"amber Bass" (first Build)

[Xanthus]

Nice granite score there! My dad used to work installing Corian counters and sinks, and those scrap pieces are as flat as can be! I'd have sent you a rectangle sanding block for the price of S&H

I think that if the figure holds up when you finish sanding it, the "cap" technique could work, if you don't mind having flat edges instead of the roundover. Good luck!

[SJE-Guitars]

I just got off of the phone with gilmer, and I have to admit, his explanation was pretty good. Although the piece was 3/4" thick, it was made for a 1/2" carved top.

did it say anything about this on the item description? if not, i would not accept that explanation... afterall, if it was made for a 1/2" top it should be a lot closer to 1/2" thick, and usable at those dimensions

Completely agree - if it's supposed by 1/2" thick that's what it should be leaving at 3/4" also cost you more in shipping! That piece is shocking! It's got nothing to do with the wood - if there thickness/jointer blades were sharp and took only light passes it would finish perfect regardless of the grain.

[Maiden69]

I just got off of the phone with gilmer, and I have to admit, his explanation was pretty good. Although the piece was 3/4" thick, it was made for a 1/2" carved top.

Was this explanation posted on the website? Because it is complete BS! I have never bought from Gilmer, and from your experience never will. His prices are on the high side, especially when you have Durawood and other on e-bay that you get what you see. I have done several tops from Durawoods and from Rich here in the forum and they have always been TOP NOTCH. If they tell me it is 3/4", that's what it is!

[Keegan]

Doesn't make sense for them to want to pay to ship a 50% heavier piece of wood either. Sounds like they're just making **** up so they don't have to admit they screwed up a rare top and misguided you into buying it.

[Dean Reeves]

Ok, I appreciate you guys all giving input on the quality of my top, but as I've said, it's a done deal. I'm going to use it for this bass and be more careful about what I buy in the future. As it stands I can't use e-bay because I'm on a dial-up connection, and e-bay is about the slowest site that I've ever come across on dial-up. It takes on average 5-10 minutes just to open a product page. So if I wanted to look at a page full of tops (@ 25 items per page) it would take about 3-4 hours just to look. Not worth the time.

Anyway, as I said, I really do appreciate the advice, and the support, of you all, but I don't want this to turn into a gilmer-trashing thread, this is the thread for my current build.

And like I said, I could NOT be happier with the fingerboard I purchased from them, so I'm still not sure about the company. I will probably buy from them again, but next time I will get more information about the wood that I buy before I give them my numbers.

I know alot of you have purchased from them, and were very happy. There have even been some that have been shocked that it came from gilmerwoods.com because their experience with them has been so great.

Don't count them out because of my one bad experience.

I hope that this will put the issue to rest.

Thanks,

-Dean II

[westhemann]

Gilmer is NOT always the most careful with their planing or sizing...I have recieved more than one shipment of wood that was cupped or twisted and needed to be planed down far enough to lose a good amount of thickness,so no,this is not unusual and I rarely buy neck wood laminates from them because of this unless it is oversized to a good degree...

What they are good for is highly figured huge slabs of wood that you can't find elsewhere....I have bought two 3" slabs of bubinga large enough to make a one piece explorer body from,then sized it myself...it came rough cut,but they told me it would(I call them in person when I order)

They are NOT...I repeat NOT the place to get perfectly sized and stable pieces from...they ARE the place to get supremely figured huge chunks of wood,as long as you know it will never work at the registered thickness..

When I called them the first time to purchase wood they made that very clear to me because I told them exactly what it was for...the guy said that all wood was only rough cut and that some thickness would be lost,and that how much was lost would depend on the particular piece and the skill of the person working it...

He told me this before I bought anything from them...but I will admit I was a bit peeved at a 3 piece neck set I ended up adding several laminates to in order to get the thickness useable...but all worked out in the end.

The body and neck wood on my exploder was bought at gilmer,and this is the neck set I bought...you can see how I remade the thickness in a way that I was happier with in the end anyway.

[Marcovis]

Nice birdseye! I saw that set on the Gilmer site and drooled a little bit. I've bought from Marc at Gilmer a lot and have never had any of the issues you guys have experienced. I've noticed that if the board comes in a little warped it will flatten out after acclimating to my shop. One this I also do is try to buy pieces that are slightly thicker than I really need. That way I will get what I want out of it no matter what.