Please take a moment to educate me on back and rib wood

[Basschair]

Hello again,

I've got a decent list of wood suppliers going and they are very helpful, good people. Still, I feel I'd be more effective in my hunt for appropriate wood if I was more knowledgeable about it.

I'd like to use maple for the back and sides, and from my reading here I believe I remember that quarter sawn for the back is ideal, flat for the rib material, and any/all wood should be 7 to 9% for moisture content. What about sizes? How much extra would be ideal beyond the dimensions of the design? The planned bass has a rounded back, so how much depth should I be shooting for beyond the final dimension? The plans are on order, but even if I had them here I don't know if they'd have an answer for me.

I'd like to be able to call, say, Gilmer and tell them "Hey, I'm looking for big leaf maple in AxBxC dimensions, quarter sawn, below 9%, etc., and not sound like too much of a dummy .

Another thing: what should I be on the lookout for as far as defects in wood to avoid? I would think cracks, checks, knots would all be no-nos. What else?

I'm not looking for the perfect pieces of wood for this first project, but would like to avoid pitfalls. Any help/advice you could give is greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Paul

[1st Bass]

The bass sets I have bought (only 3 so far) had ALL the maple quartersawn, but I don't know if that is best. The violins and violas I have built also had all quarter-sawn wood, except the one-piece backs.

The bass sets I just bought are 51" long, 3" thick on the side that will be the centerline, and 3/8"-1/2" thick on the thin edge. That is for both the maple and the spruce, two pieces each, to be bookmatched. The ribs are a little longer, and about 3mm, or more, up to 5mm, maybe, thick, maybe 9" wide. (I am not where I can go measure them). The neck block is a huge chunk, big enough for any style bass. He did not include bassbar material, which is a bother, but I can come up with that elsewhere.

These were all from John Tepper, of Tepper Tonewoods. If you can get hold of him by phone (difficult), he would be able to tell you exactly the specifications he uses...I am told he is out of bass sets, though.

[ctregan]

Quarter sawn, or straight grain is better for the ribs, its stronger and less likely to distort or crack.
Quarter sawn lumber is difficult to find in 9" widths.