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The Plywood Project


kpcrash

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This bass is the product of another thread (see signature) and figured I would post a pic of the completed prototype of the ALL plywood/laminate bass :D. Why? Just to prove the concept of using/making different materials to produce cost effective, good sounding instruments. Religious battles and flame wars can happen elsewhere - this is posted just to see how plywood "can" look in it's natural state as an instrument - not all covered in grain filler/bondo and spray painted. :D

The basics:

Body - Cherry Plywood

Neck - Maple + Walnut + Douglas Fir

Frets - Mahogany or Purpleheart Wood veneer

Nut - Graphite

Hardware - decent no-name or Fender

Electronics - All Parts - (spare parts in my boxes of parts)

plybass2-finish1.jpg

Pickups angled slightly at bottom to make spaces for my fingers as I move up and down, pickup rings are mahogany veneer until I can get some nice black metal ones. Floor is oak.

Next time - angle the headstock a bit more and tighten up the nut slot. Other than that - plays and sounds GREAT!

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Hooray for plywood!

The upperhorn carve going to the neck looks a bit abrupt, but a great crusade and a "result"...the shape looks like it is well balanced and very cool.

This brings to mind another purpose to plywood building...testing prototypes and hardware to get experience before taking the router to expensive lumber. Many would benefit from taking their ideas and creating them in this way...playing them for a bit, tweaking the design as required...being sure that pickup placement, shapes and carves to what that really works in practice...live with a design a little...the build the "real thing"...

However, I think there is potential for plywood guitars...both aesthetically and tonally, if not necessarily traditional in either respect. In particular, laminating your own timber, perhaps the next stage of the project, may well bring some interesting results.

It could also be interesting to see one where plywood is on edge so the whole face and back are striped with the lamination's, like the side...

Anyway...well done...more photos if you please...

pete

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