I cut these five blanks on my fretboard jig a long time ago. Now I finally want one, so I pulled one out at random, and it turned out to be the worst of the batch. By worst, I mean it was thin in the middle and thick at the ends, probably because it is not perfectly flat and and sat on the jig with a slight bow that I didn't notice.
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I've cut out the slot for the truss rod. This is a standard 540mm truss rod for a 34" scale bass. To make it fit in a 32" neck, I need to add one more fret. So my project will have one more fret than an actual Ric, just another way it will be better than the real thing. The jig and tools and method are all described in the Laboratory. Most of the work was done in the jig, with a little free-hand nipping for the adjuster end. I haven't carved out the access for the adjuster yet.
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