Neck Radius (4 Vs 5 Vs 6 String)

[dingfelder]

I'm looking at making my first bass neck, using some new zealand native timber (rimu) and am undecided on how many strings to have...

I'm thinking at the moment that a 5-String would be best, but I could change my mind to a 6 String.

I have a couple of basic questions:

1. how do I set up the radius?
   
2. does the radius change for a 4 string vs a 5 string vs a 6 string?
   
3. is the radius different for a frettless vs a fretted?
   
4. does anyone have a good "walkthrough" for creating a neck?
   
5. I assume a curved neck (i.e has a radius) is a better plan than a flat fretboard. Anyone feel otherwise?
   

I have a table saw, a router, a jigsaw and various sanders etc, are there other important tools that I can not do without?

Cheers,

Ding

Edited December 4, 2006 by dingfelder

[JohnRossitter]

1 You can make a radius routing jig or get radius sanding blocks (Or if you have a long enough belt sander can use that)

2 Depends on your tastes

3 Not really...there is no set in stone rule

4 Im sure there is one

5 Depends on your tastes. Warwicks are flat, and play great.

Fingerboard radiusing can be as dificult as you make it.

My advice is practice practice practice on scraps until you know how to do what you need. Otherwise you will end up with a fingerboard you dont like.

I will say that radiudes fingerboards require more steps and more attention to detail.

Good luck

Edited December 4, 2006 by JohnRossitter

[verhoevenc]

Hate to break it to you, Warwicks are NOT flat. They are CLOSE to flat, but do in fact have a radius.

Chris

[Mr Alex]

Rimu does make a very nice neck, but you may want to look into carbon fibre rods if using on a bass. Only have one guitar at the moment with a rimu neck, and its dead flat with no tension on the truss rod, but it is a u-channel rod, so probably gets a good deal of stiffness from that.

You will also want a spokeshave with rimu, I found it to be the fastest and easiest to use tool for those softer new zealand timbers. Get an old stanley off trademe for about 10 bucks(I assume you are in NZ if you have NZ rimu).

Edit : That's rimu for anyone interested.

Headstock is some relatively plain heartwood, The neck is sapwood.

Edited December 5, 2006 by Mr Alex

[dingfelder]

1 You can make a radius routing jig

Does anyone have any particularly good plans for a router jig ?

[biliousfrog]

look on the main site under the tutorial section...there's one on making a radius block as well as general neck building tut's

[Supernova9]

You can also get plans for a proper router radiusing set-up from http://www.cthluthiery.com/

I got them myself a little while back, and they seem great, I'm in the process of building one.

[JohnRossitter]

Hate to break it to you, Warwicks are NOT flat. They are CLOSE to flat, but do in fact have a radius.

Chris

Ahh..well there you have it.

From www.Warwick.de FAQ

# 019

Q: What is the fingerboard radius of my Warwick bass?

A: The fingerboard radius is as follows:

4 string 500 mm (20")

5 string standard 640 mm (25.5")

5 string broad neck / 6 string standard 1200 mm (48")

Yeah anything over 20" seems flat to me