Reduce width of this piece of wood - possible??

[barryman]

Firstly, I am not a woodworker and have precious little knowledge of it. I am hoping someone here can be of help in advising me. So, can anyone tell me if the following is possible or maybe I'm crackers :-

I have a bass guitar body which is unusually heavy! I think it is maybe Oak or similar and has a nice grain which I eventually want to strip and finish with Danish or Tung oil. I am just wondering if it is a workable option, in order to reduce the weight of the body, to maybe shave off something like 5 or 6mm off the back. Obviously this would involve some kind of slicing machinery to do it? It's too much for me to do as a sanding job - it would take me years! (I also realise that I would have to re-chamfer the edges)

So, is this a mad idea or not? If it's possible, who could help me do it? Does anyone have a machine that could just slice this body down?? I am based near Watford, Herts, UK so any advice or offers of help would be appreciated.
Barry

 

[johnwc812]

Hi,
Are you certain that all the electronic gizmos set in the front, do not nearly reach the back?
If you manage to take off 6mm of wood you might break thru!
John

 

[carlb40]

This might be worth watching before doing anything

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_Ofm-dlApw

 

[barryman]

Re electrics they are all on the front and would not be affected if 5 mm came off back.

Re the video someone linked to - way too advanced for me!! It doesn't tell me anything about cutting an existing piece!

 

[carlb40]

Re the video, that was meant more for you to see how they are constructed and probably not able to be altered after the fact.

 

[Eric The Viking]

Why not try to make a new body for it?

It's not as OTT as it initially sounds: you can't hurt the original; you'll get used to the tool(s) and you'll get a good idea of how and why they're made the way they are.

Basically, you need a router to cut the shape and the hollows for the electronics and neck, and some shaping and sanding to curve it where necessary (and a bit of elbow grease to do the angle at the back, especially!).

There are lots of YouTube videos, and books, and people on here who are Luthiers (guitar makers).

But at the end of the day, if you mess up, you'll not have ruined the instrument. And you'll have some appreciation of why it's a skilled craft - not impossible to learn, but there's a reason good instruments are expensive!

Either way, don't be afraid to try, and have fun doing it.

E.

 

[barryman]

Thanks for that, Eric, but no way would I even think of building one!! This is all about a one-off fix to a one-off problem. The guitar actually didn't cost much so, even if it got messed up, it's not going to ruin me financially. I just wanted to know if there was a machine like a bacon slicer that could skim off maybe 5mm?

 

[bugbear]

Please post a picture of the back.

BugBear

 

[nev]

Hi Barryman

there are tools/ machines that will take a few mm off the thickness of a piece of wood (planer/ thicknesser) so yes it is feasible.
However -
1. your guitar would need to be dismantled, run through the machine, edges reshaped and then refinished, then re-assembled.
2. there is a good chance that the body has only a smal thickness behind the hollows for the pickups, controls etc. so there is a danger of breaking through.
3. removing 5 or even 10mm from the body would i suspect not reduce the weight by a noticeable amount.
4. the cost of someone machining it, or even if you were to go out and purchase a used machine capable of doing it would probably cost more than a replacement guitar.

so, yes its possible but not really practical if you dont have the correct machinery and knowledge already.

 

[nev]

it could also be done with a router and jig but the same points above are still relevant.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3bWOW79Kpc0

 

[John Brown]

"So, is this a mad idea or not?"

Yes, it is. IMO.

 

[barryman]

here's photo of back - as I said, this bass has all electrics and controls on front - there's no back cavity like on many other guitars. I don't think taking off 5 mm would interefere with anything. However, from some of the comments, it may be too big a job to do and could cost more than the damn thing is worth!! I thought it could be a simple slice - 1-2-3- whoosh!!!

Maybe it's not such a great idea after all...........

 

[Cheshirechappie]

Q. Is it possible to plane pieces of wood thinner?

A. Yes. Use either a planer (large fixed machine), a handheld electric planer, or a jackplane and smoothing plane.

Is it a good idea in this case? Firstly, as said above, it would be wise to destring the guitar, remove the front panel and check the depth of housings for the electrics. If they are within about 8 to 10mm of the back surface, removing 6mm would leave the housing bases dangerously thin. Secondly, there seems to be a reinforcing plate on the back at the base of the neck. Reducing the body thickness would mean redesigning that, and possibly significantly weakening the body/neck joint. Thirdly, to get a consistent finish on the thinned body would be difficult without stripping all the existing finish off both sides and refinishing.

All in all, it's probably far less hassle and expense to just buy a lighter guitar.

 

[Kalimna]

Agree with all above suggestions - prob not a good idea. However, what about drilling (forstner bit) a series of holes part way through the body, from the back. You could then cover this with a piece of acrylic or veneered ply or similar. That way, you would avoid any structural damage, would have reduced the weight, and kept your bass body.

Just a thought.

Adam

 

[Jacob]

Simpler to trade it in and buy another guitar?

 

[SVB]

+1 for Kalimna idea - think about balance etc but probably the best 'diy' fix to your issue.

 

[Racers]

How about joining a Gym?

:wink:


Pete

+1 for holes drilled in the back.

 

[barryman]

Thanks people. All your advice taken on board. Of course, I had already planned to dismantle the bass and strip off the finish and remove electrics. I've done that before with basses. It was purely about whether planing the body would be possible. Now I have learnt that some people have big electric planers which would do it easily. If I go ahead, all I need to do is find someone around my area who wouldn't mind putting the body onto their planer and just pressing the button!!

Thanks for all the advice

 

[Kalimna]

The only other concern regarding planing is well that, structural issues notwithstanding, you will lose that softened 'rounded over' edge and will have to address that with either a router or sandpaper.
Either way, good luck.

Adam

 

[Lee J]

How about taking say 2mm off the back and say 3mm off the front? You'd need to reshape the edges and also take 3mm off the bottom of neck pockets and all cavities.

I did this exercise a few months ago...

turned this...

into this...

Reduced the thickness and weight so it was comfy