Bang!

Stage Fright

Junior Member
Messages
31
Well maybe, "Poof."  I pulled the trigger today for the first time.  Here's the order:

This top: http://www.springerlumber.com/images/44%20Spalt/A13.jpg
On a hollow purpleheart VIP body.  purpleheart neck with Ebony on the fretboard  Wilkinson trem recessed.  Planetwave tuners, earvana nut, stainless 6105s.  All black hardware.  Going to Tung-oil the finish the spalt but leave the neck bare.

Am I on crack?  I haven't  "Ordack'd" yet, so it's not too late to modify.  :glasses9:

  ---Russ
 
Did you check with Warmoth first? How thick is that spalted maple? What's the upcharge on the body using your own laminate?
 
Wow, it sounds awesome to me. Hopefully the big W will let you do it (and hopefully the spalt will be safe under tung oil).
 
Yes, your on crack and delusional.

Warmoth will not do a hollow spalt top.  Its too fragile.

Warmoth, would want to do binding - and at least do a clear finish on that wood.  Oils do not work on spalt, as spalt is very soft.
 
Stage Fright said:
Going to Tung-oil the finish the spalt but leave the neck bare.

Am I on crack?  I haven't  "Ordack'd" yet, so it's not too late to modify.   :glasses9:

   ---Russ

I hope you bought the Tung oil by the gallon.  Spalt is extremely porous and will soak it up like a sponge.  I tried Tru-oiling a piece once and finally resorted to pouring the bottle directly on the wood.  (It was a test piece of spalt so I didn't trash a killer piece.)  It did not work out well at all.
 
Whoa, check out this bass from the gallery of finished products from that wood site:  http://www.springerlumber.com/images/Cust.%20ART/done_8x6_6.bmp

Looks like a Conklin.  Is that an all-spalted maple body?
 
1. Some of those strings look like tree trunks (granted, I'm a mere guitarist, but still, I do well with a 90 gauge low B on my acoustic baritone)

2. Sweet inlays on that thing!
 
All Conklins are nuts like that.  They're kind of fun to look at.  Here's a typical one, a 9-string bass with a 7-piece through-body neck and god only knows how many frets (36-ish?), made accessible by the deepest cutout ever seen.  http://www.conklinguitars.com/facebass/9gallery/9zebra.html  Of course they cost like 30 grand and are impossible to play unless you're some sort of godlike session player.
 
dbw said:
All Conklins are nuts like that.  They're kind of fun to look at.  Here's a typical one, a 9-string bass with a 7-piece through-body neck and god only knows how many frets (36-ish?), made accessible by the deepest cutout ever seen.  http://www.conklinguitars.com/facebass/9gallery/9zebra.html  Of course they cost like 30 grand and are impossible to play unless you're some sort of godlike session player.

That's a bit of an exageration there.  While Conklins certainly are not MIM cheap, for one off, custom instruments they're not that bad and well under 30K.  The extended range basses, 7-10 string, do have wide fretboards but they're not impossible to play.  It just takes some good, clean technique.
 
Just a little good clean technique, eh?  Well, I'm more in the Sid Vicious tier of bassists than the Les Claypool tier, so I think I'll set my sights lower.  :toothy11:
 
-CB- said:
Yes, your on crack and delusional.

Warmoth will not do a hollow spalt top.  Its too fragile.

Warmoth, would want to do binding - and at least do a clear finish on that wood.  Oils do not work on spalt, as spalt is very soft.

I should have been more careful in the post.  I had the wood in the photo shipped directly to Warmoth.  They seemed okay with it.  As for hollow, I meant to "hollow option" as opposed to an "F-hole" configuration.  Other than the one bark inclusion, pretty sure there are no soft spots on that piece.

Good catch on the tung-oil and binding.  Doing a black binding and having them finish the top in clear would look good to albiet a few hundred bucks more.
Thanks.



 
jackthehack said:
Thought W did spalted maple with binding/finish ONLY?
Spalt IS like a sponge. Unless you spray it will a thick coat of polyester to create a hard surface out of it, you're going to have problems.
 
dbw said:
Whoa, check out this bass from the gallery of finished products from that wood site:  http://www.springerlumber.com/images/Cust.%20ART/done_8x6_6.bmp

Looks like a Conklin.  Is that an all-spalted maple body?

That's a zebrawood (zebrano) top.
 
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