I've been thinking about creating a projectbass. It's gonna be a flying v Any suggestions as to what kind of wood to use, where to get it from and how much it'll cost, would be apreciated. I've gutted an old ibanez p/j bass and bought a new neck from rog, so now all I need is the body and some patience.
Yep, it probably would be they way. I have all kinds of useful woods to choose from. I do thicknessed and joined body blanks or if you want to save some time and money on tools, I can do a blank with pre-routed holes that you just need to cut out the outline and start sanding.
Body blanks start at $60. Kauri is a good choice, but I have maple, alder, mahogany, rimu, etc etc...
Rog wrote:I used to use Matai, Rimu or Kauri and got the planks from a local sawmill for bugger all money.
Ash, as a matter of interest, could a body be made (and still work) from a cross cut section, rather than long cut? Sorta like a coffee table?
Can't get Kauri, Rimu or Matai for bugger all money anymore, unfortunately!! Its all priced higher than rare exotics from all corners of the World in many cases.
You can make a crossgrain guitar, but you're giving away lots of stiffness and thus sustain. It would also invite a big split through one of the pickup holes if you bumped it firmly enough under full string tension.
One of my weekend experimental guitars is a chambered acoustic/electric hybrid where the back is made up of a mosaic of Oak and Kauri in the pattern of the Hamilton tartan. It has a Kauri top conventionally oriented to hold it all together, so strength isn't a big concern. It probably won't sound as nice as solid wood though, but thats not the point of the exercise.
Ash, I was just imagining a 'different' grain finish for those who like grain finishes. I suppose one could use a veneer top of cross cut over a length cut body ... it'd be easier for Zakk to get his concentric circle design.
He hit a chord that rocked the spinet and disappeared into the infinite ...
Rog wrote:Ash, I was just imagining a 'different' grain finish for those who like grain finishes. I suppose one could use a veneer top of cross cut over a length cut body ... it'd be easier for Zakk to get his concentric circle design.
There's no reason why that wouldn't work. A veneer is thin enough not to influence strength noticably. Although veneers off table slabs are a bit hard to come by, and ridiculously fragile to handle. A carefully arranged centre-end joined pair of flitch cut ash or mahogany veneers would resemble tightly flamed maple to the unwashed eye at a fraction of the cost.
That's enough info to make a wild guess, but it still leaves an awful lot of options unspecified. My spec sheet for custom guitars has about 60 items to specify and 95 steps. You just covered about 10 of those
The wild guess would be about $1000 plus or minus up to $500
I should make a thread explaining the detail involved in making a quote. I'll do that later.
Any suggestions as to what kind of wood to use, where to get it from and how much it'll cost, would be apreciated. I've gutted an old ibanez p/j bass and bought a new neck from rog, so now all I need is the body and some patience.
? Thought you didn't like natural finishes Rog?
