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But on a normal J bass, the cutout would come up to the 15th or 16th fret, so the challenging bit was going to be what to do to the neck pocket between the 16th and 12th fret, where the single cut would end up.
Here's a typical Fender-type neck:
I had a bit of a think and made a few rough sketches:
I would basically have to carve the reverse of the neck shape into the pocket.
Time for a few trials:
OK - wasn't sure HOW to get all of it accurate enough, but it MIGHT work?
I worked out the top thickness I would need to be able to place the neck heel flat on the Sapele. This would make at least some of it a bit more predictable.
I could also start the carve of the neck shape in the purpleheart before gluing it to the Sapele - at least I could still see what I was doing this way!
This is after the initial carve looking from the back:
Then, with the purpleheart glued to the back, I used the engineer's blue trick (but using school chalk) to test fit the neck and scrape away any chalky high spots until - after a lot of repeats - the heel finally made full contact with its seating:
And a quick check to make sure it was in angular position too - with this kind of carve, there were going to be no second chances!
And again - I took my time and used the school chalk trick again. Eventually, it was pretty much there:
There was half a chance this was going to work!
Pete, the guy who had asked me to do the build, wanted a custom Armstrong pickup - but he wanted it in a purpleheart cover.
I've never tried this before but basically, I made a 1mm thick open-ended box out of purpleheart and sent it to Armstrongs:
Who filled it full of pickup and sent it back to me!
Pete also wanted a top loaded control plate also in purpleheart, to which I added a chamfer round the body sides:
Oh - and decals.
The dying of the neck was straightforward. I sanded it down and then used a combination of Chestnut spirit stains and red ink, sealed in with a tru-oil slurry and buff approach:
For the decals, Pete did the design and then Rob at www.guitardecals.co.uk did a great job in producing them, including proper white! These decals are gossamer thin...more a film than a decal.
For the knobs, I used the walnut and purpleheart, using concentric drilling and plug cutting to form the back and top and then added shaft inserts from a company called Thon:
It was getting close!
So Pete was pleased with it - and I was pleased with it and it answered the question, "Can you build a single cut body for a Fender-type neck?".
But in all the excitement, I clean forgot to ask, "WHY???"
Nil Satis Nisi Optimum
I still struggle a bit with the aesthetics of many / most single cut basses but this was a very satisfying project nonetheless.
Top luthier trick tip ....
.... expanding foam is your friend there - hides all sorts. Just remember to slice off the excess before it fully hardens.
Your builds never cease to amaze me. Beautiful work once again Andy.
It does remind me very faintly of the original Fender Bass V though, which is always a good thing .
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
But, having said that, do you find also that bass players in particular can often be quite...er... adventurous?
While there is a decent % for whom 'if it's not a Fender Precision, it's not a real bass...' nevertheless, some of the most challenging and innovative builds I've been asked to do so far have been from bass players.
(sits back and waits for the torrent)