Curved Body

[meme]

hi all, i'm an italian noob.. so please forgive my english

i have a project, a "curved body" set neck bass.

i don't know if u understand me, so that's a photo that shows what i try to say:

http://www.warwickbass.com/images/thumbcurve.jpg

does anyone knows a procedure to carve or bend a two pieces-body? (i don't think that anyone can bend a 2 inches wood board, but.. i'm really a noob)

i have a W streamer that fit my body like underpants, and i want to reproduce that shape in my new bass.

thankx all

Edited March 16, 2007 by meme

[thegarehanman]

I'm working on a guitar that has the top curved in this manner, but not the back. What I would recommend is drawing the curves on the end of your body blank and routing out as much material as possible in the front and back. Then for the front, use a surform or in-line sander to get the top to a smooth, uniform curve. For the back, you may want to use a disc sander or something similar.

[P90]

Ciao! This might help:

http://projectguitar.ibforums.com/index.php?showtopic=16098

[Mattia]

Just a thought: try a big version of this sort of setup

I use it to do fingerboards, and I'm building a bigger version to do all sorts of arching right now, will post when it's done and tested.

[fryovanni]

Mattia,

If I may, Your solution is far too straight forward and simple. Maybe you could try harder to make your suggestions a little more complicated.

[Hydrogeoman]

Mattia,

If I may, Your solution is far too straight forward and simple. Maybe you could try harder to make your suggestions a little more complicated.

+1 Thanks for that pic Mattia! I know what I am going to be working on this weekend! (large scale version)

I love this forum!

[low end fuzz]

that is a cool jig!

basically a router version of spectors cnc;

one thing that is someimes forgotten is to sink the bridge so it sits flat; and its prolly best to do it before you start shaping; all the routing;

which takes me to a question i had about the control cavity;

i could see sinking the knobs to the right thickness, but is there a way anyone uses to keep them 'on top'?

like have the inside carved on the same slope?

and not by cnc

[Mattia]

that is a cool jig!

basically a router version of spectors cnc;

one thing that is someimes forgotten is to sink the bridge so it sits flat; and its prolly best to do it before you start shaping; all the routing;

which takes me to a question i had about the control cavity;

i could see sinking the knobs to the right thickness, but is there a way anyone uses to keep them 'on top'?

like have the inside carved on the same slope?

and not by cnc

Just drill the holes square to the top after carving. All the way through, thin-ish bit, then use that hole to guide your forstner along through to the back. Alternately, stick a dowel through it so you can orient the body (angled/rigged up) under a drill press, then drill.

I keep knobs 'flat' to my carved tops most of the time, not recessed, and generally just freehand drill/dremel enough space to mount the electronics properly. The hole for the control tells you how deep you've got left to go.

[johnsilver]

+1 Thanks for that pic Mattia! I know what I am going to be working on this weekend! (large scale version)

I love this forum!

++1

I was going to finish up my thicknessing jig this weekend, but now I see I have more work to do.....

Suuuhhhhweeeeeetttt!!!

Thanks Mattia.

[meme]

thank u all guys.

Mattia, i know that jig, i read it somewhere (used for the radius of the fingerboard), but it is a bit complicated for me to set that thing up (in large scale). but i'll try. maybe it will work better on the back, because the curve would be simply circular.

hope in a good precision.

P90, thank for the link, i tried to do a little research, but i found almost nothing.

[Vinny]

Ciao Meme and welcome. I thought a picture could better explain what Garehanman was describing. Glue up your body blank with the curve in mind, carve away the unnecessary wood. -Vinny (Vincenzo!)

[meme]

^^^

thank you Vincenzo.

But my body now is a two pieces blank.

If i were workin' on a neck trough yours would be the better disposition, for saving wood, work, time money; shure.

next work

[cherokee6]

Bongiorno, Meme. If you look into Erno Zwaan's book, Animal Magnetism, half of it is devoted to bass building. He uses a 2 piece body, each with one side cut at about an 80 degree angle and then glued together where the angled sides of each piece meets. This gives about a 20 degree angle to help make the curve. Then he does his shaping. However, as a newbie, Zwaan recommend that you start with a one piece, or glued up flat piece say 2 inches or 51mm thick and carve it out as the others have suggested. Vincenzo e Garhanmann's idea is great. It's harder to do your routing with the pre-angled piece. Caio! - Tomaso

After writing this, I have a strange yearning for some espresso (NOT eXpresso) and biscotti (pronounced bis coat ie!)!

[thegarehanman]

I like knobs that follow the contour of the top. On the body I'm currently working on, I started with a 2" blank, routed and carved the top so there's a curve that's about 3/4" higher in the center than at the edges. I routed my control cavity from the back on the flat surface and went all the way through the front(intentionally). Next I'll be layering a series of veneers, 1/8" thick cocobolo and some veneer marquetry onto the top. This will yield an edge thickness of around 1.5" and a control cavity that has a curved surface on both the top of the guitar and inside the cavity itself.

peace,

russ