I have a feeling lots of people are hesitant to build necks because of the "freehand" aspect of the neck profile, so I thought I'd do a bit of a build thread for the method I use.
There are plenty of ways to shape the neck - even computers can do it for you (Mr. Hawley!) but this is my way ... and it works for me. If you are wondering whether you can do it, then hopefully this thread shows that it's easier than you might think.
I'm using the thru-neck in a
bass build over at the BASS Place for this example.
The neck is clamped to something solid. I do this in the space under my house because it gets very dusty and I don't like cleaning.
Using a ruler, the center of the back of the neck is marked and then an area about 1/4" wide is marked. This is a
no touchy! area.
We also need to mark the back of the headstock with another
no touchy! area (we can get all, Tadeo G on it later).
Another no-go area is marked (1/4") down the side of the fretboard.
A while ago I made some "worms" from epoxy clay and laid them over the back of my favorite neck.
