drbassman

I'm making templates for the guards I'm going to do. Is it best to rout with the template on top or under the pickguard material? This is new turf for me, but I'm determined to learn! Just got a new router and book on routing, so let the games begin!

Here's a fellow that lives in my town. He does work on my vintage basses and he's great. He also builds a really beautiful guitar too!

Lehmann Guitars

Well, here's the answer from the eBay seller:

"Hi, They are fresh cut and green and very high in M/C i don't have a moisture meter so not sure exact amount."

I guess that would be a good thing to state in the ad! It sounds like the boards would be a risk for sure. Thanks again for the lesson!

Holy Moly! I just can't believe how some sellers even imply wood is at a high grade ("instrument") when they are selling truely green med low grade cuts of wood. I guess that is an easy way to sucker people into paying five times what is worth. I guess it just points out we need to stay on our toes, and be more informed buyers.

Peace,Rich

Yeah, I agree. You really have to be careful, especially on eBay. I had my doubts and you guys confirmed them. I can't imagine people are buying this stuff and having good results. Well, I'm off to the specialty lumber yard today! Thanks again!

Well, here's the answer from the eBay seller:

"Hi, They are fresh cut and green and very high in M/C i don't have a moisture meter so not sure exact amount."

I guess that would be a good thing to state in the ad! It sounds like the boards would be a risk for sure. Thanks again for the lesson!

+1 on finding a local source..

the place by me is kiln dried for 2-3 a board ft and has TONS of alder.

make your own body blanks or have a cabinet maker join/plane the piece for you.

Great info and advice guys. I do know of a lumber yard on the other side of the county that has nice kiln dried wood available by the bd ft. They have a lot of varieties from what I hear and cater to woodworkers and furniture builders. I'll have to check them out. Thanks again, this has been a good lesson!

I hear ya Rich. I was wondering about cutting any lumber that wasn't appropriately dry in the first place. Here's a link to the kind of stuff I see all the time on eBay. These folks sell a lot of this stuff and I wonder how it actually works out for the buyers. I also sent him a note asking about the moisture content of the wood. It will be interesting to see his response.

eBay body blanks

I typically buy blanks from Carvin and Warmoth and they are reasonable (an average of $70 or so) and very good quality. I was just curious about these bargain guys!

Find 1" stock of the wood you want and glue it up or buy a regualr body blank and plane it down.

Body blanks typically come in thicknesses of 1.75 to 1.85" You usually need to plane them or special order.

I see some nice body blanks on eBay that have been cut within the last couple months and air dried. How can you tell if they're ready to be worked into a body? What's an ideal moisture content, if you can even figure it out?

Air drying times can vary with what climate they are drying in. If the wood was green(30%+ moisture) and has been cut down to 8/4. It will be drying for at least 12 months before it has become somewhat dry 12-16%. This is a dangerous period to have wood cut to dimension because it will shrink, and is prone to cracking as it shifts through high imbalances in pressure(core to shell). This is when woods crack and split. The wood probably needs another 6-12 months beyond that period to dry to a fully stabalised piece. Fresh cut wood is risky, and of course with the risk the price(value) drops greatly. I would not waste time with green wood if you do not have an absolutely compelling reason to buy it(the piece is very special), and you have no need to use it for a couple years. To test moisture you can pick up a moisture meter(less expensive ones (under $50) can be purchased at rocklers,woodcraft etc...). You can also monitor weight, but this takes some time and experience.

Peace,Rich

Thanks Rich, I suspected as much. A couple months of air drying didn't sound like a lot to me, especially not knowing how fresh the lumber was before the blanks were cut. I was thinking maybe I might buy a couple, get a meter and monitor the wood's progress. I have a lot of projects in mind and having some wood ready in 6-12 months would be fine for some of them.

I was also thinking, can you dry blanks yourself using an oven or the like? Just popped into my head. Probably a dumb idea.

I see some nice body blanks on eBay that have been cut within the last couple months and air dried. How can you tell if they're ready to be worked into a body? What's an ideal moisture content, if you can even figure it out?

I just set up my venturi system from Woodworker Joes, and have made my clamping press. I have yet to fire the system up, been working on other tasks. I don't do much veneering, but I was attracted to the idea for brace clamping and clamping bridges. The systems are really pretty affordable.

Peace,Rich

Lots of good info here guys, thanks! I have a simple veneering project on a flat bass body and the vacuum system is a bit out of my budget for one project. I did learn a lot from the discussion.

Your veneer supplier will have a roll of joining tape, which is water soluble glue (like a stamp has), on paper tape. Use a sponge with water (damp), and join the veneer with the tape, going ACROSS the join, every six inches or so, and then one continuous strip down the length of the join.

Make sure the join is tight beforehand by shooting the edges with a plane/long sanding block. You'll have to clamp the two pieces between some long stock when doing this, and it takes a bit of time to get right.

I use a vacuum bag for gluing down, they are very very handy, but reasonably expensive.

Very cool contraption Perry. How do you glue it down first? What do you use?

I once used that stuff while refacing my kitchen cabinets. I would stay away from it entirely. I may not have heated it enough, but after a couple hot, humid summers it started to peel away in places. Also, I think you'd be hard pressed (no pun intended, but it gave me a giggle) to get rid of the glue line with that stuff.

yes, i didnt mention you would have to sunburst over the edge too.

I wouldnt use it.

Thanks, I suspected as much. I did find some nice plain (no glue) veneer locally in 8" wide sheets. Beautiful stuff actually. If I glue the veneer to the body top myself, what's the preferred method? Wood glue and clamping? Contact cement? Never attempted this one before.

Yuo definately cant use this in structural situations. If you want a veneer accent in your laminated neck, you will have to pass on the pre-glued stuff. Sucks, but thats how it is

The glue is only designed to hold very light applications (veneer). The heat from you car boot on a warm day is enough to cause the glue to soften enough.

You'll have to find some pre-glued stuff. To make matters worse, the glue seeps into the grain of the veneer, so even if you scrap most of it off (or even "all") there is still enough to stop 'real' glue from sticking.

I used to use the preglued veneer at my last job, and it was useless for most appliactions. It would work well for a guitar top though, but getting a nice seem joint is hard.

So, is it safe to use pre-glued veeners for solid body tops? My local lumber yard carries the stuff with a peel-off backing.

very important...shape the wings before glueing.i mean all of the shaping and edge sanding down to 220 grit....

it is MUCH tougher with the neck glued in.

Good advice guys, thanks! I'm going to take it for sure. I've also got a line on a series of set-neck bass necks from Soulmates Guitars, so I'm considering that option too.

I'm going to build a non-reverse t-bird with a neck-through design, using a neck from Carvin.....

I've done lots of bolt-ons. I'm going to have to plane the body blank and the tongue of the neck to 1.5" before gluing.

Any tips or suggestions for this first neck-thru excursion? I'm really excited about going this new direction.

personally if you can't get any movement out of the crack i'd just leave it alone and check it every month or so to see if it has weakened.

Well, if I try hard enough, I can get the very top of the crack to open up a little, but not enough that I could get any glue deeper than 1mm or two. My fear is I'll spend weeks refinishing and sometime down the road it will open up or let go on me. I have thought about taking a very thin saw, like a fret saw, and opening up the crack about the width of a fret slot and gluing in a thin piece of matched maple. Once I put the amber on, I figure no one would even notice it on a 30 year old neck. At lease the new joint would hold much better over the long haul as I plan to keep the bass in my collection long term.

What do you think?

My 33 year old Fender bass neck has a hairline fracture that runs from the e-string peg hole down towards the nut, to the edge of the neck. It's just visible, front to back, but it is so tight, I can't pry it open enough to drop in any glue of any kind, super included. Should I just count myself lucky it isn't worse or should I fix it before I refinish it?

Eyeball it. Gotta straight edge of any kind? If you put a straight edge on it and it's got relief or backbow in it, see if you can straighten it using the trussrod.

OK, the problem was the truss rod was too tight and was causing the back bow. With the rod fully loosened, the neck is almost flat. I'm going to put it back on the body, string it up and see if I can get a little relief in it. If I can, I'll be OK. If not, I'll need to sand the middle of the fret board to remove the little hump.

Thanks!

I have a 33 year old Fender neck that had the frets removed. How do I check the neck to make sure its not warped before I refret it?

Go to www.stew-mac.com, they should have them.

Thanks Devon!

Thanks for the link. I copied that off already and was just wondering about alternatives. Might have to do this when my wife isn't home! There's only one iron in the house!

Could I use a heat gun to remove a fretboard?

All of the baris I mentioned above can be strung with larger (heavier gauge) bari style strings, like the Fender Bass VI flat would set (30" scale) or the new Fender Bari round wound set (28" scale). D'A and LaBella make e to e sets also I believe. The best tone comes from using an actual bari string set, not detuning IMHO.

If you use a fret tang exactly the same or slightly wider than your slots, the frets (once installed) have the effect of creating a stress that runs counter to the string pull.  I've seen this on every new neck I've fretted.

Are you going to replace the fretboard?  If so, I'd use a thicker one, at least 1/4".  If not, you could back up the existing fretboard with another layer (rosewood, ebony, whatever).  That will increase the neck stiffness all by itself.

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I figured that's what you all meant by compression. Might be worth a try.

The frets on this neck were probably shot in from the side back in 1975, should I anticipate any problems removing/replacing them? Some folks recommend they be put in the same way when being replaced rather than tapped in like I would do.

BTW, LP Forum. That isn't Les Paul is it? I told you I was ignorant about some of this stuff!!!