That's a smokin' hunk a lumber on that neck graft.

so it was..
 

But it finished up quite nicely as you can see here. Most Graft blocks start out like that, big and chunky. Many times like with my Bass in restoration a Cello Top is used but usually one with a cosmetic defect that down grades it to a Graft Block. For a neck, you can cut around it but not on a Cello Top smack dab in the middle.

Phil, this Bass was sold to a player in Columbus. You should have seen it by now.

Really? I've never even heard about it. Symphony? Maybe they are gone now. They've been dropping like flies around here since the Symphony stopped cutting paychecks.

Gone?
 

Well, maybe he's gone and maybe not.?

He did play in the Section and commented to me that now with this Bass, Morton's Gagliano 'wont' drown him out anymore.. lol

By the way, we were talking Neck Grafts?.. Lol

I'm sure the Gagliano won't be a problem anymore. Morton's now in Phoenix.

Speaking of Grafts, does the neck graft have to fit the scroll original dimension exactly or can the scroll where it enters be enlarged to fit a wider neck width?

I ask because if I ever get around to redoing the neck graft on the German/French I wouldn't mind it being a little wider. It's pegbox seems slightly narrower than many I've seen.

wider?
 

Humm.. well I think maybe the Neck and Fingerboard can be flared out a bit to go wider. That would be better asked of your Luthier Nick Lloyd than myself or maybe Arnold can chime in having done countless Grafts and that was just on my Basses..lol

Does this help answer your question?

http://www.kensmithbasses.com/double...ry2/full_F.jpghttp://www.kensmithbasses.com/double...imgs/m2_ff.JPG

And from the Back;

http://www.kensmithbasses.com/double...ry2/full_B.jpghttp://www.kensmithbasses.com/double...imgs/m2_fb.JPG

and...

http://www.kensmithbasses.com/double...2/scroll_F.jpghttp://www.kensmithbasses.com/double...imgs/m2_pf.JPG

Although that Pexbox was already quite wide, the Neck still needed Flaring for the 5-string conversion. Arnold did a great job on it, as usual.

On a neck graft, do you try to duplicate the original neck profile? or replace it with a different shape. It seems to me, the riskiest part of doing a neck graft is the final shaping of the profile.
You must have a lot of faith in your Luthiers.

By the way, I found this article on your friend who is working on the bass.

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpag...57C0A961958260

That carve is a negotiation between the luthier and the player save for structural concerns.

Well some Luthiers do what they want but the best of them pay attention to the person paying the bill.

Biase..
 

Yes, I have seen that article. Fantoni, his mentor was mine as well so in some small way, we were cut from a similar cloth. His piece was much bigger than mine.. I just got a small tear of it..:(

On the neck Graft, the old Neck is most often something other than what you like so the new one is an improvement all around. Also, on occasion the Bass might go back and get re-shaped on the Heel, profile, depth or any of all mentioned.

With this Bass we do not have much to go on as the old Neck was junk. I trust Paul will make something that I like. We have had some brief discussions of my set-up preference plus he is a professional player. Imagine going to try a Bass and getting a Spicatto lesson or excerpt lesson just about every time you go there. He takes whatever Bass I am trying or grabs another and demonstrates for me the way to play it properly. He has a degree in Bass playing from Manhattan School of Music, studied with Homer Mensch and also played 14 years with the New Jersey Symphony as well as other Orchestra jobs. I always enjoy my time with Paul as I did with Fantoni as well. Different between the two of them but always educational to say the least.