Wood used in MIK Hamer 4 string explorer?

[Breadfan75]

So over the holidays I rediscovered my love of red wine. Then was quickly reminded why I don’t drink it anymore. Apparently in a totally blacked out state I decided that the nearly pristine black finish on my bass needed to come off because it would look better natural.. I woke up the next day with my bed covered in dust and scraps of sandpaper, very confused and feeling like I’d been hit by a train. Wine amirite??

So since I’m kind of committed to the natural finish, as I was super productive while blacked out and got the entire neck down to bare wood as well as the edges of the body (pretty decently if I say so myself), does anyone happen to know what kind of wood was used in these MIK explorer basses? To my untrained eye the neck looks to be alder and the body is some type of surprisingly pretty reddish wood with some great looking grain, but the weight of it tells me it’s likely not mahogany. To justify my mistake I plan on getting all the black finish off other than the face of the headstock, hitting it with some tinted grain filler and staining with some minwax ‘red sonoma’ I have sitting around. Finishing up with a couple coats of tru oil, wet sand and buff
 

 

[gorch]

Welcome to the boards, @Breadfan75!

Speaking for the MIK Standard guitars it used to be alder for neck and body except for the top model that had been made of maple with an korina top veneer. That‘s been the declaration. However, the guitars were made in Asia and they may have used Asian equivalents to these wood types.

ETA: corrected ebony-> korina

[Breadfan75]

11 hours ago, gorch said:

Welcome to the boards, @Breadfan75!

Speaking for the MIK Standard guitars it used to be alder for neck and body except for the top model that had been made of maple with an ebony top veneer. That‘s been the declaration. However, the guitars were made in Asia and they may have used Asian equivalents to these wood types.

Thanks! This sites been awesome to find what little info there is out there about my bass. I’m no expert on identifying wood but the body is definitely different than the neck, if it weren’t so light weight I’d be sure it was mahogany based on color. But maple seems more likely now that I think about it. I’ll be getting through the top today so I’ll see about any veneer. So far, I can tell why they put a thick black finish on it as there’s some pretty ugly glue lines and imperfections. It’ll be a fun project though and the only natural MIK explorer bass I’ve ever seen! 

[cmatthes]

14 hours ago, gorch said:

Welcome to the boards, @Breadfan75!

Speaking for the MIK Standard guitars it used to be alder for neck and body except for the top model that had been made of maple with an ebony top veneer. That‘s been the declaration. However, the guitars were made in Asia and they may have used Asian equivalents to these wood types.

You mean "Maple" instead of "Ebony", right? 

The short-lived import Standard basses were typically all maple construction.  Note that mahogany used in guitar-building can vary dramatically in color, from almost white to a deep, ruddy red/brown, and weight and density is also all over the place - even among the same species..even trees that grew next to each other can appear totally different when cut.  I've had Honduras mahogany blanks that weighed a ton, and some that were feathers - it's nature, so always a crap shoot!

[gorch]

9 hours ago, cmatthes said:

You mean "Maple" instead of "Ebony", right? 

Thanks @cmatthes! Corrected to korina. 
 

There it is/was:

 

 

[HamerCustomEr]

On 1/2/2022 at 9:22 PM, Breadfan75 said:

 

So since I’m kind of committed to the natural finish, as I was super productive while blacked out and got the entire neck down to bare wood as well as the edges of the body (pretty decently if I say so myself)

Pictures, please!

[Steve Haynie]

@Breadfan75 why go back with an oil finish?  Hamer never did that.  Go get some cans of clear lacquer if you want a natural finish.  You could even get a custom graphic printed with your favorite wine label and mount it on the face of the bass.  If anyone asks you about it you will have a story to tell. 

[Stike]

I would be very surprised if the neck was alder. 

And since this a newish peeve of mine that is getting up there with people that pronounce Reece's "ree-cees", Hamer's Explorer shaped offering was called Standard, not Explorer. 😄

[Stike]

47 minutes ago, Ed Rechts said:

IKR? 

My peeve, you ask?

If one more MFer refers to a "Cottage Pie" as a "Sheppard's Pie", especially as a "chef", there is gonna be some scorched earth brimstone shit on some Applebees-menu-reading troglodytes that make Vesuvius and Pompeii look like Secret Santa besties.

It ain't easy being American Irish-English, but I WILL defend my own retardation unto death

I had to Google that one, noted.

If we are full thread derail mode let me add the word barbeque. It's not a grill and it's not a gathering where people eat food that was cooked on said grill, nobody fucking @ me about it either.

 

[Steve Haynie]

I was in the lower part of Alabama last weekend and got to try some of that "white" BBQ sauce.  I bought a bottle to bring back and try to determine if it really is BBQ sauce or not.  There are a couple more bottles to give to friends to get their opinions.  Yes, good BBQ does not need sauce, but it is something to pour out of a bottle other than hot sauce.