Matching wood control cover plate

[jimbobothy]

Just been looking at [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/F-Bass-BN5-Natural-5-String-Active-Bass-Guitar-/250656646885?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item3a5c4ce6e5"]THIS[/url] bass and was wondering how the routing is done for the control plate cavity. How do they avoid damaging the wood they use for it as it's looks to be from the same bit of wood as the body, impressive lutherie!

[Ou7shined]

It is from the same bit of wood... but not the bit you think.

Look for the single dark grain stripe with a broad light stripe either side followed by a group of more densely packed dark bands.

[icastle]

That is one beautiful looking instrument

[jimbobothy]

[quote name='Ou7shined' post='1044840' date='Dec 2 2010, 11:22 AM']It is from the same bit of wood... but not the bit you think.

Look for the single dark grain stripe with a broad light stripe either side followed by a group of more densely packed dark bands. [/quote]

Fair enough, then how about [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Ultra-Rare-SEI-5-String-Super-Jazz-Bass-Flight-Case-/190472552997?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item2c590c8225"]THIS ONE[/url]? The grain does appear to match up very nicely. I might be thinking too much into it and the luthiers manage to find a matching piece from another lump of timber but sometimes I think the covers just match too well for that to happen!

[henry norton]

[quote name='jimbobothy' post='1047096' date='Dec 4 2010, 10:11 AM']Fair enough, then how about [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Ultra-Rare-SEI-5-String-Super-Jazz-Bass-Flight-Case-/190472552997?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item2c590c8225"]THIS ONE[/url]? The grain does appear to match up very nicely. I might be thinking too much into it and the luthiers manage to find a matching piece from another lump of timber but sometimes I think the covers just match too well for that to happen![/quote]
If you look closely it doesn't match exactly so is probably taken from the same part of the tree, possibly the next slice along, (bookmatched, where the timber is cut and opened out like a book to give a mirror image like on the very best curly and flame maple tops/backs, but flipped over). If Martin has access to a decent sized saw he'd have no trouble cutting a thin cavity cover off a big chunk.

[Ou7shined]

I guess it could have been cut before the burl maple top was applied.

Edit : the bookmatch idea above is highly feasible too.

Edited December 4, 2010 by Ou7shined

[EBS_freak]

This is how you do wooden cover plates...



The facing is cut with a laser cutter before applying it to the body core. This enables the exact piece of wood to be repositioned when assembling the bass up. Its something I requested when having my 5 string GB Rumour built and is something that has been requested by a few people after seeing my Rumour (the one on the left). It's not a cheap option, but it looks the business and definately an improvement upon the saw cut versions.

Marting at Sei does something similar but the gap around the plates is a lot bigger due to the width of the saw blade.

This technique is not possible if there is no fascias involved. If that is the case, the technique is as described above. Take a slither of wood from above of below the wood used for the body for a close match. How close the resulting plate is depends whether the grain is exactly 90 degrees through the wood. Sometimes it is more successful than others!

Edited December 4, 2010 by EBS_freak

[jimbobothy]

Ah, cheers for that EBS_freak, seems so simple when you know how!! Very nice bass by the way

Edited December 6, 2010 by jimbobothy