zeegeit Posted January 31, 2006 Report Share Posted January 31, 2006 Hey guys! At the moment, I'm seriously thinking about trying my hand at building a fretless bass guitar. I'm still in the process of planning everything and sorting out what parts I need, and at the moment I'm thinking of what wood to use. Quite some months ago, I bought a piece of wood at our local Gamma (the Dutch version of Home Depot, I guess), from the hardwood rack. It's a nice piece of wood, I already built a lapsteel guitar out of it. Anyway, I was left with about 1.15 meters of hardwood. Something had to be done with it. The only "problem" I have right now, is that I'm not sure what kind of wood this is. Many people say Gamma hardwood is all meranti, but yesterday I went to the Gamma, and I saw all kinds of hardwoods (ranging from something that looked a lot like alder to something that allmost looked as dark as wenge, with very weird grains). I remember that when I bought "my" piece of hardwood, there were a lot of different boards as well. I found various pictures of hardwoods, including meranti and mahogany. I think the board looks a bit like meranti (Meranti from AF) but it looks a lot like this mahogany(Sipo mahogany from AF) as well ...so I'm not completely sure what it is anymore. I'm not a wood expert, but I know some people around here know a lot about wood, so my question to them is: Have you got any idea what kind of wood this is? thanks! Jaap Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattia Posted January 31, 2006 Report Share Posted January 31, 2006 (edited) Honestly, that looks nothing like any Sipo (or Sapele, or Khaya, or any of the Swetinia mahoganies I've seen). The mahoganies all have fairly interlocking grain lines, some coarser, some finer, none quite so bold in colour or texture. Some Khaya has some striking lines through it, but again, this looks very un-mahogayesque. I'd guess it's meranti, given the fact you got it at Gamma. Remember that 'Meranti' is a collective name for a very large number of Shorea family trees, and can vary from heavy and hard (dark red Meranti) to much, much softer stuff, like yellow meranti, which is very pale. I've never seen Gamma, Praxis or any of the other Dutch DIY places stock much of anything other than meranti and occasional 'mystery wood', certainly no Wenge (which is black-chocolate brown, and very heavy, and not cheap enough to be found at Gamma, IMO). There's a chance it might be Merbau (similar-ish coloration, generally quite a lot heavier) but honestly, Meranti seems the most likely candidate, given its widespread distribution and relatively low cost. Edited January 31, 2006 by mattia Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zeegeit Posted January 31, 2006 Author Report Share Posted January 31, 2006 Honestly, that looks nothing like any Sipo (or Sapele, or Khaya, or any of the Swetinia mahoganies I've seen). The mahoganies all have fairly interlocking grain lines, some coarser, some finer, none quite so bold in colour or texture. Some Khaya has some striking lines through it, but again, very different look. I'll bet its meranti, given the fact you got it at Gamma. Remember that 'Meranti' is a collective name for a very large number of Shorea family trees, and can vary from heavy and hard (dark red Meranti) to much, much softer stuff, like yellow meranti, which is very pale. I've never seen Gamma, Praxis or any of the other Dutch DIY places stock much of anything other than meranti and occasional 'mystery wood', certainly no Wenge (which is black-chocolate brown, and very heavy, and not cheap enough to be found at Gamma, IMO). There's a tiny chance it might be Merbau, but honestly, Meranti seems the most likely candidate, given its widespread use and relatively low cost. ok, well the only reason I thought it might be mahogany, was that I thought the picture I'd found of it kinda looked like the piece of wood I bought. I guess it's meranti then. About the mystery wood..do you have any idea what it could be? I saw a nice piece of it, but I don't know what kind of wood it is either. Anyway, is it possible to use these woods for a bass, or would you really recommend I get some other wood? The piece of wood is quite heavy and hard (it's just a tad lighter than my jazz bass) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ledzendrix1128 Posted January 31, 2006 Report Share Posted January 31, 2006 (edited) It looks like Oak to me, with a little bit of oil finish on it or somethin. The grain is pretty predominate in there like some oak ive seen looking at it again, im not so sure, i have never seen meranti before, so i cant judge that Edited January 31, 2006 by Ledzendrix1128 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigdguitars Posted January 31, 2006 Report Share Posted January 31, 2006 thats brazilian cherry jobota. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattia Posted January 31, 2006 Report Share Posted January 31, 2006 (edited) I have no clue what your other 'mystery wood' could be, sorry. I suppose meranti could be used for a bass body, in any event, and I've heard of a few people using it successfully. It can be fairly 'splitty' wood (in my very limited experience with the stuff), and I've heard too many horror stories about it to consider using it as a neck wood. If you're OK with the weight, it should be fine. Derek: if that's Jatoba, I'd think it'd be pretty damn heavy. The lightest of the stuff is as heavy as the heaviest African mahogany you're likely to find, most of it heavier. I've seen people mention using it for fretboards, even. Edited January 31, 2006 by mattia Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zeegeit Posted January 31, 2006 Author Report Share Posted January 31, 2006 Hm..ok well, whether it's meranti or not (although the pictures I saw of jatoba make sense as well, plus the fact that the piece of wood IS indeed "quite" heavy , so who knows), I'll probably try to use it in my neck anyway. I'm thinking about making a laminate neck, would that make any difference? By laminating it, I hope to reinforce it some more, and also make it look prettier. I've noticed that sawing the wood doesn't cause it to splinter at all, and neither does routing it. It does , however, start to complain (by splintering) if you drill at strange angles (don't ask ) but other than that, I haven't had a lot of problems with it so far. I guess I'll just go ahead with it, and see where my luck ends. If the sawing and routing works out like it did on my lap steel, I guess my luck will last jaap Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Mailloux Posted January 31, 2006 Report Share Posted January 31, 2006 I've never seen any other hardwoods at Gamma than Meranti and that sure looks like it. If I were you I'd just go to the A'dam or Arnhem Fijnhouthandel and get proper woods. Keep the meranti for colored laminate accents. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zeegeit Posted January 31, 2006 Author Report Share Posted January 31, 2006 Ok Phil, so you say I'd best find something like maple or mahogany to form the base of the neck? And perhaps use the meranti for body wings/decorative laminate within the neck? (not entirely sure if that's what you meant?) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattia Posted January 31, 2006 Report Share Posted January 31, 2006 Ok Phil, so you say I'd best find something like maple or mahogany to form the base of the neck? And perhaps use the meranti for body wings/decorative laminate within the neck? (not entirely sure if that's what you meant?) I'd say yes to that. Plain, flatsawn, 1" maple stock isn't terribly expensive, even in NL. I'm probably heading up to the AFH (Amsterdam) tomorrow, just because I haven't been wood shopping for a while. And I'm getting paid soon. Bad, bad, dangerous combo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zeegeit Posted January 31, 2006 Author Report Share Posted January 31, 2006 Hahaha I recognise the feeling . One of the reasons I'm building this bass now is because I actually have the money to do it now . Anyways, I have no experience whatsoever with wood prices. If I would want to buy say.. 3 maple boards sized 1" by 3" by 45" and 2 bubinga boards sized 1" by 3" by 45" what would that cost, approximately? Because I think these woods look kind of nice, although I don't know what would happen to tone if you'd put them together.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattia Posted January 31, 2006 Report Share Posted January 31, 2006 Hahaha I recognise the feeling . One of the reasons I'm building this bass now is because I actually have the money to do it now . Anyways, I have no experience whatsoever with wood prices. If I would want to buy say.. 3 maple boards sized 1" by 3" by 45" and 2 bubinga boards sized 1" by 3" by 45" what would that cost, approximately? Because I think these woods look kind of nice, although I don't know what would happen to tone if you'd put them together.. I have very little room here, but lots and lots of wood. I'm not entirely sure where I'd put more of the stuff, but that's hardly going to stop me. I'm thinkin' some white Limba is in order, if they've got boards wide enough for what I want... Anyway, for the record, I got a .75" (well, like 22mm..planed down from 1" raw stock) by 8" wide x 7' flatsawn rock maple board, light flame in some of it, for about 26-27 euros including tax. Bubinga's generally a hair cheaper than rock maple over here, I believe, but pretty much the same sort of ballpark. The 'problem' with the Amsterdamsche Fijnhouthandel and such is that for the best deal, you're usually best off getting a whole board. That's not a bad thing per se, mind you, but it is something to keep in mind ;-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Mailloux Posted February 1, 2006 Report Share Posted February 1, 2006 Ok Phil, so you say I'd best find something like maple or mahogany to form the base of the neck? And perhaps use the meranti for body wings/decorative laminate within the neck? (not entirely sure if that's what you meant?) Yes, I meant keep the meranti for decorative laminate within the neck. Definitely get rock maple for that neck. I got enough to build two necks a couple of years ago for 20 euro at the Amsterdam FH. You can pretty much get whatever you want there. I wouldn't use the meranti except just as an accent wood. Use something better for your wings like mahogany or whatever else you find thats decent there. Stay away from Gamma or Praxis! At least when it comes to buying hardwood. I've also found a couple of cheap pieces of decent hardwood by looking in the gouden gids and making some phone calls to local wood suppliers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guitar2005 Posted February 1, 2006 Report Share Posted February 1, 2006 Jatoba - Brazillian Cherry. Nice, but heavy wood. Very Dense and stiff. I'm making a birdseye maple neck with a 3/4" jatoba strip and its coming out nice. Very good wood for building necks but if your neck is all Jatoba, it may unbalance the guitar and make it neck heavy. F.M. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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