Special Edition Build-Off - Sapele and Lacewood

[BishopJP]

Well, it's build-off time.... again.

This build will be the same basic design as my Winter Build-Off; same templates, same hardware, different woods and finishes. My goal is to refine the design a little and hopefully make it a little lighter.
The body will have a sapele back and a lacewood top, maybe chambered. The neck is sapele with a purple heart spine, to (theoretically) make the neck stiffer than sapele would be on it's own.

Not sure, yet, what the fretboard will be, but here area few candidates

Paduak, wenge and zebra wood...

As always, critique and advice are welcome, thanks for looking!

 

[ctmullins]

Dadgum, those are some of my favorite woods!

Some people have mentioned that Sapele tends to twist when used as a neck wood. I’ve not had that happen personally. And the purpleheart strip will help with that, assuming you arranged the two Sapele sides with opposing grain.

 

[BishopJP]

Dadgum, those are some of my favorite woods!

Some people have mentioned that Sapele tends to twist when used as a neck wood. I’ve not had that happen personally. And the purpleheart strip will help with that, assuming you arranged the two Sapele sides with opposing grain.

I hadn't heard that about Sapele! I hope not

The grain of the Sapele is almost vertical. I flipped one piece so the two sides makes a steep "v" towards the back of the neck with the PH in the middle. I was hoping this would make a stable neck, but at my experience level, it's all a crap shoot!

 

[5tring]

I hadn't heard that about Sapele! I hope not

The grain of the Sapele is almost vertical. I flipped one piece so the two sides makes a steep "v" towards the back of the neck with the PH in the middle. I was hoping this would make a stable neck, but at my experience level, it's all a crap shoot!

My neck blank for the build off is exactly the same, Sapele split and flipped to make the good old ‘V’. So if it’s a bad choice we are in it together at least.

 

[ctmullins]

If it helps any, at least one of the naysayers was later exposed as having questionable moral character....

 

[Scoops]

So if it’s a bad choice we are in it together at least.

Hey, you stole my line

I think we are on this journey together

This was my comment to JP in his first build off

 

[BishopJP]

Hey, you stole my line



This was my comment to JP in his first build off

Well, that one worked out ok, so I shall remain optimistic!

 

[BishopJP]

Slowly progressing with this build, again, in snippets before and after work. Bike shops are deemed "essential businesses" as we provide service and support for "personal transportation" so my shop is open and very busy!

I haven't been taking as many progress pics of this project because the process is essentially the same as the Winter Build-Off. In any case...

...not really semi-hollow, just large chambers for weight savings.

I will get the knob layout and the control cavity figured out (probably) before I glue the halves together. The pencil line on the top hints at some carving I have planned....

<dramatic music, fade to black>

 

[postalflunkie]

Oooo that lacewood is gonna make a stunning bass

 

[Dark Horse]

That lacewood is gorgeous

 

[dwizum]

Lacewood and sapele look great together! Something about that combination just screams late-80s-boutique-bass to me. Not sure why.

What hardware do you have in mind?

I think I like the zebrawood the best out of your fretboard choices but they all look great.

 

[BishopJP]

@dwizum I am using the same Gotoh hardware I used for the last build, but in chrome instead of "Cosmo Black".

For some reason, I am drawn to the zebrawood fretboard, as well. Although, I have never milled my own fretboard before, so not sure yet if it will work.

 

[dwizum]

Given how well you've done on other steps on your builds I bet you'll do fine making a fretboard!

 

[BishopJP]

'Preciate that!

 

[BishopJP]

Minimal progress this weekend, but I did manage to make one board into 4 smaller boards

Resawn on the table saw, then run through the planer. All a touch thick (2 at 5/16", 2 at 3/8"); I will let them settle for a bit before taking them down to finish size, just in case there is any movement that I need to mitigate.

I also bought a new bandsaw blade AFTER re-sawwing these. Not sure what the logic was there, I could have used the new bandsaw blade to re-saw these if I had thought ahead. Oh well.

 

[BishopJP]

Still poking along here...

Made some progress on the neck...

Neck blank shaped, routed for truss rod.

Trying out some different methods for this build; I wanted the truss rod channel to be round on the bottom, to better fit the truss rod, so I bought a router bit for that...

I also wanted to better encapsulate the nut at the end of the truss rod, so...

...I drilled a 3/8" hole in a 5/8'x5/8" piece of mahogany

...and routed the neck to accept this little block.

Still some fitting to be done, but I am liking how this turned out! I don't think this detail will have any performance benefits, but it will look cleaner and makes me happy, so worth the effort.

 

[BishopJP]

Ok, so I have a small issue with my project...

I thought I would be all "fancy" and put a layer of black veneer between the top and back layers. I figured the moisture in the glue might cause some curling in the veneer, so I pressed the veneer between the top and the MDF body template and put wax paper between the template and the veneer so it wouldn't stick to the template. I stacked about 150lbs on top to press the sandwich together.

Alas, the veneer came out all wrinkly like it stayed in the tub too long! What did I do wrong?!

If anybody in the LC has any helpful advice, I'm all ears!

 

[Beej]

I've had a similar issue when gluing veneers in the past as well. I prefer to glue it right into the sandwich in the first place, as that will mostly likely keep things flat. If I'm putting it on a flat surface where it will be exposed on top (haven't done that on a bass, but have on furniture) I like a vacuum bag for the even distribution of pressure. I personally only use epoxy glue with veneers, as it does not cause any moisture expansion in the glue up (but I'm a self-confessed epoxy nerd). I also wonder about the pressure used, if a single 150lb weight would be enough? A typical F clamp is around 200-250 psi, and although I don't crank them super tight, I do have around two dozen of them on my glue cauls when I'm gluing up body sandwiches. I'm sure I'm tempting fate, but I've not had a failure in a glue-up with this method yet.

 

[BishopJP]

@Beej thanks for your insight!
I have used a similar set up for gluing veneers previously, but it was paper-backed, cabinet grade veneer and a bit thicker. Oh well, live and learn!

Never used a vacuum bag, though I would like to try it at some point. That might be a useful tool, I'll add it to the list!

I typically use West System epoxy, but I had to get rid of it when I recently moved and haven't gotten any more, yet.

Do you use epoxy for all your glue-up or is it situational?

 

[Beej]

I use epoxy for nearly everything. I like the long open time, and a few of the other properties. That said, I also use CA glue for lots of things, and good old carpenter's glue (aliphatic, not PVA). Re: carpenter's glue, I had a bottle of LMII's instrument glue and that stuff was great, but my bottle is empty and shipping to Canada is ninety billion dollars, so back to off the shelf stuff. I used to use urea formaldehyde doing finish work, but it's cancerous, so no thanks.