Electric Bass Guitar Build

[george wilson]

You don't need to bend anymore in the real tight curve where the fibers are starting to tear. But,I still urge you to bend the binding where it does not perfectly fit the form. You can use the wood,with the form inside it,just as you have it in the picture above. Press the bending iron against the outside of the binding where it does not lie perfectly against the form. You can see a gap just before the peak of the "horn" there. I would not recommend you just trying to pull it down with tape. Sooner or later,the binding will open up the seam there again. The maple will continue to pull at the glue for the rest of the life of the instrument if it doesn't fit. The glue,sooner or later,will lose the struggle.

You can definitely over bend the waist of the body. There is no tearing there,and it will really help the binding to not separate there in the future.

You can just dampen the wood and run it against the iron naked. Be sure to not get the iron hot enough to scorch the wood. You'll end up with a very noticeable thin spot in the binding by the time you sand the scorch out.

[Julie Moriarty]

As always, I thank you, gentlemen, for your advice. The bending iron came yesterday and when I get the chance, I'll experiment with it. We also had some new flooring for the kitchen arrive yesterday and, unfortunately, installing that takes precedent over having fun with the guitar.

I watched some videos by Simpson and O'Brien guitars and it looks like knowing the temperature of the iron would be a good thing. Simpson works with 280 degrees while O'Brien goes to 315. I don't have anything other than a meat thermometer so I'll give that a try. But right now I'm being called into the kitchen by the foreman.

[John Coloccia]

I've never measured the temperature. I just set it and go. If it seems too hot, I turn it down. You'll quickly get a feel for it. Temperatures become more important when you're using a bending machine. Then, you really do need to keep an eye on things because you can't see or feel what's going on and it can get out of and very quickly. Bending by hand, on the other hand, is a very touchy feely, intuitive sort of thing. I don't personally think a thermometer will do anything but confuse things. That's just my opinon.

[george wilson]

I made a pretty spohisticated bending machine. I need to post pictures of it. It works like a charm,producing beautiful,flawless sides with no scorching.

It's like a Fox bender,but mine is all aluminum plate. His is plywood,and rather given to catching fire!!

[John Coloccia]

Cumpiano almost burned down his shop like that. I walked in, and the place was filled with acrid smoke. I guess he'd accidentally left a heating blanket on, and it was slowly scorching it's way through a particle board form if I remember right. That was quite a day. About 20 minutes later, I smell something burning again. It was his HAT....he tossed it on a bending iron, and I guess somehow THAT got turned on too. LOL. Poor guy. The place needed a fresh coat of paint anyhow

[george wilson]

I only ever use my bending machine on my concrete floor(It has it's own stand built in),several feet away from anything that can burn. My whole machine gets as hot as a clothes iron. I get it hot,insert a side,crank down the side into the shape I want,leave it for 20 minutes,then let it cool off until it is dead cold. Then I remove the side. It has three 300 watt light bulbs inside,plus,I made an electrically heated caul for the waist. The plywood version is much less powerful,and has no heated caul for the waist. Kid stuff!!!! I have a rheostat on mine which is left at the heat I determined by a few experiments,would not scorch the wood.

There is an existing picture of it on that Cybozone website which features me and a few other builders.

[Halgeir Wold]

George - I would love to see that,- but googling Cybozone got me nowhere.......?

[george wilson]

Try Googling George Wilson guitar maker. I'll try it myself and see if it works. Haven't looked there in a long while.

Edit,it did,about the 5th thing on the list was "featured builder,George Wilson Cybozone."

[Julie Moriarty]

When you talk about a bending machine, do you mean this?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSTrVHc-GU

[george wilson]

Yes,Julie. I must say that fancy LMI side bender looks impressive,but it is needlessly complicated to use,sez me.

First of all,the spring steel they use is plain high carbon 1095 sheet spring,the same thing as the 1095 spring steel that is used to make high class saws. IT AM BOUND TO RUST very soon,as hot steam escapes from the un needed aluminum foil. I say un needed because I just use 2 pieces of stainless steel sheet in mine. No heating blanket,which is also needlessly cumbersome to apply.

The thermocouple heat sensor outfit is fancy looking,and high techy,too. But,I have determined by early experiments how much heat my unit needs to put out,and just leave the thermostat(a unit used to dim chandeliers) set to the same setting.

I don't find the need to get my wood soaking wet,like the "spritz" they use(spritz indeed!!!). THEY must be bending THIN sides,too,because their sides are already sagging like crazy even before they apply the clamps to the bouts. And,rosewood at that. BTW,I have always found that rosewood always has enough oil in it to not need much water,if any. Water takes quite a while to REALLY get out of wood. Weeks,even for thin sides. If you don't wait a long time before spraying lacquer on the sides,the lacquer will get squeezed together over time as the sides shrink more,cracking the lacquer. Also possibly making the neck and tail blocks pooch up from the top,especially. Bend dry as you can,always.

BTW again: On the pictures of the "early" side bending method,the guy would make better sides IF he had skill enough to actually hold the sides 90º to the bending iron,and NOT at a stupid ANGLE to it!!!!!

I didn't make it all the way through the video,but I wonder WHAT the outfit is made of???? Some kind of plastic?? Metal is for real manly side bending! 3/4" aluminum to be exact(well,6061 aluminum to be really exact).

I slip my side between the stainless steel sheets,having pre determined where the waist is to be,and screw the overhead heated caul down. Then,I pull the powerful bakelite faced clamps over the upper and lower bouts and let it cook. Remember,there are 3 300 watt light bulbs inside the form.

I don't like the idea of wrapping my wood in aluminum foil because it is going to get wrinkled,especially in the waist,and could well mar the wood. Especially softer woods like Spanish cypress for flamenco guitars. And,that water HAS to be able to get out of the wood. SOME of it does,as steam,around places it finds it can break through. But,I'll warrant,not ALL of it gets out. It gets driven deep into the wood,where it will take longer than is apparent to really get out.

If I ever have any trouble with wood getting colored from being against the 304 stainless,I bought a sheet of 1/32" teflon to put between the wood and the stainless. It will take a lot more heat than the machine will put out.

Oh yes,I do have interchangable form shapes for mine as well,and I did make the cutaway bending attachment,though I never installed it. I'd have to make separate forms for that anyway. I haven't made a cutaway guitar since making the machine. I think they look weird on flat tops anyway,though I HAVE made them on request. Even Segovia didn't need a cutaway. I WON'T do it on a classical guitar.

My side shape forms are made of 1/4" aluminum plate,connected across by 1/2" steel rods,necked down where they go through 3/8" holes in the aluminum forms. Guaranteed to survive for centuries!!

Lastly,their machine costs $3,000,000.00 whereas mine only costs $1,000,000.00.(Alright,I made that up!) Mine would HAVE to cost much more,sorry! I swear I'll post pictures soon. Unfortunately,you have to also be a machinist to make my machine. But,I guess that'll keep copyists at bay!!(Not that I'm in the side bending machine business.) I did go back and finish the video,where I saw the EXCESSIVE spring back he got when he removed the sides. Probably from too much water. Probably will CONTINUE to un bend if left lying about. My forms have OVERBENT waist and bout curves to compensate for any spring back. My sides REALLY DO fit my mold after bending.

[John Coloccia]

On occasions that I use my machine instead of hand bending, I use kraft paper lightly spritzed with water. As George says, the steam needs somewhere to go! Aluminum foil seems like a bad idea. The water is really just there to keep stuff from scorching.

[george wilson]

John,I may try your kraft paper myself. Just to keep light colored woods like maple away from the stainless steel. Sometimes I do get a few blue spots from the stainless. Kraft paper is thinner than the teflon,and would disturb the waist contours less.

Do you find that the paper tears apart at the waist as you add pressure when bending the waist?

[Shawn Pixley]

George, I'm with you. The side was already sagging before starting the bend. Over spritzing and aluminum foil was just wrong. The jig looked pretty cool but a bit unnecessary / expensive.

Instead of aluminum foil or craft paper, you could consider a really light cotton knit fabric. It has a little stretch and won't trap the moisture.

[george wilson]

Shawn,are you recommending underwear or side bending stuff???

[Shawn Pixley]

Shawn,are you recommending underwear or side bending stuff???

Good one. I should read my responses and consider other interpretations...