First build: JBA-4M bass

[dozymuppet]

Received my first kit today. So excited. Keen to get stuck in, but of course will do a mock build first, and then I guess shape the headstock and buy some grain filler (still got some reading to do).

One thing I did take the liberty of doing is to print out a J-style headstock template, and try to line it up. It doesn't seem to quite fit within the bounds of the headstock. Is this expected? Is there another template anyone can point to? (I'm not completely opposed to making a custom solution, but though there may be some intel.)

[Simon Barden]

You'll never get it perfect, but most of the early headstocks were done by hand and had considerable variations in the dimensions. Nobody else is going to know. Just get it as close as you can and don't worry about it.

[jugglindan]

For my headstock, I left the top edge closest to the tuners alone, so I only had to worry about lining up my template to get the other curves in the right position. I would rotate your template so that the circular curve lines up smoothly with the top-edge and then see how the areas to cut look. That's pretty much what I did for mine:

[dozymuppet]

Thanks guys, I'll sort something out.

First weekend with my new hobby, and most of the morning was spent tidying and re-arranging my storage shed so I have somewhere for drying.

Did a mock build, and it's all mostly fine. The neck is really snug, which is nice (I may make a tiny sandpaper adjustment though). The pickguard will need a little bit of work as well. I can't get it around the neck at the moment. I'm assuming a little shave with a stanley blade should do the trick (though I'd welcome any tips if there are any).




So my next steps plan is:
- Fix pickguard
- Quick 180 grit sand and tidy up of earthing wire hole
- Sort out bridge placement
- Sanding
- Grain filler
- Etc.

[dozymuppet]

Yesterday I trimmed the pickguard, and did an initial sand. This morning I sorted out bridge placement using Brendan's guide, and now have the bridge, pickguard and neck holes drilled. It's obviously a bit fiddly, and I think I've managed a decent job, but the proof is a long way off...



Hoping for the weather to dry up a bit before I start some more sanding.

[dozymuppet]

Happy with that.

[JoelDee]

Happy with that.

Looks great, well done - it's a little late to help but I just finished a bass and found the same thing, there are lots of headstock templates that never quite fit to the kit (particularly the tuner holes) but you can always just use them as a guide then freehand to get it as you like it

[jugglindan]

I would be happy too, that's a well proportioned headstock.

[dozymuppet]

Cheers, and thanks to you and Simon for your jedi mind tricks, making me feel like I didn't have any problems here. I ended up exaggerating the bottom curve a bit to double-down on the difference.

[dozymuppet]

Can anyone tell me what the fret radius of this would be? 12 is the standard for most PB electrics I believe, but not sure that applies to JBs. Reading the internet, I keep seeing mention of 7.5 ...