutes but this evening, I'll send a few shots of this method to show what I'm talking about. and send some links to the glue and microtubes. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aberforth Posted June 13, 2023 Author Share Posted June 13, 2023 Thank you @Andyjr1515. I think I might try option number 2. I don't think I have enough tools and skill to attempt 1 or 3.. 5 minutes ago, Andyjr1515 said: you would just drill new holes in the Cort positions. How is that done? In my small head there is a question "What if neck spacing is slightly off so new hole would be too close to old one?" 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted June 13, 2023 Share Posted June 13, 2023 7 hours ago, aberforth said: 7 hours ago, Andyjr1515 said: you would just drill new holes in the Cort positions. How is that done? In my small head there is a question "What if neck spacing is slightly off so new hole would be too close to old one?" If the holes are 'just off' then yes, it's more difficult because you have to plug the old holes first. I was thinking of the Cort 3-screw arrangement used on some basses...I'm pretty sure that those are in different positions. Good point, though - do you have a photo of the neck fixing area from the top and from the back? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted June 13, 2023 Share Posted June 13, 2023 (edited) The CA glue I tend to use for this kind of job is this: Even if I wasn't drilling any holes, I would still tend to use a precision dispensing tip. They just push over the bottle spout - this size below has an outside diameter of less than 0.5mm and therefore allows you to control quite accurately the amount of glue coming out of the bottle and making sure it is running along the crack line and nowhere else: But, whether using a tip or not, do wear rubber gloves - it can flow very freely and you really, really don't want to get your bass neck stuck to your skin! Option 2 has a fair chance of working OK. However, if you did want to try Option 3 and you have a drill, the only other thing you need is a 1mm or 1.5mm twist drill. This below was a 70's custom that a well-known Notts player of the era hadn't played for decades because of cracks and movement in the set-neck jointing. Here's the drill I used and the CA glue tip I would be using to dispense the glue with: And some of the holes I drilled along the crack lines. Here I am checking that the dispenser tube would go into the hole deep enough: I drilled more holes for the cracks either side too, then - after masking it all up and putting my rubber gloves on - pushed the nozzle onto glue bottle and squeezed a liberal amount of CA deep into each crack, letting the capillary wicking process to suck all the glue into all of the hidden areas of the cracks. When he passed it across to me, you could move the neck in any direction with no effort at all. I passed it back to him after the above and he was gigging with it the following weekend for the first time in 30 years Edited June 13, 2023 by Andyjr1515 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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