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How to build a bass guitar – Gluing a fretboard

Note that this is not the absolute way you must do this. There are several different methods, and this is our way of explaining it, which some of you may find surprising.

A standard practice is to have a slotted, radiused and tapered fretboard before gluing. That’s not what we’re doing here. Instead, the slotting, radiusing and tapering will be performed afterward. Why? Because the glue causes a hydraulic action from the liquid layer now preset between the board and the neck, possibly preventing precise placement.

What about using registration pins that hold the fingerboard in place before gluing?

Yes, you could use these an an option, but we will not be using them in our example.

Was anything done to our fingerboard before gluing?

Nothing was done to our fingerboard aside from that it was smoothed on the front and back.

While it is true we still have to properly set the fingerboard, it does not have to be absolutely accurate since the board is still much larger than what the finished neck will be.

Setting the truss rod using three measures of silicon glue

We do this to prevent potential truss rod rattle. The silicon glue used is transparent. Dime-sized dots are used at each end of the neck and once in the middle. Care is taken not to get any on the threads of the truss rod, particularly at the ends of the neck.

This is the silicon glue we used:

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This is nothing but plain, ordinary household silicon glue. It’s used because when cured it is not solid but rather semi-solid, and because it’s widely available. A silicon glue that cures to a semi-solid state is preferable here to allow for expansion and contraction of the truss rod during adjustments.

Warning: Silicon can prevent the adhesion of other glues. The entire neck is masked off before it was applied, for the reason that any excess will go on the masking area and not the neck itself for easy clean-up.

After truss rod is glued into the slot, the underside of the fingerboard is painted with epoxy, the board is attached to the neck and clamps are attached.

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We used marine epoxy mainly because it is the most affordable (when bought in bulk) and it does the job well. Other epoxy types can be very cost prohibitive.

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We used West System epoxy, and there are two hardeners available, the 205 and the 207. The difference is that one works faster and the other slower. The 205 is the faster of the two, and 207 the slower hardener. It is recommended to use the slower hardener. In our experience, the slower hardener does make for a better overall bond. In addition, for first-time builders out there, going slow is the better way to do things.

Where are the rest of the build steps?
You can view them all here.

5 thoughts on “How to build a bass guitar – Gluing a fretboard”

  1. This is similar to what I was doing. I bought slotted fretboards (my next ones I will slot myself so will be doing it more this way). I used Titebond wood glue and not epoxy on recommendation from others with more experience. Much easier to cut and shape the neck and radius etc the fretboard when it is all together. I also cut down the neck so it has the proper shape when looking at it from above, but don’t shape the back until after radiusing and fretting so that I have a solid, flat neck body to push down on when fretting. I am a novice/beginner but have done a couple and it worked out.

    Reply
    • Right on! I like this order of operations the best. If you look at a lot of Fenders you can see the fingerboard flares out a bit at the headstock. It’s impossible to get that detail right if you taper the board first.

      Reply
    • Thanks for reading this! We plan to do just that. This series of articles will cover every step of our process until we have a finished and playable instrument.

      Reply

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