Bass number two (にばん): the blue growler

[a2k]

After a month off to play the new koi bass, I'm ready to dive into the next project. The plan is to do a P Bass with a few twists. While the Koi is a "swiss army knife" do-it-all bass, this next one is going to be purpose-built. I'm going for a more aggressive, biting sound and a feel that inspires you to rock out. I'd also like to keep the build a little simpler and use it as a chance to focus on improving my skills and striving for really dialing in the quality of my work. 

Here are the details of the project (as they currently exist in my head):

• P Bass body and neck shape (final headstock shape still TBD)
• Ash body dyed blue and varnished
• Wood pick guard made of quilted maple
• Flame maple neck (hopefully one piece - more on that in a minute)
• Birds-eye maple fingerboard
• Clover style Hipshot tuners
• Vintage style Gotoh bridge
• EMG Geezer Butler P passive pickups
• Stainless steel frets

My thinking is that the pickups, steel frets, and maple neck are all going to give it a brighter, cutting sound. The P shape and the translucent Ash body will keep it grounded in rock-n-roll tradition, and the three different maple figures will give it a little visual pop to keep it from looking like "just another P bass". 

Most of the hardware has been ordered (and arrived). I've got the fingerboard (I decided to get a pre-slotted one - that was my least favorite part of the last build and now that I can say I've done it, I feel okay not cutting the slots). Now I just need to get the neck and body wood.

Last week I headed back to Shinkiba for some wood shopping. I stopped off at the exotic wood shop to check out the selection but they didn't have anything the right size so I headed down the street to talk with the same guys I got the wood from last time. Here they are literally calling around for me to see about what they had that might work.

They had a few big pieces of ash for me to choose from but had to call around for maple. They emailed me a couple options. They are wide enough to make the entire neck (including headstock) out of one piece, but are flat sawn and I'm a little worried about stability.

Here's the other side:

You can see from the first picture that the piece is pretty symmetrical and from the middle of the cut - my gut tells me it'll be okay, but I'm not sure. I've heard some people will rip a piece like this into three sections and flip the middle one, but I'm really hoping to keep this one piece. Admittedly, my reasoning for this is purely aesthetic, so I'll give if I have to. Any thoughts? 

I ordered a template to work from - my plan for this week is to make a copy of it on thicker 20mm MDF. I'll be back in the shop tomorrow!

[Prostheta]

Depends on what you term as "stable". On one hand you have resistance to string tension which you'd call "stiffness". There's movement in response to changes in relative atmospheric humidity, where the wood takes on moisture or loses it and hence expands/contracts along the three directions within wood. You've also got internal tension, where the wood might be in a stable shape now but starts to twist/crook/bow when you cut into it.

Some species tend to be generally more stable than others. Birch does a lot of its movement early in its life and becomes extremely stable in use. Different woods can be fickle. Most of the flamed Birch laminates I cut up a few weeks ago decided to bow on me after milling. I kind of expected that since I noted a lot of spiralling grain in the flame.

Flatsawn doesn't mean that it isn't usable or of a lower standard than quartersawn. Fenders have been flatsawn since forever. My 1951-5 P-Bass has a flatsawn neck and that is still super perfect. Flatsawn is just a different cut. Symmetry matters far more.

Did you get any assurances on the moisture content of the wood, when it was milled, how and for how long it has been seasoned, etc? If it was air-dried then give it a month indoors to figure out what living indoors is like. If it was kiln-dried I would do the same, but I would also look at how quickly it was dried. We pulled a trolley of Pine out of the kiln a few weeks back, and whoever set the programme did it too quickly for the thickness. The centre contained more moisture than the outside so it had craploads of surface checking. It also meant that the load needs more time to acclimate. I doubt this will apply since you got it from a top-class source. It still needs its honeymoon though.

It's just a lot of questions that you might feel uncomfortable asking the bods in the warehouse to check up for you. I get that because I have the same difficulties here with Finnish/English language and sawmills sometimes.

It sounds like a great project, and I'll be following this one closely. Get the board indoors and see what it does. If there is sufficient excess on the piece, then there's no harm in lightly milling it nominally square and seeing what it does for a couple of weeks. A Fender-thickness neck blank does its thing pretty quickly if anything at all in my experience. It's thin enough to move over a period of days rather than months. The nominally-square milling helps you monitor that.

I can't say that any of this (aside from the basic facts about movement, etc.) is best practice or treating wood with kid gloves too much. I tend to err on the side of caution, because ultimately the wood will do what it wants. Give it time to throw its toys around the room. 

[ScottR]

I read some research a few months ago that stated flat-sawn was actually stiffer and more resistant to string pull than quarter-sawn. Fender may have actually chosen to do this for reasons other than economy.

SR

[Prostheta]

I'm on the other side of the argument on that one. I believe that economy would have won out in that decision making rather than an engineering decision. Flatsawn produces more from the log if I'm right in thinking. I've heard "studies" both ways about stiffness, and they might both be right in certain aspects. Good consistent clear wood is always best in any instance.

[ScottR]

Based on everything else Leo did, you are probably correct.

SR

[a2k]

Thanks guys. I'm seeing if I can get details on the moisture content and drying procedure of the maple. I'll probably end up buying both pieces, milling them down a little bit, and then letting them sit while I get the body squared away. The pieces are 160 x 33 x 1000 mm so there's a little wiggle room. 

Speaking of dimensions - anybody know where I can find a side view drawing of a P bass? I've got the outline covered with the template, but could use a little help fast-tracking the depths of things.  

[a2k]

Okay, I've got some more detail from the wood guys. The maple followed me over from America. It was kiln dried there and currently shows moisture content of 13-14%. They say under 15% is good, though I had previously heard 10% is the target. Any insight here?

Also, the ash is white ash, not swamp ash (I know... same species but lighter). It's dry at 10%, but also fairly heavy. They have some tamo ash from Russia that they say is lighter but significantly more expensive. I'm waiting on a price. 

In the meantime, I'm off to copy some templates. 

[Prostheta]

Sounds like it was stored outside in a lumber warehouse or covered stack. I'd bring it indoors and let it acclimate for a couple of weeks. A high moisture content like that should be brought down to between 7-10%. Having it in your home for a couple of weeks manages this. The temperature and humidity in my own workshop right now is (let me check) 21,8°C/71,2°F at 41%. Wood stored there reaches about 7-8% if left long enough. 15% sounds to me like it was stored in a place around 80% RH. Is it the wet season out there right now?

No need to mill it yet really. Let it sit in front of the TV for a couple of weeks. Preferably flat and not in direct sunlight and with airflow around all sides. This should bring the moisture down to what we're aiming for. Once good to use, mill it and see if it does anything for a few days.

I do tend to baby my lumber though. There's only good things that come from letting the wood work out its personal issues in its own time.

[verhoevenc]

I believe you are correct Scott. I too in my head remember reading many places that flatsawn is more stable and stiff than quartersawn... IN MAPLE. That's the kicker. I believe this is a specific quality of maple's, not a generality.

Chris

[ScottR]

Now that's interesting. I was indeed reading about maple necks, but don't recall that distinction being made. I can certainly see how it could be true though, given the huge variety of differences in timber.

SR

[a2k]

Wood delivery day! Christmas in May! I went ahead and picked up both pieces of the flame maple as well as the ash, and I also got some walnut because that extra piece of maple's gonna need a body someday (and planing walnut is one of my top 10 favorite things to do in my free time).

The pieces are bigger than promised - body pieces came in at a little over 3"x9"x48". Could be enough for four bodies if I put tops on them, or maybe two without tops and two with. Gotta see how much needs to come off to clean up the wood. 

The maple neck pieces are 1 3/8" x 6 1/2" x 39". Probably a bad idea to try to squeeze more than 1 neck out of each piece, but I'll see. Maybe I can get enough scrap for a guitar. Anyway, the figure in the maple looks pretty nice. Hard to really tell given how rough it is right now, but I sanded down a bit to see what I can find. Here's what it looks like wet:

Now that I've got them wet, they are tucked away in my office to dry while I focus on the body. 

In them meantime, I haven't been totally slacking. I've gotten about half of my templates copied, and I put my fret leveling tools to use on a friend's guitar. He'd worn channels in the frets to the point where it was more buzz than note. I had to take the frets down quite a bit, but I got the guitar playable again. The C on the A string still has a slight buzz, but I didn't want to go too far. Plus who needs a C.

Action shots:

It was good to get back in the shop last week, even if it was just to copy templates and file frets. It's sorta like meditation where I HAVE to keep my mind clear from distractions.

Progress will pick up, as will the questions.

Edited May 31, 2016 by a2k
typo - I probably should proofread before hitting save.

[Prostheta]

Very nice "addition to the family"!

Great to see that you're copying your templates onto other stock rather than using them directly. Especially those neck templates!

[a2k]

Okay! Things go a lot faster when you have the wood in hand.

Day 1: I got in the shop yesterday and today and made some good progress. I got my ash planed down to size, squared up, and glued.

Day 2: Planed down to final thickness (going a little thin for weight reduction - 1.5") and rough cut. 

Lots of action shots!

The planer doing it's thing. I love how it turns rough wood into beautiful material. 

I'd never really admired ash before - I always thought if it as a "lesser" wood meant to be hidden under finish. My opinion is totally changed.

Fresh new saw blade, squared and ready (thanks to the shop staff!).

Edges so crisp you could cut yourself on them (not kidding).

Glue applied.

Glue clamped. Given @Prostheta's ongoing reminders about using enough pressure, I cranked these things down tight.

The result - the only way to find the seam is to follow the grain closely.

I used the washer trick for outlining that I learned here (one of many many things I've learned here so far). 

Okay, here's the plan: stay OUTSIDE the red line and INSIDE the pencil line. Got it? Okay, let's go.

I like how the end grain makes a sine wave.

And finally, here's a self portrait all geared up. I got myself a fancy mask to keep all of these particles out of my lungs. 

This feels like a lot of progress for two shop sessions! Next week I'll get out the router and clean up against the template, get the pickup and control cavities cleared, and then MAYBE get the neck pocket routed. We'll see. Anyway, it's good to be back at it.

[Prostheta]

Looking good! The growth ring orientation of the two halves is a bit weird, but cosmetically looks fantastic. Just keep checking it for flatness as there's a fair amount of curve in them.

I have one of those photos too! This was milling Aspen logs for a wood building a few years back in near freezing temps. 

[SIMpleONe89]

Looking good! I like ash. 

[Prostheta]

Totally!

"I don't like Ash....."
"Ah, so you've not used Ash then?" 

[a2k]

1 hour ago, Prostheta said:

Looking good! The growth ring orientation of the two halves is a bit weird, but cosmetically looks fantastic. Just keep checking it for flatness as there's a fair amount of curve in them.

I have one of those photos too! This was milling Aspen logs for a wood building a few years back in near freezing temps. 

Love the pic!

As for the growth rings, I thought it looked cool so I went for it, but I hope I don't end up on the wrong side of the "form vs. function" equation. 

[Prostheta]

I think to be honest, it's not so important for a body as it is for a neck. If it moves, it'll move weirdly as opposed to symmetrically. The areas of largest movement are out at the edges, so at least that is less important than pretzeling in the middle!

[ScottR]

The cool thing about wood is, you can take just about any piece of any species, and with a little care and cleverness, shape and polish it up into something beautiful.

SR

[Prostheta]

Unless its Basswood.

[ScottR]

Definitely a bigger challenge. I'm not sure why it ever became prized for guitars, but it is highly prized for carving.  I'll bet you could coax a fascinating shape out of it and with the proper application of some burnishing and oil achieve a modest glow.

SR

[badger6]

4 hours ago, Prostheta said:

Unless its Basswood.

Just gotta be lazy, inexperienced, and patient with basswood. Like me, hahahaha.

[Prostheta]

Similar to what Scott says about the ease of carving, it does help cut your teeth on building. It makes great kerfed linings too IIRC.

[ScottR]

Haha- While it is truly prized for carving.....I've never carved it, in spite of what I said. I like the way the harder woods look all polished up. I still think it could be made to look nice......but I suppose I ought to get a piece and put it to the test.

SR

[a2k]

I'm glad I have a safe place to go to share my enthusiasm for ash*. I excitedly showed my wife pictures of the grain and just got that "you've got to be kidding" look. 

 

 

 

*my inner beavis & butthead want me to be very careful about using the words "enthusiasm" and "wood" in the same sentence.