Look for opinions and advice...

Comp0sMentis · #1 06-02-2006, 03:51 PM

I've decided that since I cannot afford to buy a decent bass and I've long outgrown my POS $200 bass I've played on for over 10 years, I'm going to build my own.
For the body, I've decided on walnut, as we have over a ton (literally) of it laying around from a tree that blew over a decade ago. For the neck, It's going to be a 5 piece laminate, one of these (from a dealer)-
1- Padauk/ Rock Maple/ Padauk / Rock Maple/ Padauk
2- Wenge/ Purpleheard/Wenge/Purpleheart/Wenge
3- Wenge/ Bloodwood/Wenge/Bloodwood/Wenge
4- Rock Maple/Purpleheart/Wenge/Purpleheart/ Maple
What would look/sound best with the Walnut body?
Hardware will be a hipshot A bridge, hipshot ultralite Y tuners, EMG PJ pups with BQS system, and elixer strings. 4 string, btw. I'll post the CADD pictures I drew up soonish. The one thing about the body that I'm not sure of is the top. I think I'm going to leave the neck blank wood exposed in the body, but I may cover the wings up with walnut burl (also just laying on my front porch... unsawed)
Opinions? Advice?

Geoff St. Germaine · #2 06-02-2006, 05:12 PM

Any of those necks should work fine. I find that purpleheart/wenge necks tend to be a little bit too stiff and as such the strings are not able to induce enough relief into the neck. I would personally go with the maple/purpleheart out of the choices you gave, but I'd also suggest considering maple/wenge.

Other than that it sounds good for a start. I look forward to seeing some pictures.

tjclem · #3 06-02-2006, 06:16 PM

Walnut and Wenge neck.

http://www.clementbass.com/bass%20pi...ull%20back.jpg

I am also building a 6 with the combo. Works well for me......t

Dirk Diggler · #4 06-02-2006, 07:48 PM

I vote #4, a great combo, my last bass was that combo. Solid as a rock but the maple if it's figured can be a little challenging to work on. Well one side was tougher than the other.

Oh yes 1/4 sawn is a good suggestion too.
I've never worked with Padauk or Bloodwood so no opinions on them.
Good luck,
Dirk

Phil Mastro · #5 06-02-2006, 09:45 PM

Just to be annoying and confuse you further, I'd add a walnut neck as a possibility, since you seem to have lots of it hanging around which would be cheaper. And it sounds great! This supposing you're making your neck from scratch. If not never mind.

The padauk/maple sounds like a nice combo good, but again if you're making the neck, the padauk might accidentally stain your maple red. I think the wenge/bloodwood neck would look sweet, but it's a pretty hardcore combo to make your first neck with. Also it'd be pretty heavy. If that's your pick, make sure your body style will help counteract the effects of neck dive.

By the way, I'm jealous of you having all that apparently free walnut.

klocwerk · #6 06-02-2006, 10:09 PM

I'd go 3- Wenge/ Bloodwood/Wenge/Bloodwood/Wenge
but yes, as Phil said it would probably be quite heavy. Make sure that the top horn in your design comes at least to the 12th fret, if not further up.

Definitely go quartersawn for the neck if you can.

Comp0sMentis · #7 06-02-2006, 11:27 PM

I was going to make it entirely walnut, but none of it was quartersawn and I doubt I could find a peice suitable for the neck. I just wanted to go with this vendor's neck blanks because they're already laminated and straight.

Comp0sMentis · #8 06-04-2006, 05:09 PM

I just planed the slab i'm using for the body wings... I'll post pics here as i go.

spudmaster34 · #9 06-04-2006, 06:08 PM

you might want to consider selling some of that wood http://cgi.ebay.com/6-Black-Walnut-B...QQcmdZViewItem you could cover all the cost of making that bass with money you get from part of that pile

Comp0sMentis · #10 06-04-2006, 06:28 PM

Actually, I think I'm going to hold on to it for future instruments... I don't believe there's anyone in this area making guitars or basses.

erikbojerik · #11 06-04-2006, 09:15 PM

All of your choices are nice. Purpleheart, bloodwood and especially wenge will challenge the sharpness of your tools. Padauk will generate dust that will get into every pore of ligher-colored wood that you use, unless you seal it (the light wood that is) with a wash coat of shellac (or similar). Of all your choices, only dust from the maple or walnut won't be toxic to your lungs.

BTW, have you priced out all the hardware and tools you'll need? And compared with the kind of bass you can purchase with that kind of coin? Not to discourage you, but I've never found building to be a terribly cheap enterprise.

Someone once said, the best way to make a small fortune in luthiery is to start with a large one.

Comp0sMentis · #12 06-04-2006, 10:05 PM

I've roughly priced up all the parts at $200 for bridge, truss rod, and tuners, $100 for the neck blank, body wood is free, pickups are being removed from my current bass (personal upgrade), fingerboard and other fret materials/tools at $150... $450 isn't that much for what could be the only bass I'll ever need for the rest of my life.

erikbojerik · #13 06-05-2006, 06:21 AM

Indeed, well thought out (and that is a really nice bit of walnut by the way). If you go with Tru Oil for the finish (assuming you don't want that mirror-glass look), $10 will get you there.

Comp0sMentis · #14 06-05-2006, 09:31 AM

For the finish, I've decided on a mixture of Tung oil, Linseed oil, Turpentine, and Bees Wax. I did several samples of the wood, sanding and finishing each one differently and I really liked how that one looked and felt. It's like buttah'.

Comp0sMentis · #15 06-05-2006, 09:39 AM

Derr... I'm a little slow this morning.
I'm finishing the body with that mix, but i'm going for gunstock oil/ wax for the neck.