Next Project: Bass Guitar

[Dugz Ink]

As my first project starts to wind down, I'm designing my next project: A fretless bass with a semi-hollow body.

EDIT: PLEASE SEE THE LATEST GRAPHICS

Some design ideas:

1) Instead of using plastic for a cover, use leather. I know... soft leather can absorb sound unless it's pulled very tight. But I was thinking about applying something to the back (rough side) of the leather... like fiberglass resin... to stiffen up the leather while retaining its natural look. The sound chamber would then have an opening under the strings, which would be covered by the hardened leather.

2) Mixed pickups. I would like a humbucker, either near the neck or maybe as far down as 1/3 of the way from the neck to the bridge. Then I'm also thinking about a piezo, or some type of resonance pickup that is built into a bridge. That leads to two questions: 2A) Which type of second pickup would be dependable and provide a semi-acoustic sound, and 2B) could it be mixed with the humbucker in a passive circuit?

Finally, do you see any evident flaws in the body design?

I know... that's a bunch of questions... but this will be my first project bass (and my second project guitar) so I'm still full of questions. If you can help a newbie, I would appreciate it.

D~s

Edited December 17, 2004 by Dugz Ink

[erikbojerik]

I don't understand why more people don't use those little condenser mics in acoustic basses...I'm going to try one when I get around to building one.

But you won't really have much of a soundboard to work with...even though I do like the potential look of the leather idea. You could tool it up something cool...

[Dugz Ink]

You could tool it up something cool...

I used to do a bit of leatherwork. Back when I lived at home, we had horses, and I was responsible for taking care of all of the saddles, bridles, and harnesses. So I was thinking about digging out my old tools and stamps, dusting them off, and doing some designs like you might find on a western saddle. (A new Tandy leather store just opened in the area, so I started thinking about working with leather, again.)

But first I need to make sure I don't have any fatal newbie-mistakes in my design.

D~s

[Drak]

I like the leather idea, I've been tempted to do that also, but haven't bought any tooling yet.

I used to do some leather engraving also many moons ago. I think I could pick it up again pretty quickly, just haven't gotten around to buying the stuff.

Check out THIS site, maybe it'll give you some idea which way to go..

[www]

I like the body design. Not so sure about leather though?? No real problem with it, but just not sure. Maybe when you're done with the tooling i'll make up my mind.

[Dugz Ink]

Drak:

Cool site, but that's a little too fancy for my taste. I was thinking about some fluers in the corners and some tooling around the borders. I like a clean simple look.

WWW:

Thanks. I tried coming up with something that looked "familiar"... without being identical to everything that everybody is doing.

D~s

[thedoctor]

If you are going with through-body strings, I don't have an issue with the lack of wood around the bridge. I think, however, the top should be covered in wood with the leather on top of it. The sound will be inside your cavity for all practical purposes and an accoustic pickup would put it up front for ya jus fine. Don't even think about those little tin-can condensor mikes. I use them to fire the exhaust pipes on the HotRod Spencer bass and when I amplified the signal for grins it was awful! Phiezo would be my choice with blend pots instead of selector switch. All passive.

[Czar]

FWIW: Old WAL basses has tooled leather pickguards.

[Dugz Ink]

Okay... here's the latest version... as close as I can get to "scale" without having all of the parts to measure by hand. It's a semi-hollow body, and I'm planning on covering it with a 1/4" top... which will also have a fair amount cut out of it.

Although the diagram shows the Piezos in the back, they'll be attached inside the face. (The Piezos are just shown with the back for clarity... so you can see their position.)

As always, tell me what you think. For instance, should the humbucker be closer to the bridge? Is mixing a humbucker and piezos a bad idea? Is this enough of a sound chamber for piezos? Will Piezo ever marry Antonia, or will they just live together in the gardener's shed?

D~s

[Dugz Ink]

Okay... here's my other idea... using a Seymour Duncan SRB-1n for the humbucker.

Note the lower position of the humbucker, plus the expansion of the body-cavity.

Seriously... if I'm going to spend $100 on a humbucker, and another $100 on the piezo rig, plus all the money on the wood, I would really like some advice before I buy... so any and all comments about the design and pickups would be appreciated.

D~s