This list is further proof that it’s the story of a bass—its origin, rarity, who owned it, or who signed it—that drives its value more than innovation. And, of course, it’s collectors and not players that spend that much cash. But what if all those efforts would have gone right into a musician’s practical or tonal needs?
I just installed a Bruce Johnson designed truss rod into this old Harmony neck for Randy. He’s had this restoration job on his bench for a few weeks. I basically had to re-rout the channel and cut a spot for the head assembly. Somebody went nuts with a Dremel tool on the truss rod access behind the cover. I filled it with black epoxy to make it a little more presentable. It will be interesting to see how this bass performs with this new truss rod.
I’ve always wanted one of those old Harmonys.
OK, so I ran into a little speed bump on my Pistolera roasted walnut neck experiment. Once I hit it with a couple of coats of clear, the glue seams that were once completely invisible suddenly stuck out like a sore thumb.
That brings me to my final verdict about using this material for necks: I don’t think torriefied walnut is bad, but I don’t think that I’ll use it again for a neck build. My whole reason for using it was that I was picturing just doing a clear or amber coat over this dark wood. But, due to this weird glue reaction, it kind of defeats the whole purpose for using roasted walnut as opposed to regular walnut. Additionally, the material is more brittle than walnut, and I’d go as far as saying that chunk-outs and the subsequent repairs involving glue are inevitable. As a result all of those repairs are also super-visible. In the end, I feel a little underwhelmed by the final result.
So, in an effort to beautify this neck, I sprayed the glue areas with dark brown dye. I mixed General Finishes Water-Based Dye Stain into Varathane. They mix together no prob.
Then I went over the whole neck with a few coats of amber.
I think it looks really good!
My torrefied walnut neck experiment took on a few other experiments along the way. So far, the wood itself seems to be holding up OK. I carved and fretted and carved the neck and it hasn’t moved significantly – as far as stability, everything seems to be A-OK. The glue seams are almost completely invisible. If I had any complaints, I’d say that the only one I can think of is that wood seems to be a little bit brittle. I think if it took a big hit, the neck might be more prone to chipping.
I added some oversized random fret markers to the fretboard. This neck also has a nice silkscreened mermaid logo on the headstock. I plan to incorporate more of these themes and processes in future bass builds.
Here’s a few other notes about this project:
The dark torrefied walnut makes a great light and dark contrast with the maple fretboard. I carved this prototype neck with to a really slim profile with very little taper. So far, the neck seems like its not moving at all.
I carved a palm relief in the back of the instrument. Each neck is individually carved to fit the bass. Note the matching torriefied walnut band around the perimeter of the body
I fretted the neck using my heavy-duty fret press. I prefer using Jescar Stainless Steel fret wire. The stainless steel makes for long-lasting fretwork.
I am always available for custom neck builds. Feel free to contact me if you are interested in a custom neck made to your specifications.
I just read this cool article about a self-taught luthier in Kinshasa, Congo who goes by Socklo. His guitars look really killer. It’s always really inspiring to me to see guys like this out there who put their stuff out there and just do it because there’s something inside them that makes them have to do it. My only complaint is that the article doesn’t show enough of his work!
I’ve been experimenting with this piece of torrefied walnut I bought at Woodworker’s source. So far so good. I think the color is great, the wood tools really nicely, and by the board foot, it wasn’t super expensive. I haven’t finished this neck, so I can’t give it my 100% endorsement yet. However, I don’t foresee there being any problems going forward. I think this is going to make a really handsome neck.
Judging from the one or two spots of epoxy I put in the neck, I’m anticipating the finished neck to be very dark brown into almost black in color. Torrefied walnut might even make a good fretboard, but I haven’t tried it yet myself. Maybe after I finish this neck.
This neck is going to go on my new Sirena Pistolera Bass.
