The FireDragon Triplets

[Count Bassie]

Don't know I've just hinted at some feedback from someone who has made one first build

Went to see. Looks pretty nice! I want to hear what it sounds like now.

The bass player with Bill Kirchen (wrote "Hot Rod Lincoln", soon after made a hit by Jerry Reed) played a Pine body Tele bass when they came to RI to do some shows. Unfortunately I never go anywhere except to play, but the buzz came back that he had an outstanding deep growl to his tone. This was likely facilitated by a Genz-Benz Shuttle 9.0 bass rig, but I don't figure that defined his bass' tone.

 

[Count Bassie]

Gibson made a Chet Atkins model guitar from knotty Pine... big body jazz-style thing.

 

[Christine]

Not much of a start but this is the wood I have in for these builds, messy workshop, I will have a good clean up before I start work again. I'm going to call CapitalCrispin on Monday and see what they can do in the way of constructional veneers for use as contrasting laminates in the neck. Gibson use Walnut or black Walnut as it's known in the UK but I'm tempted to go for something like Beech or Maple/Sycamore. Again Gibson use four Walnut laminates, I think I'm going to add another one dead centre to make it a total of 11 laminates for the centre section

So without further ado.... the wood!! Doesn't look like three new basses does it?

 

[Gilmourisgod]

Christine
If you make a laminate neck does it even need a scarf joint or volute? Not sure on the mechanics, but would alternating the grain if the neck pieces, plus all the glue, eliminate the short grain issue?

 

[Christine]

Christine
If you make a laminate neck does it even need a scarf joint or volute? Nit sure in the mechanics, but would alternating the grain if the neck pieces, plus all the glue, eliminate the short grain issue?

It's got to be stronger but I'm still doing a scarf joint and a volute. It's got to be better with a scarf joint and the volute has grown on me at least visually

 

[Gilmourisgod]

Yeah! I love the look of a volute, don’t know why some people don’t want them. It’s sculptural, functional, and give me position marker of sorts.

 

[Jisch]

I love making a volute. I always start with this huge, ugly lump of wood on the back of the neck, it's really rewarding to bring that into a cool shape.

 

[Christine]

I got a little done today, just prep work. Ripped up the neck laminates and took a bit of wood off the wing blanks with the planer/thicknesser. There are a couple of patches on the wing wood that are a bit plain looking so they will go into mine as that will be veneered so it will never be seen. I've stacked them on sticks to breath and settle for a few days until the constructional veneers arrive (which I'll order tomorrow)

I did re stack the wing blanks better than that, I just laid them out like that to show you

 

[Flamingo21]

I did re stack the wing blanks better than that, I just laid them out like that to show you

We're to believe that?

 

[Christine]

We're to believe that?

Yes

 

[Christine]

One of the nice things sometimes about making thing on spec is being able to change your mind and I think I'm just about to do that. I think this morning you have to imagine a me digging a pair of high heels into the ground and doing a U turn, what is she going on about you may ask?

The trouble with buying Mahogany is sometimes you look at a board when buying it and it looks wonderful, just what you need but once you plane it clean it looks, well, just dull and sometimes you see a board and think straight grained and uninteresting, it will be ideal for framing (being a furniture maker) and you plane it resolving a surface that blows you away! As I said yesterday, the wood for the wings isn't quite what I hoped for, it's OK but not what I hoped for. After sleeping on it, the thought not the wood I have come to the conclusion that for a hand made bass with my mark on it, it's not really good enough, as a timber it's good but just visually no.

I had already decided that my bass in this trio would have a quilted Maple veneer on the front with a candy apple red burst fading into transparent red spray job with a Satinwood fretboard. Now I have already ordered the Rocklite Ebano fretboards for the other two, so I don't think Maple is the right wood for those, just wrong to me somehow, a contrast too far. I have decided then to veneer the fronts of the other two in Macassar Ebony and possibly the backs too depending on the final shape of them and thickness.

You may be and quite rightly be thinking two things at this moment, the first being why not use a solid laminated top not a veneer; well the solid top introduces a distinct lamination which is a tone changer and that I don't want to do, there is nothing wrong with the tone on a thunderbird as is and it will mean cutting quite heavily into the centre piece of the body. Whilst that isn't a bad thing depending on how you design it but on a Thunderbird type thing? The other and more pertinent here is veneering a white of black wood which is only 0.6mm thick onto a red wood is going to look a little odd as well as having some vulnerable edges. How do we get around that, well we hide it somehow, we could use a binding, which I've been mulling over for a while. Imaging a Thunderbird with a decorative binding, it would be like seeing Joan Jett in a pink tutu! The other way is to blend it into the radius of the edges of the body so it is smooth and then paint over it as a burst so the edges are hidden, better I think? So that is the way I'm going, a candy apple red (over gold) for me and a black burst for the other two.

So now we have a new plan, not what I envisaged but I think it's better than my original and certainly adds a different look to a classic design. I am open to discussion on the colour of the burst on the Ebony pair if you feel you have a better idea

 

[EddiePlaysBass]

Why? Did you see my last build? The Les Paul Twins

I read the LP Twins thread with great interest. I'm not handy, nor a native English speaker so some terms had me at a loss. Having said that, it was a very interesting journey! If your basses are as compelling as your writing is, I may end up needing one!

 

[Christine]

I read the LP Twins thread with great interest. I'm not handy, nor a native English speaker so some terms had me at a loss. Having said that, it was a very interesting journey! If your basses are as compelling as your writing is, I may end up needing one!

Thank you, that is very kind. My writing isn't that good, I'm afraid it is a skill I lack along with a large dose of dyslexia. My writing either comes over as me being very daft or overly serious whereas I'm not either, just the shyest person on this planet as unlikely as that may sound sometimes

 

[GonePlaid]

Accents are great aren't they, well apart from Birmingham UK of course

Huh?

 

[GonePlaid]

I want to buy some cheeeeese!

The trouble with Fir is that it expands and contracts much faster than things like Maple, so you may get some delamination or at the very least some telegraphing at the join on the edges. Not impossible though

Would the pressure treating make a difference?

 

[Christine]

Would the pressure treating make a difference?

I doubt it, it isn't a resin or anything it's just a copper based preservative that is forced about 1/4" deep so just some chemicals once dry. I suspect it's just the very fibrous nature of the wood and I mean fibrous almost like coconut husk

 

[Christine]

So what has been happening in the land of dragons and ladies in tall black hats today?

Following on from stacking wood yesterday afternoon I realised all my stacking sticks had disappeared, so I made some more and restacked my stash A word about stacking wood for those who don't know or want to know how to stack wood properly. Basically it needs to be on a flat service top of accurately machined battens (sticks) with all subsequent battens on top of the last so there is no bending load on the timber. This lets it breath and settle without added strain

After that, well there wasn't much I could do but I had a look for some Satinwood fretboard blanks I hid about 15 years ago for this very build or more accurately dream of a build. Then I gave it a bit of a plane to check how it looked, the answer was great. Satinwood is hard and interlocked, it is the most difficult wood I have ever worked with, thankfully this piece wasn't too bad but the face will just be routed then sanded to shape so it won't be a problem. Then I had a hunt through some old bandsaw cut veneers to use for binding and blocks for the fretboard. This is them with a wipe of white spirit on them to give an idea of how they will look

Out of interest to those who think wood isn't really that absorbent. That veneer was 2.76mm thick as you can see but if you look at the back you can see how the white spirit has soaked through the spring growth

Quite amazing don't you think?

Well I've run out of picture space so next

 

[Christine]

Once I'd selected the piece I ripped off 2 8mm strips for use as binding and kept an off cut to use for inlay blocks. I marked a pencil line down one side for orientation while working with the piece, then I ripped it to the width of the widest block (19th), planed the edge marked it then sawed off the inlay with an old (yes I mean old LOL) Ulmina mitre saw and then ripped the blank down to the width of the next widest inlay (the 17th), planed it and so on. This will give me consecutive inlay blocks from the same piece, I doubt it matters but that's how I like to work so that's how it happens

And just for fun

 

[EddiePlaysBass]

Thank you, that is very kind. My writing isn't that good, I'm afraid it is a skill I lack along with a large dose of dyslexia. My writing either comes over as me being very daft or overly serious whereas I'm not either, just the shyest person on this planet as unlikely as that may sound sometimes

Well, you clearly know your woodworking and your passion shines through in these updates. We'll have to agree to disagree on the quality of your writing, therefore :-D

 

[GonePlaid]

Once I'd selected the piece I ripped off 2 8mm strips for use as binding and kept an off cut to use for inlay blocks. I marked a pencil line down one side for orientation while working with the piece, then I ripped it to the width of the widest block (19th), planed the edge marked it then sawed off the inlay with an old (yes I mean old LOL) Ulmina mitre saw and then ripped the blank down to the width of the next widest inlay (the 17th), planed it and so on. This will give me consecutive inlay blocks from the same piece, I doubt it matters but that's how I like to work so that's how it happens

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And just for fun
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I really wish you'd be more thorough.<EDIT> It occurs to me, thorough-good!