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Flying V Bass Body
- Thread starter HippieBillie
- Start date
- May 1, 2014
- 2,494
- 2,341
- 56
- Disclosures
- Owner Melodious Resonance Constructs
@HippieBillie - The cost of the raw materials alone would be between $20 to $30 for a two or three piece basswood body, and more expensive if you want a nicer looking wood. If you want an unfinished (e.g. not painted, or clear coated) body ready to receive a neck, all routing done for pickups, controls cavities, etc., someone would have to be willing to do it for you as a favor or for the sheer fun of it to meet the price you have quoted. A paint or finishing job alone would usually cost more than $60. If the person is not local to you shipping also has to be factored in.
I am not posting this to discourage you, but rather to set a reasonable expectation to help you as you are looking. Since you have provided no details as to what your plans are for this body, or how complete you need to the job to be, it's really hard to gauge what exactly you are looking for. I second @Will_White's suggestion - for $160 you can procure an unfinished Flying V kit and use what you want from it to meet your goals. The quality of kits vary depending on the manufacturer, but they are a tried and true way to get an inexpensive instrument that can customized easily.
Hope this helps, and good luck!
I am not posting this to discourage you, but rather to set a reasonable expectation to help you as you are looking. Since you have provided no details as to what your plans are for this body, or how complete you need to the job to be, it's really hard to gauge what exactly you are looking for. I second @Will_White's suggestion - for $160 you can procure an unfinished Flying V kit and use what you want from it to meet your goals. The quality of kits vary depending on the manufacturer, but they are a tried and true way to get an inexpensive instrument that can customized easily.
Hope this helps, and good luck!
As a builder of 3 kits from Bargain Musician. . . .they are well worth the money. No kit comes with full instructions or wiring diagrams. The customer service at Bargain is excellent. Thesse are decent kits but you will need to know how to finish, assemble and set them up. Which can be done with some research.
To the point that the others have posted . . .I am a rank, newbie hobbyist but am in the process of building a couple of guitars. If you needed anything more than a flat V made out of wood that you provided, I would do it but not for $60. If you needed somebody to fire up the router, even once the price goes up. Maybe you are just looking for somebody to glue up a body and get you a rough shape and you are going to supply the wood? If so, $60 makes fine sense. I don't seek to lecture, so I hope you will not see it that way. Many people on this forum with the skill set required to do what you may be asking could would suffer the impact of an Opportunity Cost. i.e. what time they could give up to do what you would like. Most of the builders in my area, which is likely cheap compared to the rest of the country charge $60 per hour! Knowing a bit about the process it will take to square the wood and get the edges ready to take glue. The clamping then the cutting and delivering you a nice, usable body blank back. . . .it would take me more than an hour.
IF you merely need a glue up and then a V cut out and you are supplying the template for the body and the wood. . . .yep that would be doable. The other complexity and pain in the butt as mentioned is shipping. Any chance you could find someone locally who could handle this for you. I would bet a cabinet shop could do it but expect to pay more than $60.
Hope that helps without me coming off as an A$$!?
BTW- do you have the rest of the components for this bass? If you do not, we are right back where Will White left off. . . .the kits are a great value and if you work at it you can create a playable instrument!
Good luck whatever you decide! Maybe give people a bit more to go on as far as what it is exactly you require for your price. There are a lot of variables.
To the point that the others have posted . . .I am a rank, newbie hobbyist but am in the process of building a couple of guitars. If you needed anything more than a flat V made out of wood that you provided, I would do it but not for $60. If you needed somebody to fire up the router, even once the price goes up. Maybe you are just looking for somebody to glue up a body and get you a rough shape and you are going to supply the wood? If so, $60 makes fine sense. I don't seek to lecture, so I hope you will not see it that way. Many people on this forum with the skill set required to do what you may be asking could would suffer the impact of an Opportunity Cost. i.e. what time they could give up to do what you would like. Most of the builders in my area, which is likely cheap compared to the rest of the country charge $60 per hour! Knowing a bit about the process it will take to square the wood and get the edges ready to take glue. The clamping then the cutting and delivering you a nice, usable body blank back. . . .it would take me more than an hour.
IF you merely need a glue up and then a V cut out and you are supplying the template for the body and the wood. . . .yep that would be doable. The other complexity and pain in the butt as mentioned is shipping. Any chance you could find someone locally who could handle this for you. I would bet a cabinet shop could do it but expect to pay more than $60.
Hope that helps without me coming off as an A$$!?
BTW- do you have the rest of the components for this bass? If you do not, we are right back where Will White left off. . . .the kits are a great value and if you work at it you can create a playable instrument!
Good luck whatever you decide! Maybe give people a bit more to go on as far as what it is exactly you require for your price. There are a lot of variables.
Hopkins
Commercial User
$60 Wouldn't cover a pros labor, yet alone material costs. You are looking at at least 4 or 5 hours labor to prepare a blank, rout the neck pocket and cavities, rough cut it, clean it up, do the round over and get it cleaned up to the point that it only needs finish sanding.
You are asking for skilled work for less than $20 an hour. The kit is the way to go, or to get a hobby wood worker to help you out just for the fun of it, there is nothing wrong with either of those options.
You are asking for skilled work for less than $20 an hour. The kit is the way to go, or to get a hobby wood worker to help you out just for the fun of it, there is nothing wrong with either of those options.
