Last night I made the truss rod access cavity. I used a round file of the same diameter as the truss rod adjustment nut and it came out nicely. Then, I glued on the headstock veneer and copied the access cavity onto the veneer. It’s not much, but it took me quite a while to get it right.

The next step will be cutting out the headstock shape.

By the way: I ordered the pickups! A DiMarzio Ultra Jazz Set (DP149). According to bestbassgear.com and some other sites, this is exactly what I’m looking for. A traditional Jazz Bass® sound, but more: fat, funky and hum-cancelling!