first DIY bass project?

[Tomass]

Im still throwing the idea out there of making my own bass, I have tried researching different woods and gone through the threads here. I want to build a bass with low end growl, i manly play heavy metal but it doesnt matter to much. I was thinking either Wenge or Ebony for the neck, but not to sure about the body yet. want it to be a 6 stringer, no funky shapes or ridicolous amount trim pots or switchs. Just a Humbucker near the bridge. What sort of equipment would i need to build such a project and where can i get exotic woods in Victoria, Australia. The tools i got at home are a lathe, drill press, jigsaw, bench saw, is that enough to do such a project. Also im not sure about buying wood, do they have wood thats basically ready to be worked with or would i have to kiln it my self.

P.S sorry if this sort of question has been asked, i tried to put as much detail into my question

[tjclem]

Make the first bass as simple as possible. I tried too many ideas on my first and made a bit of a mess. The easiest way to get wood you know you can trust and work with easy is to buy from Larry. Check this thread and scrool down to the bottom there are some nice pieces. http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=179512
Buy a body set from him and a top set glue it together and away you go......t

[bannedwit]

When making your first bass, you'll want to probably make the body from scratch... With that being said you would want to take a bunch of different woods, maybe 2 - 3 and glue them together.. You've probably seen pics of a body held togther with clamps or vices...

Try this, small thing but I have seen it done on Dingwal basses ($8000 basses)

When choosing the wood, choose a different wood for the top and a different wood for the bottom. For the top (low bass side) get a wood that possesses deep lows and growl, for the high end, get some wood that emphasises the mids and highs, Bass Player magazine did a review on a Dingwal, check out what wood they used as an example. I know they put a top layer of Birdseye maple or something like that so it looks "normal" from the front...

[klocwerk]

As far as tools go, you should be mostly ok but you'll definitely want a router. Unless you want to chisel out the pickup cavities and the neck pocket by hand... *shudder*

I finally just bit the bullet and bought myself a nice Bosch router, can't wait to use it.

[Cerb]

Definately get a router. I bought a nice Porter-Cable with a plunge base a while back and just started using it. It's a very easy tool to get used to, but you must have respect for it, and definately read up on it first. I absolutely love my router, and it has become my favorite tool.