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Butternut 8 String Bass


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Started another paired octave string project the other day:

8str1.jpg

The body is one piece of butternut, which is closely related to black walnut. It's known locally ( and probably elsewhere ) as "white walnut"

The neck blank, sitting next to it is a very nicely figured piece of cherry, which I got a long time back in a pile of cull lumber from a nearby sawmill. Bigger sawmills often sell bundles of lumber that doesn't meet even the lowest grade for real cheap. It's usually only useful as barn/shed siding, etc., but sometimes you find some good stuff. This was the only usable piece out of several big cherry boards that were figured like this, but completely riddled with ring shake, as often happens when cherry has strong figure. Cherry is generally quite stable, but as figured as this piece is, I will be using a pair of CF rods in attition to a 2 way trussrod.

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Not myself, no. I let the pros handle that part. I buy logs at a local yard, where loggers bring in mixed loads from the woods to sell. There they get graded, sorted, and shipped to various mills. I got the butternut there, as well. They don't get much of either there, and don't have a market for the less common species other than pallet and crosstie mills, so I often find some good stuff there for #3 sawlog prices- 18-22 cents/bf, and since my bandmill typically saws out up to 50% over log scale, my material cost is even less than that. Of course there's time and money involved in hauling and sawing the logs, and all the drying and processing after that. But still.. I end up with some pretty cool wood, and I know where it's been and what's been done to it. :D

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Cool woods, really diggin' that cherry. The more I see cherry the more I want to use it. That figured cherry you have is just gorgeous. I know of a site that sells maples and they sometimes have some wicked figured cherry like that, may have to snack some up. Very cool project and super cool wood choices. Keep the progress coming and the photos, best of luck. J

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Thanks! :D I'm liking it!

Just wish I had a halfway decent camera.

I don't have a heck of a lot of persimmon of any reasonable quality ( It tends to contain a lot of defects ) , but if you really need a piece, and have something interesting to swap, let me know.

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Hey, nice bass! I too am looking forward to seeing how this turns out!

I have to be honest, I don't know if I fully see the draw behind the persimmon. I've never seen a piece in person, so ignorance as to what it looks like in person may be the issue there. It does have a cool texture, I'm just not sure I dig the color. Different strokes.

The inlay, on the other hand, is fabulous! Simple and elegant.

Keep up the great work!

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B)

Thanks for all the positive response!

Xanthus- the inlay stretches from the 5th fret to the 12th, with the wider portions being on the 5,7,9 and 12

Inisheer- just something from my twisted mind. :D:D Kinda inspired by tribal style tattoo work and art nouveau design.

Bassisgreat- Yeah, it's a strange wood. I've been trying to figure out a way to incorporate it into something for a while. When you see the whole thing together, it will make sense.

I'm on a kick of using less commonly used woods right now, especially locally harvested stuff. Persimmon is cool partly because it is in the same genus as ebony ( Diospyrus ) It has a real slick feel to it as well. I may try using it for a fretless board one of these days.

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Ah, I see it now. I thought the middle part would have encircled the 12, but whatever works.

I started out designing it that way, but it left too much room at the top of the board, and I really didn't want more inlay than this on it. This puts it more in proportion, and gives reference to the main positions.

Got the neck glued in last night.

8str4-1.jpg

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Edit: changed pic to link

Edited by orgmorg
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