Buying lumber question

[James Ippoliti]

I am wanting to try building my first bass guitar. This might be a stupid question but there is someone local who is selling lumber amd I don’t know what size I should ask for? Do I get one long board or a few? What dimensions etc. I just don’t want to buy what I don’t need. Thanks.

 

[Beej]

Most bodies are under 24" long and 16" wide, and anywhere from 1.25 to 1.75" in depth, so your pieces should be able to make up a blank like that. If you already have a design in mind, you may have more specific dimensions you can work towards. For example, one of my designs needs 17" length and 13" width, so I can get away with much smaller boards.

For necks, 48" long boards should be enough to accommodate most neck-thrus, and bolt ons with headstock will run you under 36" length. Headstocks are rarely over 4" wide, and 4 string necks will be under 3.5" wide (in the majority of cases), so that should give you a bit of a sense to work from.

A more important consideration is grain direction and how long ago the tree was felled. A rough rule of thumb is 1 year for each inch thickness of wood, stickered and stacked away from the elements to dry out. Personally, I like to know wood has been drying for at least double that length of time if not longer.

There are lots of other considerations too, so hopefully others will chime in with ideas.

 

[dwizum]

The real key is, make sure you buy too much. Then, when you're done, you can look at your pile of leftovers and tell yourself, "gosh that's almost enough for another bass..."

 

[James Ippoliti]

The real key is, make sure you buy too much. Then, when you're done, you can look at your pile of leftovers and tell yourself, "gosh that's almost enough for another bass..."

That is actually a great idea!

 

[SLivinghouse]

Also realistically, you are probably going to waste some wood with mistakes on your first build. And I think it is important to treat it as a learning experience and not expect your first to be a master piece. So maybe save the expensive woods for later builds after you have experience. My 2nd bass is way better than my first and I have been doing woodworking as a hobby for years. Building is rewarding, but it requires an ability to find your errors amusing and forgive yourself for screwing up. There are a lot of helpful people here when you get stuck. Also, I suggest looking though several builds from beginning to end if you haven't already. Good luck!

 

[Jisch]

I would also keep it simple on your first build, i.e. make a two piece body and two piece neck. On the neck you have to consider what you are going to do with the headstock - if you are going to put some back angle on it, then you either need to make your neck blank thick enough to do that or do a scarf joint. Using a scarf joint means less wood (and cost), but it does add to the difficulty. Of course you can always just do a string tee to put downward pressure on the nut too.

 

[dwizum]

In all seriousness, what do you have for tools and skills? I think that's probably the most important question to answer before you buy any lumber. If you can't thickness or joint wood at home, you'll need to buy wood that's been processed to the exact thickness you need and with at least one true edge. Most hardwood is sold rough or only partially machined, but most people selling lumber will also process it for you.

 

[washjayb]

In all seriousness, what do you have for tools and skills? I think that's probably the most important question to answer before you buy any lumber. If you can't thickness or joint wood at home, you'll need to buy wood that's been processed to the exact thickness you need and with at least one true edge. Most hardwood is sold rough or only partially machined, but most people selling lumber will also process it for you.

Fellow inexperienced luthier here...

I'm am working on a first build and this is probably the most specific advice to my case.

I could have started the build a year ago but have opted to acquire the additional tools, and trying to learn/ develop the skills necessary to join and dimension the lumber and make exactly what I want. I plan on making many instruments though and I think that matters. I've spent well over 1500 within the past year on various tools and needed building supplies. In addition to basic tools (planes, saws, drills, clamps, files, rasps, scrapers) I did not consider all the screws, the bits, taps, files, and abrasives in addition to basic sand paper. Plywood, 2x4's ect... needed for jig/ fixture construction of all kinds. I haven't made any templates yet.

I read somewhere that all woodworking stems from the ability to make a straight and true box. Your ability to do this and plans for the future should guide your material purchases.

Good luck to you.

 

[Slidlow]

Okay so what size you buy wholly depends on the design bass you are building so you need to settle on that first. Most wood stores can plane and thickness rough wood to size for you for a cost. Having said that I thickness planed bodies with hand planes when I was much younger so big power tools are not essential for one build. I have also used hand held coping saws to profile bodies as well. You can do it but it will take considerable time and effort (and care). But back to the opening statement what style of bass are you building? That will determine lumber requirements. Do your research and don't expect others to spoon feed detail you without some idea of what you are building.

 

[pie_man_25]

The real key is, make sure you buy too much. Then, when you're done, you can look at your pile of leftovers and tell yourself, "gosh that's almost enough for another bass..."

This, and fudge room is always a must

 

[Fender_Bender]

If you’re green and inexperienced I would only consider buying from a specialist supplier. So, no Home Depot wood or some guy selling wood out of his backyard. Post 2 tells you a lot about the minimal requirements for air dried wood. If you don’t know what to look for grain wise, that’s another reason to buy from a specialist. For a first build I’d recommend a bolt on using a premade body blank. For a bolt on neck you can get away with using 1” thick rough cut stock, or better yet a purpose made “neck blank “.

 

[buldog5151bass]

Depends how much work you want to do. It's a lot cheaper to buy a board by the board foot at a hardwood lumber yard. But for your first build, you probably want to get a body blank.

 

[Huw Phillips]

Check out rockier they do wood that’s planed on all four sides and mostly good, for design I can’t recommend highly enough Electric guitar and Bass design byLeonardo Lospennato, it takes you through every stage of design and offers you the options available to you, it also contains all the numbers for scales etc.
You MUST have a sense of humor, I have a photo of me cutting the neck off a neck through that became a bolt on ! I think find that it’s not about perfection it being able to work out how to make it all work out when there is a problem.
Good luck

 

[James Ippoliti]

If you’re green and inexperienced I would only consider buying from a specialist supplier. So, no Home Depot wood or some guy selling wood out of his backyard. Post 2 tells you a lot about the minimal requirements for air dried wood. If you don’t know what to look for grain wise, that’s another reason to buy from a specialist. For a first build I’d recommend a bolt on using a premade body blank. For a bolt on neck you can get away with using 1” thick rough cut stock, or better yet a purpose made “neck blank “.

Do you have any specialists you recommend?

 

[Fender_Bender]

Do you have any specialists you recommend?

Where you at?. The most expensive, and possibly highest quality wood, would come from a place like Luthiers Mercantile something or other. LMII.com.
I’m sure others will pipe up with some specialist suppliers. I don’t bother much with American suppliers because of exchange rates and duties. If you’re in Canada, A&M wood specialty is who I use. I forgot to mention that you’re best off going with a pre slotted fretboard. Lmii can do that for you in various scales and wood species. They’ll even do the radiusing for you if you’re unsure of your woodworking skills.
The last thing I will mention is that if you’re going to be putting weeks, or even months into something, you don’t want to be letdown by cheaping out on your initial wood purchase.

 

[buldog5151bass]

Look up hardwood lumber mills and places that supply wood for custom flooring and cabinets. Likely they will stock ash, maple (hard and soft), poplar, walnut, and oak, among other species.

 

[James Ippoliti]

I am continually impressed with the knowledge and advice from everyone on this site. Thanks for all the input. It is very much appreciated.

 

[SLivinghouse]

One other thing. I think the most important tool is a relatively cheap one. A digital caliper so you can make accurate measurements. Even a $20 HF one will become the difference between something fitting right- or not.

 

[Slidlow]

A side note, have all your hardware on hand before cutting pieces. Best to make sure things line up with bridge etc...

 

[TerribleTim68]

Do you have any specialists you recommend?

I went through this same search in my area and I found a really awesome woodworking supply store not too far away that stocks pretty much everything I could need or want, including tools and an indoor lumber "yard" that stocks everything from pen turning blanks up to full exotic wood slabs. Look into that as well, your town (or a nearby town) may also have a woodworking supply store. In my case, it was literally named "(city name where located) woodworking supply store".