My Home Deepo bass

[Greenman]

Lots of threads on wood - How about this.
I thought I would see how my luthier skills are before I cut in to a nice piece of figured maple or any other expensive wood.I went to the local lumber yard and purchased dressed 4 sides poplar lumber and laminated it together. I was originally going to try a gloss black finish but after moving the grain of the wood around I thought I'd go with clear nitro lacquer. I'm just transfering parts over from my existing Schecter so the build was pretty cheap ; except for the router, occilating spindle sander, table saw, drill press and scroll saw but I'll have these tools for a while.
So what do you think of my first attempt?

[T-34]

Nice grain!

[superbassman2000]

i like it!

[Greenman]

Not together yet. I stuck the pups in the hole for the pic. I'll let it dry for two weeks and then rub the orange peel out of the lacquer. When I get it together I'll post final pics.

[rdhbass]

what is your body thickness on that bass, looks good, im just starting to build my own and mine may end up being 1 1/2 instead of 1 3/4 due to the boards that my dad gave me.

[Greenman]

Home Depot had some 1/4" poplar lumber also. 3/4"+1/4"+3/4"=1 3/4"

[rdhbass]

Originally Posted by Greenman

Home Depot had some 1/4" poplar lumber also. 3/4"+1/4"+3/4"=1 3/4"

thats where i'm going tomorrow then...the one im building will have 3/4 red elm back, 3/4 "walnut wings with blacklocust center stripe, and now poplar 1/4" core

[Greenman]

That will contrast

[rdhbass]

maybe i should just put walnut on bottom, who knows.. black locust has a maple color with zebra stripes in it..

[Hookus]

That looks incredible, very cool grain accent on the poplar with the nitro. Since I actually work for Home Depot, I will ba taking a picture of this bass to work tomorrow, if you don't mind.

Poplar is one of the five types of wood we sell, and I never ever would have thought to use it for a bass until now. I may be looking to make one meself. You could almost go with a couple layers of veneer in the center to make up the 1/4" for a "racing stripe" look.

[Greenman]

Maybe you can get me on one of those cardbosrd cut-outs like Mike Holmes

[tjclem]

Nice poplar. Like 'bone I have used it before but I haven't seen grain like that....t

[Hookus]

Yeah, pretty unusual looking poplar. In a good way, looks like it would be a graphic or something.

[tjclem]

grain looks a bit like Ash.t

[fhodshon]

excellent job!

poplar is a popular wood for basses.

zon uses poplar for some legacies.

MTD korean are sometimes poplar.

f

[iamlowsound]

wow thats your first attempt??? congrats, it looks very good

lowsound

[Kelly Lee]

That is a sweet looking grain there. Looks beautiful.

I eagerly await your follow ups!

[teej]

the wood seems too good to be true sometimes -- it's cheap, lightweight, and sounds good! if only it weren't for the occasional unattractiveness.

[Greenman]

Thanks for all the good posts. When I bought the Poplar I wasn't concerned about the grain because I was going to see how good of a job I good do with black pollyurathane. I've been back to the lumber rack several times and havn't found any thing to buy.
You have a better chance of finding clear(er) poplar than figured.
I have a hunting and fishing camp in northern Ontario Canada and there is poplar I can hardly put my arms around. We use it for heat and during the process of cutting fire wood I've noticed "spalted polar". The wheels are spinning.

[DougP]

i'd suggest getting the nut looked at. them strings are whacky! just kidding!

that looks great. i love the lacquer on it, it looks like it just glows. great job.