Are these supposed to have a 1 piece body?

[Ploonter]

Originally Posted by godofthunder59

The body looks in one piece to me budum bump

[sbpark]

Originally Posted by C.Linton

At best, it's a two or three piece body with a veneer on it. AFAIK, Fender has never had one-piece bodies, except maybe for special runs or Custom Shop models.

That's a three piece. As far as my understanding, Fender would not use a veneer on an AM. Std. They do use the veneers on the MIM basses that are sunburst though. The black also extends down over the body contour on the MIM's to conceal this veneer seam, but on the American Standards the contour is not blacked out because there is no seam to hide.

Pretty much every American Standard Fender I have owned (guitars) have been three piece, while one of them was actually a 4 piece. My '76 P is a three piece, and the pieces are not equal in width to each other.

On this bass in question you can see the seams, you just have to look closely.

[Bongolation]

Originally Posted by Ploonter

My question though, is it supposed to have a 1 piece body?

No.

Fender has never had a one-piece body on a production instrument in the history of the company. That's directly from FMIC.

Everyone write that down.

Or am I seeing this wrong?

Yes.

Looks like a three-piece to me, which would be typical.

[20db pad]

Sometime in the past, Roger Sadowsky said that one-piece bodies have a greater chance of cupping over time, which is why he doesn't offer them on his instruments.

[96tbird]

A freakin 12 inch board is going to cup. Trees are round. Grain is round the inside of the annular rings is softer than the outside sitting against the next ring. As wood dries the two areas contract at different rates and the wood cups.

[bootsox]

that's a 3 piece, just well-matched grains

[SGD Lutherie]

Originally Posted by mmbongo

It has a burst finish for a reason..so you can't see the ends and how many pieces of wood are underneath the veneer.

They don't use veneer on alder bodies. The only time I have ever seen a veneer on a Fender was when they have a flame maple drop top, or their old "photo flame" finish, which was a printed picture of wood, like on formica.

I see the seam where the color changes on the side of the body near the bottom of the screen.

All the Fenders I have had were 2 or 3 piece bodies. There is no advantage to a once piece body. Even the basses I build have at 2 piece bodies.

[Jason Brown]

Originally Posted by Bongolation

No.

Fender has never had a one-piece body on a production instrument in the history of the company. That's directly from FMIC.

Everyone write that down.

Those two natural CS basses above don't look like they could be more than one-piece bodies.

[godofthunder59]

Originally Posted by 96tbird

A freakin 12 inch board is going to cup. Trees are round. Grain is round the inside of the annular rings is softer than the outside sitting against the next ring. As wood dries the two areas contract at different rates and the wood cups.

BINGO

[Fran Diaz]

Originally Posted by Jason Brown

Those two natural CS basses above don't look like they could be more than one-piece bodies.

exactly, and I've seen a few more.

[SGD Lutherie]

Originally Posted by 96tbird

A freakin 12 inch board is going to cup. Trees are round. Grain is round the inside of the annular rings is softer than the outside sitting against the next ring. As wood dries the two areas contract at different rates and the wood cups.

+1

It wasn't too much of a problem when we had 36+ inch wide trees. But those days are gone.

But yeah, once piece anything is not as stable as laminated necks and bodies.

[natw42]

Originally Posted by Fran Diaz

That body has three pieces, but they are very well matched.

I've seen a few CS Fenders with one piece bodies, but not too many.

Here you have a couple of them (nice grain also):

Weird... These look like 2 piece to me. Very well matched grains but 2 pieces.

[metron]

Originally Posted by Fran Diaz

That body has three pieces, but they are very well matched.

I've seen a few CS Fenders with one piece bodies, but not too many.

Here you have a couple of them (nice grain also):



I would wager $5 those are both multi piece bodies. I had a natural MIA p bass that looked very similar and the seams were only visible at the edges where the grain diverged. Fenders are never single piece bodies and for good reason.

I would wager those are both multi piece bodies.

[Fran Diaz]

Originally Posted by 20db pad

Sometime in the past, Roger Sadowsky said that one-piece bodies have a greater chance of cupping over time, which is why he doesn't offer them on his instruments.

yeah, it is/was on the FAQ on his website. But they have been offering one piece very light bodies for some time as an option on NYC instruments. IIRC a $300 upcharge.
My '05 Sadowsky has a solid one piece body. This bass is 8.3 lbs:





and a nice piece of flamed ash to boot:

[SGD Lutherie]

Originally Posted by natw42

Weird... These look like 2 piece to me. Very well matched grains but 2 pieces.

Where's the seam? I don't see it.

[metron]

Originally Posted by SGD Lutherie

Where's the seam? I don't see it.

Zoom in and you can see the seam down the center of each bass. Look for where the grains are discontinuous. Good bookmatching will line up a majority of grains but not all.

[Munjibunga]

Originally Posted by mmbongo

It has a burst finish for a reason..so you can't see the ends and how many pieces of wood are underneath the veneer.

I doubt there's a veneer on that body, but the body's at least two pieces. The visible joint is on the lower bout. On the front, it's mostly covered by the pickguard, which is cool.

[Munjibunga]

You guys keep showing the tops and backs of the basses, but the way to tell is by looking at the end of the bass by the strap pin (on the natural ones).

[SGD Lutherie]

Originally Posted by metron

Zoom in and you can see the seam down the center of each bass. Look for where the grains are discontinuous. Good bookmatching will line up a majority of grains but not all.

Yep, I see it now.

[Munjibunga]

Now these are one-piece bodies.