Tone Wood in Ottawa / Ontario / Quebec

[Bin Son of Bin]

I live in Gatineau, nestled near the water across from our lovely nations Capital of Ottawa.

I am looking for Tone Wood Suppliers as I embark on gathering the materials for my first Double Bass build.

Disclaimer - Before people start saying how crazy I am and that it's not worth my time, Leave it to the profesionals, it's cheaper to buy a bass, etc..etc..(and don't forget the old tried and true "get a teacher!" , this is a personal "fun" project and is not meant (at this point) to be the prime focus of my life. If I love my first build and I want to get doing this in a serious fashion I will. It's just a learning time for me now.

So, that being said, i'm looking for "entry level" tone wood for my first build, wood that I can make my mistakes on without losing my house if you know what I mean. Is there some place in Ottawa or the region (Ontario or Quebec) where I can find this kind of tone wood?

Perhaps someone has suggestions? I have considered even going to Home Despot or Rona to get some wood to practice the carving and glueing (not intended for a bass) so as to not waste even entry level tone wood.

Any suggestions?

Jason

[powerbass]

PM James Candino, what about A&M Wood, nice folks in your neck of the woods

[eerbrev]

You could Contact David Doyle at the Soundpost. He might be able to steer you in the direction of some tonewood. Also, he's just an all around nice guy.

[james condino]

'Lots of great tonewood supliers in Canada. Most of the nice bass sized spruce (domestic sitka) comes from Western Canada and BC. Alaska Specialty Tonewoods usually has nice tops in stock. Also try High Mountain Tonewoods. In the US, John over at Old World Tonewoods usually brings over a load of Boznian spruce tops every spring. Very nice quality, but you'll need to sit on them for a half dozen years to season. John is a great, laid back fellow to work with and very fair priced.

Toronto has a huge community of luthiers; there should be a good local supplier.

Bass sized tops are funny. Nobody will have anything for 18 months and then there will be a number of folks who are selling them, often from the same supplier, but at wildly varying prices. Also remebmer that almost any good shipyard lumber store will have plenty of sitka in stock at very reasonable prices.

If you track down anybody who has a nice supply of tops, PM me!!!!

j.
www.condino.com
www.kaybassrepair.com

[Bin Son of Bin]

Originally Posted by eerbrev

You could Contact David Doyle at the Soundpost. He might be able to steer you in the direction of some tonewood. Also, he's just an all around nice guy.

I have spoken with David a number of times. He's great! He knows his stuff.

[Bin Son of Bin]

Originally Posted by james condino

'Lots of great tonewood supliers in Canada. Most of the nice bass sized spruce (domestic sitka) comes from Western Canada and BC. Alaska Specialty Tonewoods usually has nice tops in stock. Also try High Mountain Tonewoods. In the US, John over at Old World Tonewoods usually brings over a load of Boznian spruce tops every spring. Very nice quality, but you'll need to sit on them for a half dozen years to season. John is a great, laid back fellow to work with and very fair priced.

Toronto has a huge community of luthiers; there should be a good local supplier.

Bass sized tops are funny. Nobody will have anything for 18 months and then there will be a number of folks who are selling them, often from the same supplier, but at wildly varying prices. Also remebmer that almost any good shipyard lumber store will have plenty of sitka in stock at very reasonable prices.

If you track down anybody who has a nice supply of tops, PM me!!!!

j.
www.condino.com
www.kaybassrepair.com

Thanks very much for your great info. I appreciate your response.

What kind of pricing might I expect for the Back and Front pieces? And by that I mean entry level tone wood. I've seen prices range from a few hundred up to $2500 and that's with only a few searches.

Jason

[Bin Son of Bin]

Wow!

I just checked out your site Mr. Condino. Absolutely stunning double basses in your gallery. I have to say I'm humbled that you'd reply to my post. Thank you very much indeed.

But I have to ask..I've never seen a "Sound Port" before...What is it's purpose? To help you, the player, hear the sound better?

Jason

[powerbass]

I am rebuilding a bass, converting a ply bass to solid wood front/back. I picked up some 2" thick x 16" wide clear pine locally (Western Mass). It was cheap and dry having been stored in a shed for 10 years. Pine is an option, was also used on historic basses. Spruce is probably better but you may find thick pine up your way

[james condino]

'Appreciate the kind words Jason; 1000 humble thanks.

You've just gotta' play a soundported bass and make up your own impression.....

Wood pricing is all over the place, with almost no method or reason to it. I regularly find nice quality medium grade tops for around $300 or so from domestic suppliers and then I see the same tops that have been bought by retail oriented places and repackaged seliing for $6-800 or more.

One thing I'd hghly suggest is to buy a double set, at least for the tops. That way you have a backup if something goes wrong or there is an unusable flaw and you also have the next one seasoning. Last month, I joined up four tops- two for me and two for a friend. Of the two for me, one was considered my backup mid grade, and the other was one I had been coveting and seasoning for about 12 years. After all the time and work, the #1 wound up having a HUGE knot- almost the size of a viola neck running laterally through the entire upper bout in a manner that made it completely useless for a bass. No options for recovery. Since it started out almost 3" thick, it was completely hidden with no way to tell. The backup saved me and now I've got the bass in progress rather than spending another six months frantically looking for another, that may not be ready to use. I'm already shopping for the next sets.

On a side note, wait until I show off my (soon to be) new 12 year air dired sunburst sitka spruce surfboard that is coming from the re-purposed reject top in time for the summer season!!!

j.
www.condino.com
www.kaybassrepair.com

[powerbass]

I've been looking at those wooden surfboards too-sharp hand tools, soft wood, sunshine, waves etc. I can dream, we're still digging out from a blizzard last week