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Electic Upright Bass


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  • 3 weeks later...

Well, I want to retain the feel of my upright but compact it down to a portable size. If I join the neck to a body using a set neck approach with a solid body, I retain the feeling of playing that neck and get something I can actually fit in my back seat. Either way, it'll be an experiment nonetheless.

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GregP, you nailed it! That exactly what I meant! Yeah, his construction is based wholly on the original style bass neck with a thinning solid body. I want a different style body of course. I wonder what his dimensions between the fingerboard and body are...Wait he does have a clickable sketch with full dimensions listed! o_O Wow!

Edited by weaponepsilon
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Okay, after reviewing that site, the guy seems to have a very coherent design. He amps his piece using a piezo under saddle pickup. I've bought one of those before, except it cost $40 for a cheap one. I figured I'd have to spend a little more on something like that when I had an idea. After looking for DIY piezo and coming across this when I got the idea of hitting up mouser/radio slack for functional piezo elements. That would knock about another $60 or so bucks off the project by going this method. Would this work out for an upright bass?

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There's a tutorial around here somewhere about making piezo pickups with Radio Shack buzzers, etc. I think it comes down to the same thing as the one you linked to, though. :D

There's no reason it wouldn't work. In fact, one of the commercially-available piezo systems for upright bass is just 2 small piezo disks which you can mount on the bridge. The cool thing about piezos (apparently-- I have to admit, I've never done the Radio Shack project) is that you can put them almost anywhere on the instrument that picks up vibrations. You can even think outside the box and try them in places other than the bridge.

Greg

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Alright, so I came across an upright neck on the 'bay for pennies and I just had to snatch it up. I thought it was odd because the guy said it was a "modern art conversation piece" that he bought from a luthier in Germany. I wait anxiously for my new project neck to show up and it arrives today. I frantically tear open the box and inside is my maple(?) hand carved neck. Then I notice

this

IMAG0036.jpg

and then this

IMAG0035.jpg

In my most homer-esque scream I realize indeed this is why it had been considered a conversation piece.

"It's still good! It's still good"

I guess injecting epoxy in going to have to be in order!

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Alright, looking in closer detail someone has already attempted a glue job on the inside, but horribly messed it up. I guess I will have to sand and lay a thinned piece inside glued against that area to reinforce it. The bottom of the neck in the heel region has a similar split. Epoxy/filler/sand time.

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  • 9 months later...

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