My son plays upright string bass. He is after me to buy him a better one that is a "fully
carved" orchestral one.....and not made from plywood. "Better" equals, oh, about $18K. Ack. Fully
carved means (typically) two pieces of wood joined/shaped for the front of the bass, and the same
for the back.

It's gotten my interest such that I would like to make one....or two, or three until I finally
get it right. My mistakes can be sold/given/donated to the local middle school assuming they are
not hideously screwed up and moderately playable. Will I ever make one good enough? Not likely,
but hey, I think it'd be fun....hence, the draw to try it. Do you realize how -few- bass luthiers
there are out there? Damn few. With 3 year waiting lists. Big market for the ambitious and
skillful.

That said, finding chunks of wood large enough for a project like this is -very- challenging. At
this point I could care less that the first few be genuine "tonewood" (Spruce, Maple). I just
want to find some wood to experiment....and make some sawdust! Dimensions are TWO pieces that are
50" x 14-1/2" x 3" and then tapering down to 1/2". These are glued together to form the
front...and pretty much the same goes for the back. http://www.hvgb.net/~tonewood/prod02.htm
indicates the cost for tonewood of these dimensions. High.

Yes, I'm thinking CNC router here I've also thought carbon fiber composite.....but that's
another story for another newsgroup.

So, wood-gods.....is it me, or is it just impossible to find relatively inexpensive wood in these
dimensions? Believe me, I've clicked/search/googled for quite some time now and cannot find
hardwoods in large enough dimensions that don't cost an arm, leg and mortgage.

Sure, I could have more than 2 pieces for the front and for the back, but it just struck me that
as odd that there are, well, 'limits' to the size of solid wood! I guess what we're talking
about however is pretty much taking out the whole trunk of a very large tree.

Random thoughts welcome here. Thanks.

Sounds like an intresting project.

I often get 12/4 Mahogany in widths up to 16" and 12 foot lengths that
I use for tables. Try your local hardwood dealer, if they don't have
what you want on hand, they should be able to special order it for you.

Also, just a thought, since you're just doing a prototype why not just
glue up some boards to get the width you need?


Mort


Boyd Rollins wrote:
this point I could care less that the first few be genuine "tonewood" (Spruce, Maple). I just
want to find some wood to experiment....and make some sawdust! Dimensions are TWO pieces that are
50" x 14-1/2" x 3" and then tapering down to 1/2". These are glued together to form the
front...and pretty much the same goes for the back.

Boyd Rollins wrote:

My son plays upright string bass. He is after me to buy him a better one
that is a "fully carved" orchestral one.....and not made from plywood.
"Better" equals, oh, about $18K. Ack. Fully carved means (typically) two
pieces of wood joined/shaped for the front of the bass, and the same for
the back.

It's gotten my interest such that I would like to make one....or two, or
three until I finally get it right. My mistakes can be sold/given/donated
to the local middle school assuming they are not hideously screwed up and
moderately playable. Will I ever make one good enough? Not likely, but
hey, I think it'd be fun....hence, the draw to try it. Do you realize how
-few- bass luthiers there are out there? Damn few. With 3 year waiting
lists. Big market for the ambitious and skillful.

That said, finding chunks of wood large enough for a project like this is
-very- challenging. At this point I could care less that the first few be
genuine "tonewood" (Spruce, Maple). I just want to find some wood to
experiment....and make some sawdust! Dimensions are TWO pieces that are
50" x 14-1/2" x 3" and then tapering down to 1/2". These are glued
together to form the front...and pretty much the same goes for the back.
http://www.hvgb.net/~tonewood/prod02.htm indicates the cost for tonewood
of these dimensions. High.

Yes, I'm thinking CNC router here I've also thought carbon fiber
composite.....but that's another story for another newsgroup.

So, wood-gods.....is it me, or is it just impossible to find relatively
inexpensive wood in these dimensions? Believe me, I've
clicked/search/googled for quite some time now and cannot find hardwoods
in large enough dimensions that don't cost an arm, leg and mortgage.

Sure, I could have more than 2 pieces for the front and for the back, but
it just struck me that as odd that there are, well, 'limits' to the size
of solid wood! I guess what we're talking about however is pretty much
taking out the whole trunk of a very large tree.

Random thoughts welcome here. Thanks.

Forget clicking, searching, and googling, get out your phone book and find a
hardwood lumber yard, most of which have never heard of the Internet.

--
--John
to email, dial "usenet" and validate
(was jclarke at eye bee em dot net)

Try NewsGroups: rec.music.makers.builders, rec.music.makers.bowed-strings.
Also try The Musical Instrument Makers Forum: http://www.mimf.com/ In case
you haven't done a Google search, here's a start:
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q...olin+OR+fiddle

David Merrill

"Boyd Rollins" wrote in message
m...
snip...

It's gotten my interest such that I would like to make one....or two, or
three until I finally
get it right. My mistakes can be sold/given/donated to the local middle
school assuming they are
not hideously screwed up and moderately playable. Will I ever make one
good enough? Not likely,
but hey, I think it'd be fun....hence, the draw to try it. Do you realize
how -few- bass luthiers
there are out there? Damn few. With 3 year waiting lists. Big market for
the ambitious and
skillful.

Good advice, all. Thank you for writing back. Boyd

"David Merrill" wrote in message
news:2Vtqg.815169$084.61863@attbi_s22...
Try NewsGroups: rec.music.makers.builders, rec.music.makers.bowed-strings.
Also try The Musical Instrument Makers Forum: http://www.mimf.com/ In case
you haven't done a Google search, here's a start:
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q...olin+OR+fiddle

David Merrill

"Boyd Rollins" wrote in message
m...
snip...

It's gotten my interest such that I would like to make one....or two, or
three until I finally
get it right. My mistakes can be sold/given/donated to the local middle
school assuming they are
not hideously screwed up and moderately playable. Will I ever make one
good enough? Not likely,
but hey, I think it'd be fun....hence, the draw to try it. Do you realize
how -few- bass luthiers
there are out there? Damn few. With 3 year waiting lists. Big market for
the ambitious and
skillful.

On Tue, 04 Jul 2006 01:57:56 GMT, "Boyd Rollins"
wrote:

My son plays upright string bass. He is after me to buy him a better one that is a "fully
carved" orchestral one.....and not made from plywood. "Better" equals, oh, about $18K. Ack. Fully
carved means (typically) two pieces of wood joined/shaped for the front of the bass, and the same
for the back.

It's gotten my interest such that I would like to make one....or two, or three until I finally
get it right. My mistakes can be sold/given/donated to the local middle school assuming they are
not hideously screwed up and moderately playable. Will I ever make one good enough? Not likely,
but hey, I think it'd be fun....hence, the draw to try it. Do you realize how -few- bass luthiers
there are out there? Damn few. With 3 year waiting lists. Big market for the ambitious and
skillful.

That said, finding chunks of wood large enough for a project like this is -very- challenging. At
this point I could care less that the first few be genuine "tonewood" (Spruce, Maple). I just
want to find some wood to experiment....and make some sawdust! Dimensions are TWO pieces that are
50" x 14-1/2" x 3" and then tapering down to 1/2". These are glued together to form the
front...and pretty much the same goes for the back. http://www.hvgb.net/~tonewood/prod02.htm
indicates the cost for tonewood of these dimensions. High.

Yes, I'm thinking CNC router here I've also thought carbon fiber composite.....but that's
another story for another newsgroup.

So, wood-gods.....is it me, or is it just impossible to find relatively inexpensive wood in these
dimensions? Believe me, I've clicked/search/googled for quite some time now and cannot find
hardwoods in large enough dimensions that don't cost an arm, leg and mortgage.

Sure, I could have more than 2 pieces for the front and for the back, but it just struck me that
as odd that there are, well, 'limits' to the size of solid wood! I guess what we're talking
about however is pretty much taking out the whole trunk of a very large tree.

Random thoughts welcome here. Thanks.




Well, I'm not sure where you can get the tonewood, however, my Son
played a Jon Jusek laminated base all through high school. We tried
to buy it (it belonged to the high school strings association) when he
graduated, however they wouldn't sell.

We ended up buying him a new base with a solid spruce top. Granted,
not the $18K variety, one of those Chinese jobs with a fine Europeon
name stenciled on it.

It is a whole lot more delicate than the laminated base. I spend many
of my woodworking hours doing repairs on the thing. Partially, I'm
sure a testiment to its origin and partially because the solid basses
are just more delicate. He has to stuff it in his car to get back and
forth to his lessons and playing jobs, and then drag it up to his dorm
room.

Wish we had bought an old Kay or some other laminated base. Tried,
couldn't find any to buy.

However, the link below may help you out. I've used this forum for a
lot of help on the repairs.

http://www.violins.on.ca/cgi-bin/ubb...r=1&DaysPrune=

Frank

On Tue, 04 Jul 2006 01:57:56 GMT, "Boyd Rollins"
wrote:

So, wood-gods.....is it me, or is it just impossible to find relatively inexpensive wood in these
dimensions? Believe me, I've clicked/search/googled for quite some time now and cannot find
hardwoods in large enough dimensions that don't cost an arm, leg and mortgage.

Random thoughts welcome here. Thanks.

You know, a lot of folks in my area swear by wood they get from the
Amish. I haven't bothered to track any down myself, as I have a
pretty solid working relationship with the local hardwood dealer, and
they (the Amish) don't have phones. I don't know if they're in your
area or not, but it might be worth a look if they are. By reputation,
they're cheap and have nice stuff that is hard to find elsewhere
hidden back in thier barns- the advice I was given was that the more
patient you are, the better deal you'll get.

Boyd Rollins wrote:
My son plays upright string bass. He is after me to buy him a better one that is a "fully
carved" orchestral one.....and not made from plywood. "Better" equals, oh, about $18K. Ack. Fully
carved means (typically) two pieces of wood joined/shaped for the front of the bass, and the same
for the back.

It's gotten my interest such that I would like to make one....or two, or three until I finally
get it right. My mistakes can be sold/given/donated to the local middle school assuming they are
not hideously screwed up and moderately playable. Will I ever make one good enough? Not likely,
but hey, I think it'd be fun....hence, the draw to try it. Do you realize how -few- bass luthiers
there are out there? Damn few. With 3 year waiting lists. Big market for the ambitious and
skillful.
about however is pretty much taking out the whole trunk of a very large tree.

Random thoughts welcome here. Thanks.


The president of Grizzly makes his own guitars and Grizzly sells all
kind of tone wood and billets for making
guitars. Apparently they cut & slice their own wood so if you call them
they might cut you some 50 inch instead of 30 inch billets.




--
Gerald Ross
Cochran, GA

A friend: someone who likes you even
after they know you.





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