Veneer edging

[joeviau]

I searched the forum for this, and couldn't come up with anything substantial, although there were lots of good tips.

I'm looking to build a neck through the body bass, but I would like something a little different. I've seen some basses where there's an exotic wood top that runs the whole face of the bass (that rhymes!). I can pretty much figure out how to do that, but what I would like to do is to add constrasting layers of veneer, creating a pin-stripe effect.

What's a good thickness for the veneer?

Also, what's a good technique to butt together smaller pieces of veneer? I don't think that I can find a piece of veneer that's wide enough to go across the whole front face. The Constantine "monarch" veneer isn't wide enough.

Another thought just occurred to me--is plastic veneer acceptable?

[Theshortlist_to]

Im sure you'll be able to get some thin plastic sheeting somwhere but ive never seen any for bass tops. you would surely ruin a beautiful exotic top if you put plastic veneer runing down it. do you mean like a melted top? if so im sure its possible and would be much simpler than a complex design like you see on other parts of these forums.

or
like this????

sounds like a good idea.


what woods are you thinking of using for the body wood/ top/melted areas/neck .etc?

some specs might get more people reading the thread

how many strings?
pictures of the design?
woods?
pick-ups?
pre-amp?

[joeviau]

I wasn't going for a melted top, but the bass picture that you posted pretty much sums up what I'm trying to do. I was just trying to get the pinstripe effect on the side of the body, just like the pictured bass.

I'd be interested to see the sequence of glueing that occurs. Would you butt the short veneers together to form a larger sheet, then laminate everything together?

No special woods, really, just maple and walnut. The bass would be five-string, with either frets or fretless markers, I'm still going back and forth. Electronics would be Bart pick-ups with an Aguilar OBP-3 preamp / EQ. Again, this is just in the planning phase. The body of the bass would probably be like Richard Moll's bass plan that's over on MIMF, which I purchased some time ago. It's a good looking bass that balances well.

[Bassic83]

I use wenge veneer on mine- gives an almost black pinline. It's 1/40" thick. When you cut it at an angle, the pinline gains width. It would be at it's widest with a 45 degree angle cut. Still not wide, but effective. Even more effective if you're seperating two light-colored pieces of wood. As far as not being wide enough, use an X-acto knife run down the grain against a metal straightedge to cut a good straight line down the edge, then do the same with the other piece, and butt them together when you glue it down. A helpful tip- glue one layer at a time, spread the glue evenly, lay the laminate on top of the thicker wood, then cover with a layer of wax paper to keep the glue that inevitably soaks through the venner from sticking to anything else. Cover with a larger piece of flat wood, or even better, a section of granite, and clamp. Let sit 24 hours, then do the next layer the same way. Good luck, post pics!

[joeviau]

Thanks, this is exactly what I'm looking for!

Everyone here seems pic-hungry, and I am, too!
There's a lot of inspiration in these threads. Thanks to all who are willing to share their knowledge.

[Tim__x]

Originally Posted by Bassic83

When you cut it at an angle, the pinline gains width. It would be at it's widest with a 45 degree angle cut.

It'll appear widest with a zero degree cut which would expose the entire face of the veneer, and narrowest with a ninety degree cut which would expose only 1/40" of an inch in this case.

[wilser]

The way I do it is to glue the veneers to each top piece before the bookmatch is jointed. I use a bunch of cauls to try and distribute pressure evenly. I then joint both tops with their glued in veneer and after that I join the top and veneer to the body core. Here's one I'm doing as we speak:



Here's how the pieces look up close: