goat Posted January 30, 2007 Report Share Posted January 30, 2007 Alot of cool work in that scarf between the woods and the colors! Very Nice Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erikbojerik Posted January 30, 2007 Report Share Posted January 30, 2007 Spray after you fret, otherwise you'll fill up the fret slots with poly. If your board is already nice & levelled before you spray (which it should be), you don't have to do too much between the frets as long as you stay with a few coats. A tip....rub a little Turtle Wax on the frets (DON'T touch it to the board...) then when you score around the frets after the poly cures, it will flake right off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Posted January 31, 2007 Author Report Share Posted January 31, 2007 Alot of cool work in that scarf between the woods and the colors! Very Nice Wait till I get a detailed picture with some poly over that, there is definitely a lot there that you aren't seeing. Spray after you fret, otherwise you'll fill up the fret slots with poly. If your board is already nice & levelled before you spray (which it should be), you don't have to do too much between the frets as long as you stay with a few coats. A tip....rub a little Turtle Wax on the frets (DON'T touch it to the board...) then when you score around the frets after the poly cures, it will flake right off. Thanks! I'll tape off the board after fretting to get that wax on, then I'll remove it and spray poly. This will definitely be a lot of fun getting this done. I'll be doing clear poly on the fingerboard and headstock, then satin poly for the neck afterwards. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scottyd Posted January 31, 2007 Report Share Posted January 31, 2007 Hey Jon, the bass is looking great! I recently fretted my bubinga fivestring. When I built it as a lined fretless I coated the board with poly to avoid the bloodwood from browning much like you want to do with your paduak. I have to warn you it makes for a very bright sounding bass, which I like, others dont. Hell, I had to cut the slots while coated and it was still pretty straight foward and easy, so I dont think it would be to hard to clean the poly out of the slots if you spray it before fretting. You just have to be carefull. As a matter of fact thats the only way I would do it, because if you got a run or any orangepeel you'd have to sand it out and it'd be kinda hard with the frets in the way. You'll want to bevel the slots across the top to avoid chipping and tearout not only for installing but also for if you goof up and have to remove one. When dressing the frets I put multiple layers of masking tape between each one to cover the finish so I could work the frets with files and the crowning tool. Whenever I was ready to polish the frets I just buffed them and the board at once, it turned out very nice. Its a little more work but well worth the effort and I really think you'll like the results. Also I would suggest a hard 2part poly like what's used for automotive work, I used House of Kolor for mine and played it over a year fretless before I decided to fret it and It still looks as good as when I first did it. NEways heres a pic to show you what I did, of course this thing gets played like crazy so there are plenty of fingerprints all over it If you have any questions please feel free to ask. Before Fretted! http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v626/sco...bassbuffed2.jpg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Mailloux Posted January 31, 2007 Report Share Posted January 31, 2007 I suggest you do it the way Erik said. Fender have done it for 50 + years on maple boards. It works. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
verhoevenc Posted January 31, 2007 Report Share Posted January 31, 2007 Just out of curiosity, how thick was your scarf joint headstock piece originally when you glued it onto the neck blank, and how thick is it now (doing a little research for an idea). Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Campylobacter Posted January 31, 2007 Report Share Posted January 31, 2007 Very nice use of wood there, Jon! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Posted January 31, 2007 Author Report Share Posted January 31, 2007 Thanks for all the tips guys! The stiffening rods glued in great and now I'm epoxying the top to get a nice level surface again. It looks like this will take two tries, so the first attempt of epoxy is drying now. I'll definitely be trying to complete this bass asap. The entire process has been such a challenge, now it's turning out to be extremely rewarding! Just out of curiosity, how thick was your scarf joint headstock piece originally when you glued it onto the neck blank, and how thick is it now (doing a little research for an idea). Chris I honestly do not remember what I was doing at first - I believe I planed the center piece of the headstock (the Wenge) to 9/16" and glued the Cocobolo on. Either that or I went for a total thickness of 5/8" with the entire headstock. Sorry, but that was about 8+ months ago when I did this and had little wood working experience. The thickness now is no different from when I glued it on - no need to take off extra wood unless you're making a further back scarf joint. Which I do plan on trying in the future, but not on my current builds. I'll get you measurements later. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scottyd Posted February 1, 2007 Report Share Posted February 1, 2007 (edited) Something to keep in mind, which has not been mentioned, Turtle wax and poly, dont mix. Just the dust from it can cause fisheyes. If you go that route be extremly carefull. Edited February 1, 2007 by scottyd Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
verhoevenc Posted February 1, 2007 Report Share Posted February 1, 2007 Actually, that's a great answer, I was wondering what a scarfed headstock looked like carved when the wood was glued on at it's final headstock thickness in the setting of a lam. neck, with a solid, or different laminate pattern headstock. Thanks, Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Posted February 1, 2007 Author Report Share Posted February 1, 2007 It definitely looks great - if you can do it right. Lots of detail work with an Xacto blade is needed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Posted February 13, 2007 Author Report Share Posted February 13, 2007 So I got the fingerboard glued on. But it didn't glue on properly due to poor planning / lack of knowledge on my part. I basically gave up on it 45 minutes after attempting to glue it on. Since the neck was shaped, the clamps wouldn't hold down a flat surface. So the fingerboard would tighten down on one side or the other. I've decided that I will make something that the neck will fit into with a flat back surface to insure proper clamping next time around. But, as I stated before. You cannot repair a multi-lam fingerboard that is glued together with wood glue. So if you ever have to remove the fingerboard for any kind of repair that involves that, it's gone. The laminates seperated very easily. You could probably salvage a multi-lam fingerboard, but the glue joints would be incredibly weakened. I think if you use epoxy to hold the wood together for the fingerboard, it may last. And here is where it stands now. Thanks to Phil I wont be ditching this project. It will take a fair amount of level sanding to get it back in gluing condition, I guess I'll use the Padauk 35" scale fingerboard I cut a while back. I guess this is a lesson guys - Don't get ahead of yourself in a project, follow the steps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
travismoore Posted February 13, 2007 Report Share Posted February 13, 2007 ouch im really sorry to see that happend. I thought that fretboard was so awsome as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Campylobacter Posted February 13, 2007 Report Share Posted February 13, 2007 Sorry to see that, it was so nice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick500 Posted February 13, 2007 Report Share Posted February 13, 2007 Just kind of popped into my head: A thin layer of ebony or similar (or of one of the laminates in the fretboard) between the (slightly thinner) fretboard and the neck might be worth trying next time, as a decorative touch and to maybe save the fretboard if it has to come off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
low end fuzz Posted February 13, 2007 Report Share Posted February 13, 2007 i had he same thing happen; not with a multi lam fb, but one i tried to reglue on a shaped neck; shoot some thin super glue through the crack as far as you can, then epoxy (to kinda level it off and add wood dust to it(which prolly could of been skipped but its what i did)) then route just below the fb for binding; if you make it out of wood you could prolly go down pretty far and feather it into the radius o the back, and still look good! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Mailloux Posted February 13, 2007 Report Share Posted February 13, 2007 It's a shame about that fretboard. It's good you're going on with it though, it's teaching you a lot of "what I won't do next time" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Posted February 14, 2007 Author Report Share Posted February 14, 2007 Thanks for the comments! I'm certainly not pissed off about this as some would imagine - I was honestly thinking about ditching it and moving onto a new project. But that was a stupid idea. A lot of what I will learn in the current process I am in are very strong repair aspects to luthiery. Also - when removing the fingerboard the laminates started seperating. That's the only reason I became careless with it and wanted to get it off there. Why spend 2 hours removing a fingerboard that's going to be trash? Also, removing a fingerboard was one of the first things I ever did in luthiery. Definitely a job that requires finesse! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Posted February 14, 2007 Author Report Share Posted February 14, 2007 Just kind of popped into my head: A thin layer of ebony or similar (or of one of the laminates in the fretboard) between the (slightly thinner) fretboard and the neck might be worth trying next time, as a decorative touch and to maybe save the fretboard if it has to come off. This neck is accent line galore. A member mentioned doing this before, but I decided against it for the amount of work I was putting into it already. Definitely something that would look great on a future build. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Posted March 19, 2007 Author Report Share Posted March 19, 2007 Glued down extremely tight using this method. Only problem is that the fingerboard slipped 7-10mm forward. I don't know how I'm going to go about that, but I am never gluing a fingerboard on with a shaped neck again~ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
verhoevenc Posted March 19, 2007 Report Share Posted March 19, 2007 Easiest way to deal with that kinda stuff is to take two brad style nails, and hammer them into the fretslots and down into the neck at say, 2 in the 1st fret slot, and 2 in the 20th or something. that way the board can't move, and also, the nail holes are IN the slots and thus disappear once you put those frets in. Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Posted March 20, 2007 Author Report Share Posted March 20, 2007 Good info, I'll keep that in mind on my next neck. Regarding the neck - All I have to say is "wow". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Posted March 20, 2007 Author Report Share Posted March 20, 2007 Woo, beautiful. I was originally planning on sticking with a 16" radius, but the fingerboard feels great flat. It fits my hands perfectly! But the fret slots were slotted for a 16" radius and it would require a good long while of sading to get it right for a flat fingerboard. So.. I'll be radiusing it just so I don't run into a group of new problems. What do you guys think about this problem? It did slide forward a fair amount, not sure what to do about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Mailloux Posted March 20, 2007 Report Share Posted March 20, 2007 The nut should cover most of that. You can always make a truss rod cover for that area too. I don't understand what you mean about the slots for a 16" radius. Do you mean the slots are too deep? If thats what you mean and would rather keep the fb flat then just fill the side holes under the frets with wood dust + glue once you finished the fretwork. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Posted March 20, 2007 Author Report Share Posted March 20, 2007 I slotted them a little deeper for the 16" radius, so the fretwire will press in nicely after I get it radiused. If I were to leave it as a flat radius and press in the fretwire, I would have a pretty big gap and it just wouldn't look right. I'm attempting to radius it now. If things go really well today (got maybe 4-6 hours left for workshop time) I may be able to fret it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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