size for bass body blank

[Chris_H]

Quick question here.. How long is enough for a 35" scale bass with an upper horn that extends pretty far. I know this is a 'fuzzy' question, but.. I bought this piece of Mahogany last week, 12' long, 12/4, by 14" wide, with the intention of a body for a new bass build, as well as some other projects. It is sitting in the middle of my shop floor, as I have not wanted to rack it yet since it would be easier to cut off the blank now. I do not want to cut it too short, and do not have time to do my body drawings today. I have an idea, but have never built a bass before. This is precious wood, and I do not want to waste it. Don't want tio cut it too short, and I plan a longish upper horn, but I do not want to cut it 3 " too long either..

Much thanks for experienced answers.

Cheers all!

 

[HaMMerHeD]

22" long, 14" wide, 1.75" thick should do the trick.

 

[Chris_H]

Thats what I was thinking... Thank you Hammerhed! you saved me from moving this big thing more than I need to. Time to cut some wood, the first cut for this bass!

 

[tjclem]

I think some of mine are 22.5 but 22 ought to be ok.

 

[tjclem]

12/4 is cool stuff that is what i use for my heavily chambered basses.

 

[Chris_H]

Well I cut it to 43", so I can easily get 2 longer blanks from it by flipping the pattern.

As I resawed it, first I did a test of cutting 1" off the end to rip it in half and see if case hardening had caused any issues, as I do not know if it was kiln dried or not, suspect it was. It looks like it was milled a long time ago. It was a stash board in someones collection, I believe he was a boat builder. It did not cup when ripped, well very barely, about 1mm in 14". Thinking about it though, I am putting a top on it, and, from an engineering standpoint, it should have a back, to balance the laminate.

Any thoughts on this?

The board is very fully cured, and very dimensionally stable. However, putting a veneer on one side will unbalance it. Is an epoxy fill, not way too thick nitro finish enough to hope that this will not warp in time? Should I pay attention to which side is up and design it so the (theoretical) convex side is up? Should I put a back on it too?

Cheers