• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

New build! another pine body/ oak neck!

#22
OK, neck is done.

wl3eic.jpg


purpleheart fingerboard and ears.
ordered Hipshot Superlights from StewMac.
 
#26
Damn good job!!! I love how you shaped the fingerboard!.....Im about to embark on recycling my Warwick Corvette STD, into a Thumb-like, hand carved body made from a Maple core, and Teak top and back....mabye ill start my own thread.... :)
 
#29
pine for a body doesn't seem that odd to me. A lot of body woods are soft, and pine is used some on the top of some pretty rocking gretsh semi solid body guitars.

What I am interested in is how does th oak work for a neck.

I really like the idea of breaking convention, and grew up around Oregon White Oaks and dozens of other oak species, and have always liked it for it's strength, hardness, and the way it finishes. But I have seen virtually no oak used in guitars.

What kind of Oak are you using.

I heard an antidote about some ship builders considering oak (white?) to be too strong for ship building. They found that although most wood will shift with time, in a ships construction the pieces of wood all hold eachother in shape, but that oak was so strong that when it decided to warp, it warped and would force it's way where it wanted to go.
 
  • Like
Reactions: flameworker
#30
Cy - to be quite honest, I've no idea what specific kind of oak I'm using. I bought a bunch at kent to build some picture frames, and never got around to building them.

I've made a few necks from oak, but only ever really used one (the one on my last jazz bass build) and it is great. it's a bit porous, but the clearcoat filled it perfectly. it feels great, hasn't moved an inch, and was really easy to work with.

It's fine for necks, but it'd probably be a bit heavy for a body... like, neck-breakingly.

And that's interesting about the ship builders. I was thinking about putting an oak keel on the canoe I'm building right now.
 
#31
Well, I've spent my day reading all your previous threads about building basses from pine/oak. I have to say that you shouldn't have any problems with it holding up. I've seen several Chinese jazz bass knock-offs that are several decades old that had bodies made out of particle board! Granted, some of them were barely holding together but what do you expect when you're using a material that is meant to be nailed down as decking and not go anywhere vs. a musical instrument that is always being packed/unpacked.

Anyway, I was looking into building my own bass originally from pre-built parts from Warmoth when I stumbled onto your thread here. Hadn't thought I wanted to shape my own wood originally but it might be kinda fun! Especially when I can experiment a bit for just a little money vs. buying some beautiful tonewood only to screw it up.

I don't have much experience with wood work however, my father-in-law has made much of the beautiful cherry furniture in his house. Might be able to get some help from him. Out of curiosity, what kind of saw do most of you use to cut out the body? First thing that popped into my head was band saw. The one thing I don't have available to me. That was probably the big reason I initially dismissed cutting my own body.

Alright, I'll quit rambling for now. Just got home from work and have a lot bouncing around in my head.
 
#32
A band saw is the saw of choice for roughinh out a body. However, it could certainly be done with a jigsaw or even a handsaw (but what a pain).

Ask around, it shouldn't be to hard to find someone with either a jig saw, or a band saw to use.
 
#34
BassmanNate said:
Hmmm...I think I have access to a jig saw. What about a sawsall? They're similar to a jig saw. would that be a bit too brutish for something like cutting a bass body out of pine?
Click to expand...

Yes a band saw usually works best if you have one but I've used jig saws and sawzalls. With the sawzall I ground the back side of the blade down to thin it, allowing me to cut tighter radius corners. Either way I usually pre-drill inside corners with an appropriate sized drill bit, forstner bit or hole saw depending on the size of the curve.
 
  • Like
Reactions: flameworker
#35
Diogenes said:
Only after I divulge the species of wood I used do they begin to talk about how much better the tone would be had I used "tonewoods". :rollno:
Click to expand...

This is something I discovered when I tried a Steinberger Spirit bass. Loved the sound so much that I bought one. Granted, it's all made of maple, but there really isn't much of a body. Electronics seem to have a lot more to do with the tone than the choice of wood.

Getting tired of frets now and I think pine/oak might be a good way to ditch them without going broke (not a big fan of ripping frets out of an instrument)
 
#36
BassmanNate, I'm really glad that I've inspired you at all!

I do my bodies in this order:

Glue blank way too big
trace pattern
draw centerline accordingly
trim edges and corners on table saw
trim more with handsaw
clean up with scroll saw (weird, I know)
sand to line using Oscillating spindle sander.

Oak is a beautiful wood to work with for necks, but only if you know what you want (like all woods). The only tool I use for shaping the neck is a rasp that I found in my grandfather's basement. I don't use fancy templates or calipers, just draw a centerline and work about 5 inches at a time on either side, switching ends of the neck and working towards eachother, then straighten according to a very long ruler I own.

I find that the hardness of the oak really kinda' counter-acts (for lack of a better word) the softness of the pine when it comes to sound. In my prior build (jazz bass, two single coils) it made the bridge pickup sound closer to the neck, and the neck soudn closer to a double bass.
I'm really not a picky person, I just use what I have. (it happens to be a lot because I build canoes, and a lot of other fine things, but still...).

OK, my turn to stop rambling.

if you have any other questions about anything, PM me or something. if you want sound clips from the jazz bass, let me know so I can record some.
 
#37
This sounds like a good summer project! Now, I just have to find a bass to trace since the only thing I have at the moment is the Steinberger. While it's functional and I like the sound, it's ugly quite frankly. I'm also not very good a free hand drawing things in proportion.

Sound clips would be great! I've been really curious how this sounds when reading through your threads!
 
#38
I have now shaped a form of very small volute on the back of the neck. I wouldn't even call it that, more like a "flourish" where the headstock merges into the neck, and I reshaped the whole neck. a lot narrower front-back. same size across, though.

ordered the rest of my parts today from stu-mac - should be here in 1-4 weeks, hah.

hipshot tuners.. my first time using them.

this is the best neck I've ever done... just sayin'.


pictures tomorrow, for the few who might care.
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back