Wanting to start building basses

[Nydhog]

I actually live about 10 minutes from them. Cool! Thanks man! I assume I'd want to look under their "lumber" selections?

 

[Nydhog]

It seems their minimum quantities are kind of high. "Minimum 80 board feet" for zircote at $10 a board foot.

 

[Hopkins]

It seems their minimum quantities are kind of high. "Minimum 80 board feet" for zircote at $

if you want to visit a lumber supplier that should have better selection and pricing that Home Depot or Lowes, check this place out

Marwood, Inc. - [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

they're in Jefferson, IN (which is about 10 miles across the river from Louisville, KY)

The reason I suggested the poplar 1x8 is that when glued up, it will be the perfect thickness already, with no extra machining required, other than blocking out any minor unevenness from the glue line.

 

[Nydhog]

Ah. Well at some point I'll have to learn to machine things but yeah I may start with the poplar. I will say it appears that Marwood place has some lumbers that are pretty fancy I'd love to experiment with at some point lol.

 

[PJSim]

I've made some stuff out of a countertop like this:
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/20057854/

Here is the thread
http://www.talkbass.com/threads/ikea-builds-shortscale-thinline.1089059/

 

[flameworker]

Hardwood floor places usually have cheap or almost free wood too.

Wood is everywhere. Just today I found an ancient poplar and mohagany dining room table (free), and a slab cut mystery board for 10$. Also found a 8' length of old oak floorboard. If you don't mind getting dirty, old pallets are always available free, you just have to pull out the nails, I have found some unbelievable wood in pallets.

The neck is the hardest part, best bet would probably be to buy a premade one, maybe second hand, check out "loaded necks" on the classifieds here, and on ebay. Also search for "luthier project bass" "project bass" "bass parts", a great way to get started (imO) is to start out building "frankenbasses".
Draw lots of plans.
Learn to do a good setup for sure.

Read everything you can get your hands on.

Whatever you do, start building, don't wait for perfect wood, or great tools. I built my first bass when I was 5 or so with my dad, It was made of a washtub, a shovel handle and some cotton clothesline. He stuck an Sm 57 under it, plugged it into the 2 15 Kustom and I have been hooked on bass and bass building ever since!
Happy Making!

 

[Nydhog]

So wait... for 169 you could get enough wood to make 3 basses out of Beech using ikea counter tops? lol. I kinda wanna do this. I am probably going to start with poplar as money is a little tight at the moment. It's either I buy the countertop and make a bass or I buy the poplar and the new bass I need asap.

 

[the baint]

You can buy an 8' long 1x8 from home depot, cut it into four 24" lengths glue two flat sides together, joint the edges, and glue the edges together. This will give you a perfectly sized body blank to work with for about $20 bucks. If it is a total disaster you aren't out much, if it turns out to be a good instrument, then you know the blank is made from a decent material. This is of course best suited for a solid color instrument.

…

The most useful in a builders arsenal is a router. Don't skimp on this tool, make sure you buy one that has 1/4" and 1/2" collets, most cheaper ones only have 1/4". I strongly recommend Porter-Cable.

There is no such thing as to many clamps

Thanks to @Hopkins suggestion I picked up a board of poplar from Woodcraft this weekend to start my first prototype.

Also heading the advice on routers, I am considering replacing my $25 Craftsman garage-sale-special (1/4" Collet only) with something more powerful. I looked into the venerable Porter Cable 690 I have seen lauded around here, but was surprised to see it is NOT variable-speed. The Bosch 1617EVSPK on the other hand sells for as much and is VS. Do you guys have any insights into a great router between these 2?

 

[Hopkins]

Thanks to @Hopkins suggestion I picked up a board of poplar from Woodcraft this weekend to start my first prototype.

Also heading the advice on routers, I am considering replacing my $25 Craftsman garage-sale-special (1/4" Collet only) with something more powerful. I looked into the venerable Porter Cable 690 I have seen lauded around here, but was surprised to see it is NOT variable-speed. The Bosch 1617EVSPK on the other hand sells for as much and is VS. Do you guys have any insights into a great router between these 2?

The 690 is fine, variable speed is nice when using big round over bits, but for flush trim, and pattern bits, the variable speed isn't necessary. There is always http://www.rockler.com/porter-cable-892-router if the soft start and variable speed is a factor.

 

[Nydhog]

What kind of glue should I use by the way? Titebond 1?

 

[HaMMerHeD]

What kind of glue should I use by the way? Titebond 1?

That's what I use.