Oak bass neck.

[jordan_frerichs]

i think wood still affects the sound in a solid body to an extent. mahogony body vs maple body. different sound.

[BassicJohn]

The body and neck wood (as well as several other factors) affect how the bass resonates when the strings are plucked. This resonance bounces back to the strings and effects the tone of the bass. The effect is not nearly as great as with an accoustic instrument, but it plays a part in what makes one bass sound different from another.

[Ronbeast]

Haha,this is my first time back on this site in days,didn't realize this thread was still going.Anyways to shed some more light on my future build...I never got to check out the wood my uncle has stored,not even sure if theres enough oak to make the neck.
But as it stands I'm thinking about an Oak neck on a solid spruce body(I never hear much about spruce bodies but it is free!,one of my dads friends at work had some maple and spruce and said I could have it,he said that for the body style I was doing the maple body would weigh at least 11 pounds without the neck lol.So spruce is the alternative and I should have the body by monday.Hope it doesn't take too long to wade through my post.

-Ron

[joeyl]

spruce is great for bodies, Nordstrand makes a crazy looking single cut out of spruce, and the neck was pine I believe.

edit: oops, the body was pine and the neck was spruce!

[Ronbeast]

Originally Posted by joeyl

spruce is great for bodies, Nordstrand makes a crazy looking single cut out of spruce, and the neck was pine I believe.

wow,thats pretty awesome considering pine is another one of the woods that grows in my back yard.So far theres alder,spruce,maple,pine,juniper,and birch.Its amazing I didn't know that I could use these woods earlier.

[pin_head_47]

Pine sounds interesting, it would be relatively soft I assume, but it should be really light too.

[Ronbeast]

yeah,I was thinking pine would be soft as well,and I don't know what the tone would be like,I'd hope it'd have a nice acoustic sound and would sound very natural.

[Diogenes]

Originally Posted by Mikey R

So does ash

My ash would stink too if you cut into it.

Originally Posted by pin_head_47

Is oak not used very often for a reason? I've heard from a few people on here that it doesn't resonate very well, or is kind of 'dead' sounding, but I could be wrong.

The problem is that oak is open grained and therefore not aesthetically pleasing to most people when used in instrument building.

I've built several basses using red oak for both body and neck (even without a truss rod ) and IMHO the basses sound great, but of course these were solid bodied instruments. I probably wouldn't use red oak for the top of an acoustic bass.

Red oak is very strong, stable, cheap and readily available where I live so why wouldn't I use it?

Originally Posted by BassicJohn

The body and neck wood (as well as several other factors) affect how the bass resonates when the strings are plucked. This resonance bounces back to the strings and effects the tone of the bass. The effect is not nearly as great as with an accoustic instrument, but it plays a part in what makes one bass sound different from another.

Sure wood makes a difference in the way an electric bass sounds. But it's such a small difference that I've been able to prove time and time again over the years that people who claim they would hear a difference, couldn't.

Originally Posted by pin_head_47

Pine sounds interesting, it would be relatively soft I assume, but it should be really light too.

A fretless I made uses red oak for the neck (through) and pine for the wings. It's easily the lightest full bodied bass I've played.

Originally Posted by Ronbeast

yeah,I was thinking pine would be soft as well,and I don't know what the tone would be like,I'd hope it'd have a nice acoustic sound and would sound very natural.

You couldn't tell the bass was constructed of red oak and pine. The jaws of people who hear it drop in disbelief.

[Arx]

Keep in mind, there are different varieties of pine and they vary a lot in hardness.
http://www.sizes.com/units/janka.htm

They're all a bit soft, so it wouldn't be the most resilient against chips and dents.

I'm sure it would work just fine though, and it'll be really nice and light.

[Diogenes]

Originally Posted by Arx

Keep in mind, there are different varieties of pine ... They're all a bit soft, so it wouldn't be the most resilient against chips and dents.

You're damn skippy they're soft!! The pine body gets dented just putting it in a case!

Even though... this past summer I refinished the old wooden flooring in my house. It was the original old growth pine flooring installed when the house was built around 1870. Not all of the flooring could be reused so I have a lot of scrap with over a century worth of wear and tear through multiple coats of paint and varnish. The wood really looks cool with all those visible layers of history... I'm really contemplating using it for the body of the ultimate "relic" p bass.

[johnnymiz]

i made a neck out of wood that i had handy. center is 3/4 inch poplar, flanked by 1/4 inch maple, oak on the outside. maple fretboard. neck isn't shaped yet in the pic. came out ok


http://www.talkbass.com/forum/attach...4&d=1221761510

back view

http://www.talkbass.com/forum/attach...3&d=1221761446

[Arx]

another option is to make a sandwich. Soft light wood in the centre, and something harder on the front/back.

[pin_head_47]

Originally Posted by Diogenes

The problem is that oak is open grained and therefore not aesthetically pleasing to most people when used in instrument building.

I've built several basses using red oak for both body and neck (even without a truss rod ) and IMHO the basses sound great, but of course these were solid bodied instruments. I probably wouldn't use red oak for the top of an acoustic bass.

Red oak is very strong, stable, cheap and readily available where I live so why wouldn't I use it?

Well, it shouldn't be such a big deal for wood to be open grain; aren't alot of species of ash open grained, as well as wenge? My Ibanez has a wenge neck and I absolutely love the feel of it.

It's good to know that red oak has worked so well for you, because it's a pretty fine looking wood if you get a nice piece. You don't have any pics of that bass, do you?

[Diogenes]

Originally Posted by pin_head_47

You don't have any pics of that bass, do you?

You can see it on this page at the bottom.
http://www.jz63.com/bass/basses.html

When I first drew and then cut out the body shape I liked it. It was to be a combination ATK/Benavente SCD inspired sorta thing but the longer I look at it the more I dislike it. Oh well, I still like playing it.

[Chaddycakes]

I love oak! My dad has owned multiple woodshops that have specialized in oak and cedar furniture, and so I fell in love with it aesthetically. I've been dreaming of an oak-topped custom 6-string Sal Giardina electric bass. Try to find a solid piece of flamed quartersawn oak for your neck. It is absolutely beautiful, quite rare (though not unobtainable), and it will definitely earn you points in the uniqueness category.

[Beej]

Ancient thread...

[cnltb]

Originally Posted by Ronbeast

Can I build the neck for a bass out of Oak?I plan on starting a build in a few weeks and I have woods like oak,cherry and maple.I don't really want another maple neck because all of my basses and guitars are maple necked.Is oak able to be used as a neck wood?I heard somewhere that is splits very easily,so I'm hoping someone here will prove me wrong,thanks for any input and suggestions and if it comes down to it I may go with a maple neck anyways....

-Ron

Did Fodera not recently make a bass with an oak neck?
That new 'Hybrid' they made.
The very few comments I read were all good.

[Chaddycakes]

Originally Posted by cnltb

Did Fodera not recently make a bass with an oak neck?
That new 'Hybrid' they made.
The very few comments I read were all good.

Anyone have pics?

[Chaddycakes]

Originally Posted by cnltb

Did Fodera not recently make a bass with an oak neck?
That new 'Hybrid' they made.
The very few comments I read were all good.

Found it.

That's English oak. Very pretty stuff, but the bass of my dreams has Pennsylvania red oak.

:edit sorry for the double image. They're the same, but I can't figure out how to get rid of one.

[Chaddycakes]

Originally Posted by Chad.mundt

That's English oak. Very pretty stuff, the bass of my dreams has Pennsylvania red oak.