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McHack · #1 06-08-2004, 11:22 AM

I've got a question for some of you experiened luthiers...

I'm doing my first self-build, & was recently told by someone (on a diff site) that they thought my bass is bound to experience a good amount of neck dive. Consequently, the guy was trying to change my mind, in materials choices... Basically, he tried to talk me out of an ebony FB, in favor of a pau ferro fb...

Here's what I've planned:
Body - Warmoth Dinky J made of Black Korina
Neck - USACG J-bass specs made of quartersawn wenge w/ ebony fingerboard
Hardware - Gotoh 206 "string thru" bridge, & Hipshot Ultralite tuners.
Electronics - Bart PJ config, NTBT pre-amp running at 9v.

First off, IMHO, I just don't think Pau Ferro would look all that great on top of a wenge neck...whereas ebony looks like it belongs on wenge.

Secondly, I know ebony isn't exactly light, but changing a fingerboard wood, isn't really going to save me any true weight savings,,,, right?

Thirdly, lets assume for a minute that, it MIGHT save me a half-pound to switch woods (which, I think is silly, but...) the weight difference would be spread over the entire surface of the neck,, & would be heavier the closer it got to the body, because the neck is wider there...

Now, with all this said, I know alot of you guys have used this combination of woods, & I also know Black Korina can vary greatly... & I won't know for CERTAIN, until I have the neck & body in my hands. BUT, given a best guess, am I asking for balance problems with this config?

Suburban · #2 06-08-2004, 12:18 PM

IMHO, yes. Because J-basses are slightly neck heavy.
But note, that that is IMHO!

If you are comfortable with a J's balance, and can stand some more weight, it wouldn't be so bad.
Changing from ebony to pau ferro is barely any difference, they have very similar densities.

The neck dive you will encounter can be neutralized by putting the butt end strap button in another position. I.e. about 4 inches up and on the back of the body. Will do miracles. Or better yet, put a central button in the center of gravity, hook one end over that, sling the strap over your right shoulder and attach the other end to the same button. That will do miracles!

Czar · #3 06-08-2004, 01:21 PM

I have USACG Jay Jr. It was a little neck heavey just with a maple/roswood neck. Can't wait to see how it handles with the new all wenge neck I have coming.

I don't think the it will be that huge of an issue for you. If those are the woods you want, deal with it. Moving the rear strap button up can fix most issues

McHack · #4 06-09-2004, 07:45 AM

Well, I'm not overly concerned about the overall weight. I mean, if it weighs 20 pounds, I might bitch about it... hehe.

It never really made sense to me, that going from one FB wood, to another was going to really save me any weight... BUT, not being an overly experience tinkerer,,, AND, having never done anything w/ this combination of woods, I didn't know for sure.

Are you getting your neck from Tommy, Czar? If so, where'd you get your Wenge blank from? When did you order yours? Are you planning on oiling it, at all? I just talked w/ Tommy, & he's got my neck blank... WOOT!!!

Czar · #5 06-10-2004, 08:23 AM

I picked up the wenge in the warmoth showcase. I plan on leaving it "raw" or with just a little oil if it's dry.

The guys at USACG are the shiz. I've gotten a few parts from them and all were top notch. I had planned to get a maple/ebony neck from them but stumbled acroos the all wenge at Warmoth.

And I just saw USACG is now offering a Tele style bass body! After I redo my Jay Jr, I'm gonna try my hand at building a bass from scratch, but if that doesnt work out, the tele bass will be the next project.