Are these supposed to have a 1 piece body?

[96tbird]

Uh, Metron, book-matching is splitting a board through the thickness dimension and flipping the top piece over beside the bottom piece, like opening a book, so you have mirror grain. No bass on any of these pics is book-matched.

Munjibunga is right, look at the end grain. Look there and you will see " bird beaks" at each join where the annular rings meet. Of course impossible on a sunburst finish.

[slick_tu]

Some MIM Alder blanks with veneers.

[Munjibunga]

Originally Posted by slick_tu

Some MIM Alder blanks with veneers.

Interesting, and heretofore unknown by me. Thanks. But the OP's bass doesn't have a veneer. It looks like they joined a bunch of 2X4 scraps from a construction site on those, LOL.

[slick_tu]

Originally Posted by Munjibunga

Interesting, and heretofore unknown by me. Thanks. But the OP's bass doesn't have a veneer. It looks like they joined a bunch of 2X4 scraps from a construction site, LOL.

I know he doesn't; I just found this interesting also.

[Munjibunga]

Originally Posted by slick_tu

I know he doesn't; I just found this interesting also.

I'm not referring to the OP's bass, by the way, which looks mighty fine the way it is.

[SGD Lutherie]

Originally Posted by slick_tu

Some MIM Alder blanks with veneers.

Yikes! Seven piece bodies. I guess at the volume they do they can't afford 3 piece bodies?

[bassbenj]

Originally Posted by SGD Lutherie

Yikes! Seven piece bodies. I guess at the volume they do they can't afford 3 piece bodies?

Mine is like that. But quite frankly compared to my Squier P/J the alder (compared to Agathis) feels and sounds great! And the "grain" on mine looks like a one piece million too! But I don't think it's veneer. It's photgraphic wood grain and an amazing job at that. Even under a magnifyer you can't seen the photograqphic pixels. The thing that let the cat out of the bag for me was when I had it all apart shielding it (It was shielded, but sometimes Fender shielding just doesn't work right) and you could see the way the photo layer was "folded" around some of the routes. You can't do that with real wood veneer. If it's wood veneer it's the most flexible wood i've ever seen!

I'm not complaining. The bass plays great, sounds great, and looks like a million. My only worry is that some years down the road I may open the case and see cracks starting to form in the photo finish that I've heard happens. For now it's killer and I paid next to nothing for it. I see no significant difference between 9 sticks glued together and my 3 piece basses. Of course I'd have more confidence with lifetime if it were real veneer.

I could have bought a one piece body for a fortune (local luthier makes them) and built up the same bass, but I don't think it would have sounded or played the least bit better and would really cost some coin. (The local basses are gorgeous but expensive). But time will tell.

[SGD Lutherie]

Yeah, the amount of pieces doesn't really matter, except for looks.

I play in a band with a guy with a Strat with the photo flame finish. It's very hard to tell it's not wood, except it doesn't have the 3D "chatoyance" affect you see in real wood when you change the viewing angle.

[Bongolation]

Originally Posted by Bongolation

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

Originally Posted by Jason Brown

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

1: Subjective impressions of a photo aren't data.

2: Custom Shop basses are not -- by definition -- production instruments in any case.

[JimB52]

All of the 2001 50th Anniversary Precisions I've seen have one piece bodies.





I also had a 2000 trans-white Jazz with a one-piece body.

[Munjibunga]

Originally Posted by bassbenj

... you could see the way the photo layer was "folded" around some of the routes. You can't do that with real wood veneer. If it's wood veneer it's the most flexible wood i've ever seen!

Take a look at the picture below. The veneer is "folded" over where the upper bout relief will be. The veneer is very thin and very flexible.

[metron]

Originally Posted by 96tbird

Uh, Metron, book-matching is splitting a board through the thickness dimension and flipping the top piece over beside the bottom piece, like opening a book, so you have mirror grain. No bass on any of these pics is book-matched.

Munjibunga is right, look at the end grain. Look there and you will see " bird beaks" at each join where the annular rings meet. Of course impossible on a sunburst finish.

Er yeah. Whats it called when matching up grain like that? Grainmatching?

[Bongolation]

Originally Posted by JimB52

All of the 2001 50th Anniversary Precisions I've seen have one piece bodies.

I also had a 2000 trans-white Jazz with a one-piece body.

These are grain-matched two-piece (or even three-piece) bodies.

There used to be a $150 upcharge for grain-matched ash.

You usually can't find a seam on a grain-matched body unless you can clearly see the end-grain.

Again, according to FMIC, there has NEVER been a one-piece body on a production Fender instrument in the company's entire history.

NEVER.

Clear enough? Good.

[SGD Lutherie]

Originally Posted by Munjibunga

Take a look at the picture below. The veneer is "folded" over where the upper bout relief will be. The veneer is very thin and very flexible.

Yes, they put it in a vacuum bag when they glue it. You can get it to conform to all types of shapes.

But Fender was using fake "foto flame" veneer at one point.

[Munjibunga]

Originally Posted by Bongolation

These are grain-matched two-piece (or even three-piece) bodies.

There used to be a $150 upcharge for grain-matched ash.

You usually can't find a seam on a grain-matched body unless you can clearly see the end-grain.

Again, according to FMIC, there has NEVER been a one-piece body on a production Fender instrument in the company's entire history.

NEVER.

Clear enough? Good.

You left out "... or I'll kill you."

[Munjibunga]

Originally Posted by SGD Lutherie

Yes, they put it in a vacuum bag when they glue it. You can get it to conform to all types of shapes.

But Fender was using fake "foto flame" veneer at one point.

I've seen foto flame instruments, but I wasn't aware that any have been made in recent years.

[SGD Lutherie]

Originally Posted by Munjibunga

I've seen foto flame instruments, but I wasn't aware that any have been made in recent years.

I don't think they have made them in a while. Maybe since the 80s?

[RockBobby]

I thought mine was a one piece till I came to my senses. It was a body from ebay (mex) supposedly but there are birdseye,curly, and a little flame in it. I cant capture the back well enough because you have to move it to get the full effect.

[Mastermold]

Originally Posted by JimB52

All of the 2001 50th Anniversary Precisions I've seen have one piece bodies.



...

That one looks like a three piece to me.

[SGD Lutherie]

Originally Posted by Mastermold

That one looks like a three piece to me.

Yes, I see three pieces too.