Wood identification




Can anyone help me with identifying the veneer on the front of my bass? It looks like Maple to me, but I’m no expert on wood. It seems a funny thing to see on a (presumed) cheapy bass.

Google brings up nothing on Bluerock instruments other than an article that gave an association with Tanglewood (which has since disappeared). I know it’s a budget instrument but I am quite intruiged by it as the quality seems really good.

It’s not going to stop me from turning it into a Frankenbass, though- I only paid £25 for it with matching Branded practice amp.

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It certainly has the appearance of flamed maple. The rolled edge of the body on one photograph suggests it is not veneer, which is usually no more than 2mm thick. So it could be a flamed maple top, usually about 10mm thick - if you can see a glue line around the edge. If not, it could be a paint / print finish. Whatever it is, it looks good.

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It certainly appears to be a veneer to me. The back is two pieces of what appear to be basswood at a guess (better than the poor guy on YouTube that stripped down a very expensive Telecaster only to find it was seven bits of wood glued together- which brings me back to my other thread that all instruments over £500 are purely for bragging rights) since this thing dives like a hungry Sperm whale.


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I agree with you on expensive wood choices. I’ve made 14 guitars out of wood pulled out of skips, or 40 year old piles of wood in my dad’s garage. I believe Brian May’s guitar is made of blockboard with mahogany veneer. If it looks good when it’s finished, it’s good.

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Funnily enough, I’ve got the bug for making an instrument from scratch, and plywood is going to be the main wood for the first one since it can make some really pretty patterns once sanded. Will be a through neck instrument with three Jazz pups.

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Front looks like what’s called “photo-flame” maple. Which means it’s essentially a high-res picture Vs actual wood.

This is how the flame aerodynes I have are as well.

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I feel there is a comment to make about carpets…

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I’m currently working on this one (let’s say it’s currently called a Meteor), which just needs me to make and use a router template for Split-p, Music Man and Jazz pickups, one volume for each coil.


Birch faced plywood could make a spectacular body.

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For templates you can buy pickguards on AliExpress for just a few quid each and double them up to make routing templates. For example, you can pick up a loaded P Bass pickguard (with split-pup, volume/tone and jack plug socket all pre wired) for less than £10 including shipping. Chuck whatever you don’t use in your spares pile- simples.

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not sure this is super helpful, but the technical term that describes that rippled, shimmery, “flame” look is “chatoyant”, more often used like “look at the chatoyancy in this wood” etc… may be a good word to come across in bass descriptions as using that word would indicate an actual understanding of wood from the seller/manufacturer.

or, it’s a good icebreaker at parties. “do you know what chatoyancy is?”

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That would make more sense on a budget instrument. Makes me feel less guilty for messing around with it, in that case- although the immediate noticeable difference is that those basses have binding and mine is sanded. Will still try to save the original finish, though.

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