Most of my 1" stock is
quarter sawn or very nearly. the thinner laminates are half quartered
and half flat sawn. Mike and I finalised on a ½" Wenge core,
sandwiched by ¼" Maple, ¼" Paduak and framed with a 1" Maple
slab either side.
Mike's choice of Amazaque is
one of distinction, he chose my best piece with the most curl.
This is a bookmatched 1" set which will have a ½" maple Tone plate
and a ¼" AAA Cocobolo top. With the 3 body woods, this Bass will
look very exclusive.
After a long hard plaining,
scraping and sanding session, the figure is starting to really
come out.
This Ovankl is in a semi-finished
state. It's been plaines, scraped and sanded to 240 grit but still
has a lot further to go.
|
Mike
---------- o ----------
Wood Choice
---------- o ----------
Mike inspected my
wood offerings and after seeing my selection of Flamed Amazaque/Ovankol,
he really fell in love with a particular 1" bookmatched set
which he wants to use for the body. Naturally he selected the best
pair, which has a very distinctive flame, almost like a Zebra stripe.
Mike really likes Cocobolo. So much that it was his prefered choice
for the body top. Unfortunately it's very pricey and hard to find,
for a AAA quality 3\8" pair it's about £100. Also it
can be difficult to glue directly to Amaqaque because of the oily
nature of both woods. So I suggested a ½" maple tone plate
mated to a ¼" Cocobolo top. This would be cheaper, add a little
brightness to the tone and create a nice contrast between the honey
coloured Ovankol and the deep crimson Cocobolo. Mike wants the top
to cover the entire face of the bass hiding the through neck from
the front, tricky but worthwhile.
Hmm I'd prefer
it in Black!
The Neck was a much
simpler choice, two Maple 1" laminates would make the frame,
sandwiching the inner laminates. The centre core will be a ½"
Wenge core with ¼" maple either side. Sandwiched between ¼"
Paduak and finally the 1" maple either side. These combinations
are a little ligher than the body tonally but combined to the body
should create a fresh, deep sounding bass. It will also look very
nice as well. The wenge when it is laquered will t look nearly black
but with chocolate coloured grain lines.
For the fingerboard,
Mike chose Ebony. "I want Black" he said, "Blacker
than black", I tried to tempt him with a lovely Wenge board
"That's nice he said but it's not black enough", or how
about an ultra rare exotic Madagascar Marbled Ebony sir? "Hmm
that's very nice but I'd like it without those wavy lines"
so he got a very black Ebony board, which I will coat in a sheen
of blackness.
Mike definetly wants
a shiny glossy laquered finish! With
black hardware this bass is going to look very desirable!
This is the Cocobolo
which Mike selected for his 6 string and hasn't been sanded yet,
it's still got the saw marks from the wood mill. I had two book
matched sets in stock, so Mike had a choice. This set's from the
same log billet that my two seven string sets came from, in fact
a lot of the figuring is very simular.
Cocobolo looks
so good with a glossy laquered finish, it reminds me of a freshly
opened conker.
|
|
21"x14"x ¼" Cocobolo AAA Grade Bookmatched top
21"x14"x ½" Maple Book matched tone plate
21"x14"x1" AAA Flamed Ovankol Bookmatched Body
blank
2x 48"x2"x1" Maple Neck Laminates
2x 48"x2"x¼" Paduak Neck Laminates
2x 48"x2"x ¼" Maple Neck Laminates
48"x2"x ½" Wenge Neck Laminate
34½"x3¼"x¼" Ebony Finderboard
|
