Body woodworking question

[Sandu]

Hi there. I've got my hands on a very good sounding bass, considering the electronics and wiring, which is also extremely confortable. BUT there's one problem : the body shape doesn't do it for me, it's like a cross between a Fender J and a Gibson SG/ESP Viper, so I was planning on rounding the horns, smoothening the contours to give it a more conventional shape (somenthing like Fender J, Schecter Damien/Omen/C or Esp B series) and beveling the edges to make it a carved top of sorts (similar to the abovementioned).
Here's the question: is there any way I can damage the body or compromise the sound by poor technique? I don't have the exact tools for the job, but I do have some woodworking tools and a lot of patience, having worked with wood before. I was planning on using a couple of files, some sandpaper, and if it's too tough, I'll use some chisels and a belt sander (I'm more likely to favor the files/sandpaper, since it's more hands on, gives you a better feeling IMHO, even if it's difficult) but I don't want to ruin the thing as an instrument.
Here are the specs: 6-string, 35" scale, Solid mahogany body (oil finished), bolt-on wenge neck (one piece, but nice, big and stable, just the way I like it, no deadspots either), wenge fingerboard, gotoh tuners, wilkinson bridge, 2 emg-hz pickups. The thing is huge (again, to my liking), think of a Fender J made 6-string, like 50-52 inches long, needless to mention the weight.
NOTE: the pic is about a year older, this was the previous config, it currently has another pickup installed at the bridge, after i'll get the money I'll drop in 2 EMG DC's, a pickup pan (yeah, it lacks that and it still sounds very good) and maybe a 2-band preamp.

[Musiclogic]

if you take your time, it should be fine, but YES you can damage it if you don't know what you are doing. You can take something you dont like, and make it even less desireable to you, so you need to make out a plan on paper first, before attacking the wood.

[Sandu]

I'm not touching the wood until i've got a handful of sketches and full-size drawings. I'm studying architecture, so it's kind of my second nature. Thanks for the advice

[SDB Guitars]

Also, I would recommend contouring with something like just a sanding block, or maybe a random orbit sander. These methods will take a bit longer (depending on the grit of sandpaper you use) but will give you a reasonable amount of control, and will give you a smoother transition than you will get with a chisel, unless you have *really* sharp chisels, and are very proficient with them. One false slip, and you have a gouge that will require the removal of a LOT of wood to mask...

Just my $0.05 (two cents adjusted for inflation)

[bassksun]

Geez-
I like that shape.

[Jazzdogg]

The last bass body I re-shaped was also a mahogany 5-string with an oil finish. The first thing I did was remove the strings and remove the neck from the body. Next, I labeled, photographed, and removed the electronics.

My next step was to make full-scale "rubbings" of the body, that I photocopied and used to create several full-size working sketches; I marked the location of the bridge and other critical areas (e.g., caliper take-offs and locations of all cavities) on the original drawing so they would appear on all of the copies.

Once I had sketches of both the front and back that I was happy with, I made clean copies that I transferred to the body with carbon paper, taking care to make sure I could easily decipher the "topographic" markings as I was shaping; then I hung the unsullied copies on the wall in front of my workbench to look at while I was contouring.

I removed bulk material at the bandsaw and refined the shapes with #49 and #50 Nicholson patternmakers' rasps, spokeshaves, scrapers, and carving tools; cutting tools work quickly and can significantly reduce the amount of sanding required.

Disassembly and drawings took about half a day, shaping took most of a day, and refinishing took about three days (including drying time).

Good luck!

[Sandu]

Here's what I came up with so far. The knob configuration is about the only thing I'm not sure about yet, don't know if I should get an onboard preamp.
Anyway, I'll worry about that later. After I'm done shaping, I'll have it refinished. I think it's rather bland at the moment, so this is what I'm planning for it:



Can't think of a nicer finish for it, it's gonna have a smooth, jazzy look, along with the clean fretboard. BUT I'm open and always looking for something different, so if you guys have other suggestions, please share.

[Bryan316]

I like it. A lot. Howzabout getting really obscene.... I assume that the interior contour line is gonna be the high point, and then you'll carve from that down to the body's edge, kinda like a PRS, right? After you're done there... archtop the inside of that contour line! This is something you'll have to think through or maybe attempt on some 2x4's glued together first, but leave the centerline of the body high, leave the inside contour line high, and archtop the inside and cut back the outside. It'll possibly recess your bridge plate a bit, but you could do all the sculpting around the bridge. Or, like others here have done, do the carving, then use a router to create a flattened recess that the bridge can then rest on.

Most difficult part of this redesign, is the single pickup. Dunno how you can get around it if you plan on adding pickups, but that's the fun of it all!