Owen has a problem with his neck

[Andyjr1515]

Lot of photos here.  But in terms of what I do and why (and always the disclaimer to not assume this is necessarily the best/only way):

 

- First, I have to get all traces off of the old glue.  I generally use a single edged razor blade used as a mini cabinet scraper:

 

- As part of the process, I give the fretboard a healthy water spray for two reasons.  Firstly, it reveals remaining glue.  Secondly, it's wood  - it moves by itself and in different conditions.  When the fretboard was first fitted it will have been damp from the water-based wood glue.  That moisture gradually reduces (it's one of the reasons that fret ends can feel sharp on a new bass after a year or so - the timber shrinks, exposing the sharp edges of the frets previously filed flush) and certainly does when a domestic iron has been used to remove it!  Water spraying it damp right through gives it at least half a chance of returning to the shape and length when first fitted.  

 

- I then sand both surfaces.  This is a cheap sandpaper holder I found in, I think, Homebase.  It's great - and especially for my increasingly arthritic hands! :

 

- Next. I use two-sided sticky tape to stick a protective clamping cawl, using some old mahogany offcut, to protect the back of the neck when clamping:

 

- Positioning the forward/backward placing using the side-dot holes as the guide (see previous post), I use a bobbin clamp to position the fretboard side-to-side and then drill two positioning 1.5mm holes through the saddle base to the neck for a couple of panel pins to be used as locators:

 

- and yes - as I said above, wood moves.  And the whole fretboard has a bend in it.  With the above panel pins in place, and a second bobbin clamp holding the fretboard in position at the 5th fret, look how much the natural bend in the board is out of line with the heel end!    :

 

- To correct this bend (it pushes back straight and flush fairly easily) I could just use bobbin clamps at the heel end too, but, for the sake of a teeny hole in the fretboard, I think a better solution is another panel pin locator:

 

- I will be clamping using radius blocks so that I can clamp in the middle, using that protective strip of mahogany at the back, and still have the clamping forces being applied fully either side of the fretboard.  So ready for masking off the trussrod slot and the sides of the neck, Titebond is applied to both surfaces:

 

 

 

 

- and, finally, panel pins are pushed into place, the radius blocks positioned and the clamps fully tightened down.  Once it is fully clamped, and the squeeze-out has been cleaned up a best as can be done, the three positioning panel pins can now be removed so they don't get glued in!   :

 

Later this afternoon, I will be able to take the clamps off and see if we have a satisfactory re-fitting  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 28 by Andyjr1515

[Owen]

On 23/04/2024 at 12:08, Owen said:

I am still enjoying this thread.

Yep, still enjoying it

[Andyjr1515]

Looking OK

 

 

Decent join, lined up OK left/right & backwards/forwards... phew!

 

So tomorrow, when the glue is fully cured, I'll try the trussrod and, assuming all is good: add the side dots; lightly sand the edges; add a whisper of finish at the edges to blend in the present finish with the sanded edges 

 

[police squad]

looks fab

[Andyjr1515]

This makes it look like it's closer to finish than it is (I still have to level, recrown and polish the frets), but:

- the side dots are in

- the edges are feathered in

- the fretboard has had an initial dose of Tru-oil

- THE TRUSS ROD WORKS!! 

 

A couple of pics to be going on with:

 

 

 

[Owen]

This thread is bringing me permanent joy. 

[Owen]

The Tru-oil on the fret board is a MASSIVE improvement. Thank you.

[Andyjr1515]

Everything has had time to settle and so now is the time to level the frets, re-crown and polish.

 

With the trussrod adusted to give me a straight neck, out comes my sanding beam to take off the high spots and/or high frets:

 

 

The filings coming off the high frets are a guide - you know you are there when there are just the beginning of an even scrape across the tops of the lowest frets

 

For recrowning, I use a diamond crowning file, first by itself, and then using the file as the former for progressive grades of emery and micro-mesh, all the way from 500 to 12000 grit.

 

And, other than a few final bits of tidying up, it's pretty much there

 

Edited May 3 by Andyjr1515

[police squad]

amazing work

[Owen]

1 hour ago, police squad said:

amazing work

There is no denying it. 

[Owen]

Owen no longer has a problem with his neck. Owen's only problem is with what colour his P bass with an L1000 pickup is going to be. Owen quite fancies a plain oiled body like a stripped pre CBS but is worried about a tort guard just not getting that old tort guard look. He could also go for reliced Oly white with a white plate which would be much easier to make work aesthetically but also much more expensive. 

 

 

[tauzero]

Plain oiled body and veneered pickguard. Go with wood.