Holly and Ebony Rick

[Scoops]

Hey,

Got the urge to build myself another bass so here we go. It's a little early in the season for me to start this, but what the heck. Everybody is building a Rick around here, thought I'd join the party.

Specs
Body Style: Rick 4003ish
Body wood: Laminated Holly
Binding: Black with abalone purfling
Neck Construction: Holly and Ebony Laminate
Fingerboard Material: Ebony with Holly triangles
Fingerboard Finish: Epoxied Fretless
Fingerboard Radius: 10"
Bridge: Hipshot Rick Bass Bridge - Black
Tuners: Hipshot ultralite Clovers - Black
PuPs: Nordstrand dual blade Neo
Preamp: Maybe

I've gathered all the wood I need, and only need to purchase the tuners.


I really wanted to make this a thru neck, but to find a piece of ebony long enough, and thick enough to cut the stringers would have put this build in the ultra high price range, so I'm going ala bolt on. I have some ideas that will make this cool though

Cheers

 

[mapleglo]

Did someone say Ric build? I'm in!

 

[Grumry]

Very cool, keep us updated with pics.

 

[Hopkins]

This is going to be beautiful. The ebony and ivory look is classic. I love the look of featureless white holly

 

[goodkingzog]

Subbed fer sure

 

[PDX Rich]

Very cool! Yeah, it is tough to find reasonably priced Gabon Ebony, much less of a proper neck-through length. This'll look and play awesome, I suspect!

 

[ctmullins]

Beautiful woods! Certain Ricks (the early ones maybe? can't remember) were set-neck; that's what I'd do here.

 

[Scoops]

Thanks all for your comments.

@Hopkins...I got my inspiration from a bass that made bass of the week at BBG. You even posted a pic of it somewhere here. The holly and ebony combo is truly wonderful.
@ Todd...Hmmm set neck you say..I did have a 360 many moons ago that had a set neck. I did look it up as well. I could remain authentic. A little reluctant. The last few neck I made moved on me and had to replane. For me, it's easier to do that without the body attached. I need to give this some thought. Also, not planning on using traditional Ric pups, so I won't be totally conforming out of the box.

 

[Scoops]

Update.

Last Wednesday, I got to milling the planks of Holly. I have my planner clamped onto my down draft table. Very little ended up on the floor

When I got the boards done, I noticed the board I was going to use for the neck had a bunch of knots in it. So I tried to figure how I could hide the knots, but in the end I just ordered another board. Expecting that board tomorrow. Was hoping to show some glue shots today, but that won't be. Maybe next week.
Cheers and thanks for looking

 

[Hopkins]

Where are you buying your holly?

 

[charlie monroe]

^^What Hopkins asked.

 

[Scoops]

Where are you buying your holly?

^^What Hopkins asked.

2 places. Neither were cheap
Holly Lumber - DomEx Hardwoods
Gilmer Wood Company

There is a guy on evil bay that claims that he had a lot, but I elected to stay clear.

 

[charlie monroe]

Neither were cheap

Wow. You aren't lying.
I've bought Macassar Ebony at around those rates

 

[Gilmourisgod]

Subd. Bought my lumber from Gilmer wood too, serious sticker shock! This is going to be cool.

 

[Hopkins]

Wow. You aren't lying.
I've bought Macassar Ebony at around those rates

Its not an inexpensive wood, the logs are not very big so they don't yield a lot of lumber, and a lot of lumber has to be culled to get that stark white holly without imperfections.

 

[Scoops]

@Hopkins
My understanding of the whiteness of holly is a little differnt than you cite. What I've been told by a number of differnt sources is that the whiteness of holly comes only if the wood is kiln dried immediately after harvest. It develops dark streaks in it if it sits for a while before it goes to the kiln, or if it is allowed to dry naturally. Haven't researched it though

 

[Scoops]

Ok, I knew I read this somewhere. The wood database sez:
Invalid Link Removed Ideal lumber has a very uniform, pale white color with virtually no visible grain pattern. Knots are common, which can reduce the usable area of the wood. Can develop a bluish/gray fungal stain if not dried rapidly after cutting. Holly is usually cut during the winter and kiln dried shortly thereafter to preserve the white color of the wood.

Also, got another piece of wood in today, and milled it out. Little disappointed that the extra piece has knots as well. typical for Holly. I have enough for my needs however.

The big piece in the background is bueatious!!!. Hardly any knots. I'll be using that for the wings

Thanks for looking

 

[Scoops]

For my regular job, I finished my latest contract, and haven't landed my next contract yet, so I'm looking at getting some quality build time in the next couple weeks.

This morning, I cut the blanks, and glued the neck pieces together. Little later today, I'll glue the body center section together.

 

[RaniBrandt]

Yay! Another Ricky build!

 

[Wolfenstein666]

Sub'dddddd.

This is gonna be cool.