Whamola

[DreamSeller]

I've looked into building a Whamola.

Wiki Whamola

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More About The Whamola

So far what I have is.

50mm Alloy Square Pipe for the body

Rosewood for the fretboard

For the bridge Im unsure about whether or not to actually have a bridge (do I need to intonate a one string bass?) or just to have the string attached to a point where the bridge would be. For the bridge I was going to use two right angle brackets with a piece of steel between them and bolted to them, the idea being that the string attaches to the piece of steel and I can unbolt that piece and slide it along the brackets making the string sit closer or further from the fretboard and then bolt it tight again.

If I have a bridge it will be a similar thing but with a pulley on the piece of steel as the bridge and then have the string attached somewhere further down. As for attaching the string I was thinking about a bolt with a hole drilled through it, feed the string in and tighten a nut locking it in place. If this is unsuitable then I will find a right angle bracket and just have a small hole in it for the ball end the lock into.

For the pulley I was going to have it attached to the body itself and the string runs from the handle through the body over the pulley and down to the bridge. Is it better to have the pulley on the body itself or on the end of the pulley?

For the pickup I have an old humbucker lying around. The only problem is the the string would have to run between the pole (it would be mounted vertically to fit). Will this still work?

Thanks In Advance

[biliousfrog]

you don't need an intonateable bridge because they don't normally have frets so any notes must be played by ear...especially tricky because the bar must be secured somehow whilst fretting it.

I don't understand how you'll play it if the bar is on the body?

[DreamSeller]

You either fret the thing or you use the lever, not both at once. The lever has a stop position where it returns to each time it is released. I wasnt planning to fret it but I was planning to have markers where frets would be, I guess I'd need to intonate it then.

-Dream

[GregP]

Not really. Sort of... I guess...

If it was me, I'd press down on the string, and THEN find where the correct pitch is, if you're going to mark them. With this freedom, you'll get more accurate results than if you try to measure them out and mark them mathmatically.

So, you could pretty much throw your bridge wherever you want, get out an accurate tuner, and mark from there. it'll get you into the right ballpark and like all fretless instrument players, you'll actually intonate individual notes by ear.

[DreamSeller]

Sorry Im not to sure what you mean. Are you saying that just set it up however with the bridge and then mark the notes in? I was planning to have the bridge so that it could be moved closer to or further away from the body so that the action could be adjusted, will this throw out the note markings?

Also for the pulley, what material? I assume no metal.

-Dream