Guitars in Progress, Film at 11
I’ve been building four, five, and six-string taper core necks for the last seven or eight weeks and thought it was time to share some of the steps I’ve been going through. By the end of this entry, you’ll hopefully know what in the heck a taper core neck is and why I think it’s one of the truest and best ways to build a bass guitar neck.
The first photo shows some Wenge lumber in the rough. These boards are 1 1/2″ thick and 48″ long. Wenge to me is a magic wood that produces a throaty and yet focused lower mid and a really dynamic low while still maintaining a clear defined upper range. All I know is that I’m never sorry when I’ve used Wenge on any part of a guitar I’ve built! As you can see, it doesn’t look too promising in the rough. When the driver delivered the boards, he asked me if i was building a fence. Yikes, I’m afraid the fence would be worth more than my house!!
Building a neck with tapered boards is a good deal harder than working with parallel boards. Any time you throw your boards out of square, you’re in for some fun! So why am I bothering to do this? Well actually that’s a pretty good question. (I knew you’d be asking, so to avoid embarrassment, I have come up with some answers.)