By using his woodworking skills to build his own bass guitar, junior Nick Simoneau has turned his craftsmanship into a way to make his own instruments.
Simoneau’s beginnings in woodworking started around four years ago when a social media post piqued his interest. He started with whittling, creating various wooden spoons and other appliances.
“I saw this cool Instagram video [on woodworking] and thought, ‘That looks cool, I can do that!’ So, I did, and, well, here I am,” Simoneau said. “I started at the end of seventh grade, I started with carving a few spoons [and] making necklaces and stuff, and just never stopped.”
After taking Wood-Technology I as a freshman, woodworking soon became a major part of Simoneau’s life.
“I’d say that it was the most useful class at this school,” Simoneau said. “I mean, I use knowledge from Wood Tech in my projects on a weekly basis. A lot of the stuff I learned was about measurement which is nice because that’s my least favorite part about [woodworking] because it’s challenging, and Wood Tech was helpful with that.”
Simoneau then used his new skills to create his own bass guitar, shaping it according to his own preferences by combining his favorite aspects of various guitars. After roughly an hour of research, the construction process took roughly 26 hours of on and off working.
“First off [I worked on] finding the design that I actually liked: I like the hardware of that one, I like the sound of that, the look of this and the functionality of different ones,” Simoneau said. “I built it over the span of about two to three weeks. I started it when on vacation… and then on weekends I spent six hours in the basement working on it.”
To make the instrument his own, Simoneau designed his guitar with inspiration from a multitude of different designs and brands. He also created his own Instagram page to share his creations.
“I looked at a Fender Precision bass, [and] I bought the neck from [it], and I took all the hardware and designs from that,” Simoneau said. “Then I used the body shape of what is called an Ibanez Iceman and made it more narrow.”
Simoneau said his working setup is not too complicated, preferring a minimal space when he works on his projects.
“It’s a grey folding table in my basement with a camping chair,” Simoneau said. “The only power tools I use are a Dremel.”
Simoneau has also used his craftsmanship to create gifts for family and friends. Senior Angelina Batsos–a close friend of Simoneau’s– has received one of these gifts..
“He’s made me a piece of jewelry,” Batsos said. “[And] recently, I saw him making some of the staff in our program spoons, with different designs.”
While he hasn’t done any recently, Simoneau also does guitar repairs at a low price and is willing to help anyone in need.
“I do offer repairs, because I offer them for dirt cheap,” Simoneau said. “I’ve taken stuff apart and put it back together, and I have a lot of spare parts.”
Simoneau plans to make other types of guitars in the future, his current goal being a double-necked guitar.
