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ES-335 bass build
- Thread starter 83_Silberpfeil
- Start date
that's an interesting thought/approach. But I want to make sure I understand you clearly. Do you mean...
like one of these on the Ibanez Artcore...
Schaller Stud Mount Vintage Tremolo, Roller Saddles – CHROME #3801
or one of these Schaller vintage bridges...
with "baseplate of hardened steel and the solid spring block ensure an outstanding sustain"
Invalid Link Removed
I had thought about the latter, with the spring block. The Schaller 3D-4 that I have would be mounted onto a custom fab spring block. And the block would be mounted into a routed hole deep enough to provide the right intonation. I remember reading about this approach being used on one of the other sites/forums/threads.. You can see on my design mod drawing, here, the blue/red box is the brigde/springblock combo.
like one of these on the Ibanez Artcore...
Schaller Stud Mount Vintage Tremolo, Roller Saddles – CHROME #3801
or one of these Schaller vintage bridges...
with "baseplate of hardened steel and the solid spring block ensure an outstanding sustain"
Invalid Link Removed
I had thought about the latter, with the spring block. The Schaller 3D-4 that I have would be mounted onto a custom fab spring block. And the block would be mounted into a routed hole deep enough to provide the right intonation. I remember reading about this approach being used on one of the other sites/forums/threads.. You can see on my design mod drawing, here, the blue/red box is the brigde/springblock combo.
The Artcore style. Reminiscent of actual Early Gibson. Have a look at the Hipshot offerings as well. They have one that fits Gibson studs either two point or three stud styles. I was just seeing the Hipshot Supertone bass bridges on E-bay and two stud mount are available.
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Was an interesting, fun trip to several lumber yards/supplier to search for the neck blank wood. bohnhofflumber.com just outside of downtown LA. Amazing selection of woods and thicknesses (4/4, 6/4, 8/4, 10/4, 12/4, and 16/4) for hard maple, and probably up to 8/4 for African Mahog. Challenge was that you had to buy the whole 12 ft piece. Also was not able to fine a piece with the end grain that met my requirements (see the pics of what I ended up with below). Also they were deep under pallets, so you could not pull out one piece to inspect.
Next was www.ganahllumber.com - just a tiny fraction of selection/volume. But you could shop/inspect each piece. Found my hard maple here --- 2 pieces of 8/4 @ 4 ft sections each (about 5.5" wide).
Last stop was www.rockler.com --- found my African Mahog here --- excellent end grain, though the piece was not milled flat. So we'll see if I'll be able to get a 3/4" thick pieces out of them.
Would have never thought purchasing lumber would be so exciting
--- starting become real now!
Here are some pics...
Next was www.ganahllumber.com - just a tiny fraction of selection/volume. But you could shop/inspect each piece. Found my hard maple here --- 2 pieces of 8/4 @ 4 ft sections each (about 5.5" wide).
Last stop was www.rockler.com --- found my African Mahog here --- excellent end grain, though the piece was not milled flat. So we'll see if I'll be able to get a 3/4" thick pieces out of them.
Would have never thought purchasing lumber would be so exciting
--- starting become real now!Here are some pics...
A bit of wood/lumber and grain direction humor. This was dessert with the family tonight. Right away, I thought about the lumber, wood, billet for the bass I am building. Explained to the kids the general idea of grain direction --- they found no humor in any of that. I managed to cut some pieces w grain directions for the neck blank - LOL!
As an experiment, you could let those slices dry out for six months and note which direction they curl.
Finally, found some time to get make some progress. Got the maple & mahogany milled, cut, and sized. After lining the planks up, I immediately thought about @Slidlow comment about tapering the middle piece so that more outer maple shows up at the lower frets. No regrets though, and not skilled enough to pull that off yet. I may plane down the center piece a bit to make it narrower tomorrow --- just need to make sure that I have enough width at the high frets.
Here are a few pics...
Here are a few pics...
HI there, bridge option. Go on eBay and search seller Bezdez. They have a stud mounted bridge and tailpiece that is heavy and affordable. I have one I will be installing on an EB-0 variant. Might suit your build.
Regards,
Regards,
Thanks @Slidlow. Nice price on that bridge @ Bezdez. I have a spare from an Ibanez Artcore ASB140 that I can use. For this build though, I will use the Schaller 3D-4 bridge. I really dig the solid block of chrome look and the xyz 3d adjustability.
Regards,[/QUOTE]
Regards,[/QUOTE]
Glued and clamped. Went with Titebond original. Was surprised how viscous it was to spread, as well as how fast it started to bond and dry. My kids lend me 2 extra pair of hands to help apply and spread glue. Nevertheless, was not able to align it well. So will need to re-face the "stripe" faces again --- will end up loosing may be 1/4" of depth, may be 1/2". I hope I have enough left!
Some progress pics -- obviously I overdid it with the glue
Some progress pics -- obviously I overdid it with the glue
That's looking great! I find that no matter how carefully I line up laminates, as soon as I start clamping them together, they start to slide around due to the pressure of the clamping. I keep dowels and a rubber mallet around and tap them down and back into alignment during the glue up process. I always have to plane down the neck blank after gluing anyway, but it saves a little thickness. 
Thanks for the feedback @Beej - it is confidence-inspiring to know that I'm on the right track, and even veteran luthiers don't always get it perfectly flat/trued
That's looking great! I find that no matter how carefully I line up laminates, as soon as I start clamping them together, they start to slide around due to the pressure of the clamping. I keep dowels and a rubber mallet around and tap them down and back into alignment during the glue up process. I always have to plane down the neck blank after gluing anyway, but it saves a little thickness.
@Beej - as it is all now dried, I'm starting to think about how to true-up all the surfaces again. What is the suggestion for the excess glue that is now dried? Just leave it, and proceed with bandsaw / jointer / planer? Or does all "glue chips" need to be removed before surfacing? Thanks!
[QUOTE.="Beej, post: 20928899, member: 87992"]That's looking great! I find that no matter how carefully I line up laminates, as soon as I start clamping them together, they start to slide around due to the pressure of the clamping. I keep dowels and a rubber mallet around and tap them down and back into alignment during the glue up process. I always have to plane down the neck blank after gluing anyway, but it saves a little thickness.[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE.="Beej, post: 20928899, member: 87992"]That's looking great! I find that no matter how carefully I line up laminates, as soon as I start clamping them together, they start to slide around due to the pressure of the clamping. I keep dowels and a rubber mallet around and tap them down and back into alignment during the glue up process. I always have to plane down the neck blank after gluing anyway, but it saves a little thickness.
[/QUOTE]
Well, I'm far from the expert here, but I tend to either use a scraper to remove the glue if I'm going to be using a handplane to true it up, but if I'm just chucking it in the router sled to plane it down, then I don't bother and just let the router clean it up. I use a router sled like this to plane down neck blanks after glue up:
I actually also use it to glue up the laminates themselves too - it makes a great set of glue cauls.
I use a router sled like this to plane down neck blanks after glue up:
I actually also use it to glue up the laminates themselves too - it makes a great set of glue cauls.
I'll very likely need to use the bandsaw to true it up, followed by jointer on one face, then planer on the other. The excess glue is really dry and hardened, so I'm hoping it won't get caught up in bandsaw blade.
Visited the woodshop today and make a wee bit progress. The laminate neck blank is all surfaced. Bandsaw, jointer, planer did the job.
The laminate layer look really tight. Excess glue and lots of clamps paid off - did not find gaps between layers.
Started full scale drawing on 1/2 inch mdf - will be used to laying out all the parts and verify that everything will fit.
Next up is to make the neck and body templates.
This has been so much fun thus far - I hope I am not missing anything up to this point.
BTW - just noticed I had the machine tuners upside down on that last pic
The laminate layer look really tight. Excess glue and lots of clamps paid off - did not find gaps between layers.
Started full scale drawing on 1/2 inch mdf - will be used to laying out all the parts and verify that everything will fit.
Next up is to make the neck and body templates.
This has been so much fun thus far - I hope I am not missing anything up to this point.
BTW - just noticed I had the machine tuners upside down on that last pic
QUESTION for the pro luthiers here on bending sides for a semi-hollow (ES335-type).
I plan on using bandsaw to resaw strips of 3/16" (or even 1/4") hard maple to use for the sides (rim piles) of my ES335-type bass build.
Q1: will I have difficulty bending the 3/16 thick strips --- what about 1/4" thick, especially around the horns?
Q2: the plans I have calls for laminate strips - 1/16, 1/10, 1/16 (maple/basswood/maple). Will using solid maple strip be strong enough?
Thanks!
I plan on using bandsaw to resaw strips of 3/16" (or even 1/4") hard maple to use for the sides (rim piles) of my ES335-type bass build.
Q1: will I have difficulty bending the 3/16 thick strips --- what about 1/4" thick, especially around the horns?
Q2: the plans I have calls for laminate strips - 1/16, 1/10, 1/16 (maple/basswood/maple). Will using solid maple strip be strong enough?
Thanks!
You probably will have great difficulty bending 3/16 maple. Acoustics are made with side thicknesses of about 0.100". The triple laminate is used to allow thicker sides and enable bending. A lot of times the centre layer may be 90 degrees to the outer layers. You may have to build this up using side thickness for acoustics (0.100") and using kerfing where the top and back glue on. You may be lucky enough to bend 0.125" but if your maple is figured probably not.
