Quote Originally Posted by filthyPierre View Post
Hey fellas, thanks for all the tips and comments, much appreciated. Apologies for not acknowledging them or replying sooner, been a busy few weeks with work and only today got some spare time to work on my guitars.

So, referring to the photos below, today I pulled the neck off. Surprise surprise, someone had a similar idea, as the two paddlepop sticks will attest. Even though it's been 25 years, pretty sure I've never had the neck off. So someone was not happy with the action at some point in time.

Also, that big hole in the middle of the neck mount screws, dunno WTF that is for. Can't even think why it would be there, obviously not original with the way the paint is chipped around it, and not centred.

As for the neck itself, I think it's definitely original, as the "mother of toilet seat" (onya DB!) veneer on the headstock is identical to the pickguard material, so would have to think it's the original neck.

Waz, it's definitely flat - after taking it off the body I put a steel rule along the frets, all touch at the same point, no gaps.

BUT, and a big but, as you can see from the third photo, the frets are horribly finished - running your hand up and down the neck is not a very nice experience. They have jagged edges and varying lengths. All in all not a very nice neck.

fender3x, tried searching for Coronado bass necks, found one that would cost in excess of $300 AUD to get here, so probably too much, although it would be nice. I did find one from a site called Rondo Music that is 30 inch scale and 2 and 1/4 inches wide at the heel, which I can probably make fit with a bit of sanding. It is about $150 AUD to get it here. So a little cheaper.

As for the bridge, yes it would be better if it was lower. I pulled the two adjusters off and it sits about 1mm lower, so combined with a wedge in the heel socket the action might come down a bit. Will be a lot of frigging around I should think. I googled for floating bass bridges, the only one I could find was a Hohner style, which looks to be taller than the original piece, and the saddles aren't adjustable. No measurements on the string width either. The original part's centre-to-centre of each saddle is 17mm, give or take 0.1mm or so. I guess I can always sand a bit off the bottom too.

So, now need to make a decision as to whether it's worth spending the money on. I will try make a wedge for it and see if I can get the action down.... if I can get it to a reasonable height it might then be worth buying the neck.

Cheers,

Pete

P.S. Pablo - thanks for the photo, yes, very close to mine with some slight differences.

Attachment 14243
Attachment 14244
Attachment 14245

I'm thinking that the hole in the middle could very well have been there to accommodate an Allen-key screw that adjusts the tilt-back angle of the neck, like the one found on some CBS era Fender Stratocaster guitars, which may account for the action being very high, my theory anyway.