Oak or Ash

[gbarcus]

I've seen oak used on occasion, but I'm not seeing it really used by manufacturers. Does anyone know why? Is it a perception that it is cheep and/or common Home Depot wood?
Just wondering if it is a sacred cow thing.
I see ash used all the time, but oak and ash look and feel so similar.

Reason I'm asking is I've started on a couple of wings using oak and am wondering if there is a reason it is not widely used.

[vintager]

i have 50+ yrs old oak "bass neck blank" here and i'm really looking forward to use in the next build (shortscale e-a-d-g-c singlecut) sometimes i see beautiful oak (and beech) pieces, so straight grained, at least in neck laminations and (hollow-weight issue) bodies they just have to be fine in my opinion.

[T-Bird]

Hi.

One word, splinters.

Second word, porous.

Third word, grades.

If You don't find a decent grade oak, You can forget getting a stable neck for example.

That said, I have about m^2 of 30mm oak planks I'm going to use for future builds.

Regards
Sam

[mikeyswood]

Cost. Alder and Ash were "junk" woods in the 50's; the Oaks and Sugar Maples were expensive.

[Meatrus]

Oak is what they used to make instrument necks out of for years (pre electric basses). The acid in the wood can corrode certain types of metals I heard though, so you would need to do some research on either covering hardware, or finding a type of metal that it doesent happen to.

The fact it hasnt been done recently would make me want to do it all the more .

[vbasscustom]

well, prof oak is a great pokemon trainer... ash on the other hand is young and can do what older oak cant... ooh crap, you mean wood. whoops







(pokemon joke)

[LGT]

Originally Posted by vbasscustom

well, prof oak is a great pokemon trainer... ash on the other hand is young and can do what older oak cant... ooh crap, you mean wood. whoops







(pokemon joke)

ROFLMAO!
Sig'd
One reason I've heard about oak not being used is because of the weight.

[gbarcus]

I found a real nice piece of oak in a grab pile at Rockler for $1 bf and had to pick it up. I was just going to use it as a "cut and see if I like it", but liked it so much, I decided to keep it.

[Sardine]

I think Mikey is right. Funny how that seems to happen...

I like oak, especially light colored oak with a natural finish. Is is pretty heavy, and not the most pleasant wood to work with, but it's not as bad as some others. A builder here (can't remember who) fairly recently made a bass with a fantastic flamed oak top. One of my current builds (guitar , it has no place here) has an oak neck. Be careful when you rout it, as it can be prone to chipping. Also, you may want to consider doing a hollowbody to cut down the weight.

[vbasscustom]

lol, my first sig'd reply! YESSSSS

[LGT]

Originally Posted by vbasscustom

lol, my first sig'd reply! YESSSSS

Nice, LOL!

[Woodpecker]

I used oak on one of my builds, it worked out just fine... (so far so good)

http://koti.mbnet.fi/bassment/The%20...%20willow.html

[Alduroth]

Hey Woodpecker, what's that glowy white button on yer Black Pearl bass?

[Diogenes]

I love the strength of the red oak I use however it isn't the easiest wood to work with... it's pretty rough on router bits and it can splinter fairly easily. Also, holes need to be drilled to the right size... just slightly too small and a screw can bind and snap.

[Woodpecker]

Originally Posted by Alduroth

Hey Woodpecker, what's that glowy white button on yer Black Pearl bass?

It's an push-push DPDT switch, wired to function as a active / passive switch.