Laminate tops

[Bassjacker]

Would it work though? I contacted warmoth about it so fingers crossed.

What do you mean about carving it?

 

[greywolf]

I've gone this route with a G5 bass , added a nice quilted maple top .(see pic)  It is however , easier to start with a billet blank .

As far as choices , for billets Gilmer has a wide variety , as does Northwest timber . 

 

[Fat Pete]

By 'carved' in this context, I assume Cagey meant like a Les Paul where the middle of the top is thicker than the edges.

In terms of size, you might be cutting it fine (I know), especially with wood as inherently punky as a burl. It depends how much of the prep has been done. If you have to lose a little from the edges or, more likely, the joint, you could always have a stripe of contrasting wood down the middle.

What are you planning for the 'drop top'? I wouldn't expect anybody to be bending 1/4" poplar burl over the forearm contour. So are you leaving it flat or having a 'reveal' of the core wood like Greywolf's example?

Lastly, as nobody else has said it, 'no more than $50'?! Your luthier's a family member or close friend, right? If not, you should probably expect to get your money's worth.

 

[line6man]

Would it work though? I contacted warmoth about it so fingers crossed.

What do you mean about carving it?

Why wouldn't it work? You're gluing up some pieces of wood. Either you approve of the dimensions or you don't. There is nothing else to it.

 

[line6man]

What are you planning for the 'drop top'? I wouldn't expect anybody to be bending 1/4" poplar burl over the forearm contour. So are you leaving it flat or having a 'reveal' of the core wood like Greywolf's example?

If the latter, I would suggest adding a black fiber accent line to set off the look.

Lastly, as nobody else has said it, 'no more than $50'?! Your luthier's a family member or close friend, right? If not, you should probably expect to get your money's worth.

I agree with this. I don't recall how much I spent to have body blanks glued up, the two times I did it, but it was at least twice that.

 

[Bassjacker]

As someone mentioned "is it a family member" etc.

Yes it is a good friend of mine that I have full faith and reliability in as he has built many electrics and even acoustics.

I want to assemble the bass as a whole for an experience.

Also the pickups I want are these clever gismos http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/251565121192?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649

Granted they are expensive however its the fact that I'd rather have this bass then many different ones although it won't stop me from getting others

 

[SkuttleFunk]

if the guy is a friend and going to do this on the cheap, then save even more $$ and build the entire body from rough lumber.

think thru the obvious - he's going to need a 15" wide belt sander to get the body thickness down to where you can add on a bookmatched top. once you have the thickness right and glue on the new top, you're going to have to hit dead on with the neck template and pickup routes. At this point, it's already starting to be less work to build the body from rough lumber. if you're off on the neck pocket, kiss it all adios or live with an ugly mark (or worse) at the neck joint and forearm contour

why not get the rough lumber and your fancy top, a body outline template, a pair of J-bass pickup templates and have at it with your buddy? the OP's proposed project is not an easy undertaking for a casual+ level woodworker. it's going to be much easier to do this job the right way - from rough lumber and with a couple easy to obtain templates. and the end result is that you'll have much greater satisfaction with the end result because you two did the entire job start-finish

all the best,

R

 

[Cagey]

+1.

Listen to Mr. Funk, and heed his words. The man has a lotta experience with such things. Ignore him at your peril. Laminates and/or veneers are not a trivial task. Anyone who'd do it for $50 likely doesn't know what he's in for or doesn't care about the results.

 

[SkuttleFunk]

IME Poplar burl can be right in there with Buckeye burl when it comes to working with punky wood that makes Basswood look incredibly resistant to compression damage. most I've had my hands on I wouldn't want to use on a top thicker than 1/8" so that the bridge wasn't resting on a sonic sponge (hey, why not add a piece of cardboard so the bridge has something firm to mount against?  :confused4

the one thing where most Poplar burls win over Buckeye is that they aren't full of dirt and mineral deposits, so there's a small potential to use the chipped up jointer knives to rough in the glue edge


yep, in case you can't tell, my viewpoint on Poplar burl and Buckeye is from a woodworking experience first and a eye candy perspective further down the line. it's often a PITA to work with, and increases my blood pressure when all I have is pieces that don't have lots of excess to pass thru the jointer ... again ... looking to get a clean edge.

all the best,

R

 

[line6man]

Yeah, burl wood is pretty much crap from every perspective except aesthetic. I avoided it for my homemade bodies because I wasn't comfortable working it.

 

[Bassjacker]

Current situation, got swamp ash body blank and soon have my bookmatched poplar burl. Neck will be bought via warmoth and will obtain some templates.

Most likely finish in tru oil.

Anyone know where I could get the templates?

Im going for custom sims pickups

 

[stratamania]

For templates you could try http://m.guitarbuildingtemplates.com/

I haven't used them but they have a range of templates.

 

[SkuttleFunk]

do the Sims pickups fit a standard Bartolini or EMG pickup size? if so, you can get pickup routing templates from BestBassGear.com

for the neck pocket template, if your friend is good at copy work they should be good making a neck pocket routing template from the neck itself. if not, StewMac.com and LMII.com have templates

check this out for 1/4" acrylic 4-string Jbass templates. at $50 that seems like a good deal vs. making your own from MDF ... but I have no experience with this company and don't know how accurate the critical interface areas (like neck pocket, etc ...) are
http://www.ponoko.com/design-your-own/products/j-style-bass-7946

all the best,

R

 

[SkuttleFunk]

Most likely finish in tru oil.

I'd reconsider this for your finish type with that Poplar burl top. You're going to need a buildable finish that can resist the wear and provide some crush resistance that your fragile top isn't going to have.

if this was a Maple top (most anything except spalted) the Truoil would be just fine. the issue you'll have is that Poplar burl is punky and Truoil doesn't stabilize the wood or provide any real crush protection. that purty top is going to look real bad in no time, and once you've oiled it your options going forward are greatly reduced

all the best,

R

 

[Bassjacker]

Does anyone have any finish ideas/solutions then for this poplar burl?

In response about the pickup routing they are the size of a humbucker and the way that they work is by allowing each pickup to either be single coil, split coil or humbucker which can be switched thus with two of them I can have about 15 different pickup combinations.

 

[Cagey]

You can stabilize that top with something like Z-Poxy, then finish pretty much however you'd like after that. Also, some have used Cyanoacrylate for the same reason. There are probably many, many more links available via Google to people who've actually done it, and I think there are a couple/few threads here as well.

 

[SkuttleFunk]

In response about the pickup routing they are the size of a humbucker and the way that they work is by allowing each pickup to either be single coil, split coil or humbucker which can be switched thus with two of them I can have about 15 different pickup combinations.

Unlike guitar humbuckers, there are many, many different 'humbucker' pickup cover sizes for basses beyond simply accommodating whether it's 4, 5, or 6-strings. Bartolini has at least 10 sizes, EMG has several sizes, and the list goes on. Most bass builders stick to a limited number of Bartolini and EMG sizes so that customers have half a chance to change out a pickup for something else when their sonic preferences change.

Since you'll be the one routing, you need to know exactly what size the pickup covers are so you can get a routing template ... and on that template, you'll need to know if you'll be routing with a bearing (pattern or template style bit) or if you'll be routing utilizing a collar. It may be possible to obtain a routing template from the pickup maker if it's not a common Bartolini or EMG sized cover

R

 

[SkuttleFunk]

found another routing template source, and the good part is that the templates are 1/2" thick

http://www.reranch.com/reranch/viewtopic.php?t=55926&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

saw that he also does custom templates, so you have a place to get pickup routing templates if your friend isn't able to make them for the project

R

 

[TonyFlyingSquirrel]

↑ = nice resource.

 

[Bassjacker]

Would sealer be good rather than z poxy