Double Bass Bas bar wood - growth ring count?

[Mark Carlsen]

Ya,
The reason we went up to Metropolitan was to save on the shipping which is pricey on heavy neck blocks. We also got their 2nd grade which was not as flamed, but still some for like half of the A grade stuff... That along w. a nice drive thru New England on a nice fall day made for a great trip.
James - What does the shipping run to get a whole bass billet from the west coast out to your shop ?

 

[james condino]

Usually $50-$75, ground rate depending upon how many I buy and how slow they get here. Larger loads get shipped via freight on a pallet- that tends to be dirt cheap but very slow and you'll need to pick it up at the center or have a commercial delivery dock.

j.

 

[Mark Carlsen]

That's not bad. I'm not a builder but I needed some grafting blocks for some projects here. We figured at 20lbs a piece they were going to be pricey to ship cuz of the weight. The wood had just come in from Germany so we knew the quality was pretty good especially if we could pick and choose what we liked. I will have to consider your recommendations of those west coast suppliers in the future. Thanks, bro....

 

[forester]

@forester > laconic.

you'll need about 30mm overstand, maybe more, maybe less. careful about bow clearance. your 3/4 fingerboard will probably be fine. rounded fingerboards are now most common but bevelled is fine too. about 43-44mm width at the nut. about 65mm at the end of the neck. no rulez. thems all the measurements you'll need. gee i'm writing like forester ...

 

[uprightben]

Back to the OP, I would choose B. It is thicker, you should be able to plane one of the sides parallel to the growth rings and then make the sides parallel to each other and still have enough to get down to your desired thickness. I also like the tighter grained stuff for a bass bar, you should be able to remove more material to get to your desired stiffness, which as a very general rule I like.

The earlier points made about calculating beam deflection and every other factor remind me of an article I once read by James Krenov. He wrote about making a plane purely by intuition and experience and then have someone explain to him that it works so well because the iron bed angle is such and the throat is so wide. He goes on to point out that the peasant and the engineer get to the same result in the end. I usually prefer the approach of the peasant, but the engineer is good too.