Oversized Acoustic Fretless 6 String Bass

[helpbassattack!]

for the past 3 months i have been building an acoustic 6 string bass. ive acquired parts from lmii, warmoth, and my local home depot. The neck was made from a solid piece of yellow oak with a massacar ebony fingerboard. The neck also has a dual trussrod with a passive rod above and the adjusting rod below. I also have 2 graphite reinforcement rods in the neck and the head stock is more on the the lines of a wishbass or upright headstock style.

The body was made out of some inexpensive mahogany laminate i got at home depot (not the best stuff but good for my first attempt at an acoustic). the tail block is made from an inch thick piece of oak while the neck block was made from laminate pieces of 3/4 " white maple. the soundboard has an x style bracing i designed while thinking it over in math class. and the back has 3 strips of 3/4" laminate oak as bracing.

So far the body is done and is a whopping 7"s thick, and the neck has also been completed with 3 coats of tung oil to give it a nice glossy look and a smooth feel. I have made a few mistakes with gaps bet. the back and side while putting the sides on. The sides by the way were kerfed meaning i slit them every 1/2 inch or so, so they were easy to bend. I lacked the skills of actually bending the sides with heat, but for my next acoustic i hope to build a side bender.

All I have to do now is order my mahogany stain (i have the clear coat of sanding sealer and lacquer in aersol cans). And i have to attach the neck with 3-3.5" wood screws through the fingerboard and into the neck block(the block was routed down 3/4"s of an inch. I have already made a maple bridge and tailpiece. hopefully this bass works and i hope to put a sound transducer on it (maybe from stew-mac or an upright pick up from lemur music. and by the way the scale length is 35.5" and i used compact gotoh tuners for the neck. feel free to leave any comments

[fryovanni]

From your description it sounds like you used methods that are not traditional. I suspect you made some things much more difficult, but that is neither here nor there. I would love to see some pictures if you have a digital camera. Good sounding acoustic basses(at least in a design that resembles a flat top acoustic) are pretty challenging. I hope yours works out well for you and sounds great.

[helpbassattack!]

From your description it sounds like you used methods that are not traditional. I suspect you made some things much more difficult, but that is neither here nor there. I would love to see some pictures if you have a digital camera. Good sounding acoustic basses(at least in a design that resembles a flat top acoustic) are pretty challenging. I hope yours works out well for you and sounds great.

I will def. try to put some pics up as soon as i can find a digital camera.

[Mr. Preston Swift]

John,

i have a digital camera you can borrow

[helpbassattack!]

John,

i have a digital camera you can borrow

thanks man

[fryovanni]

If you would like to see some nifty jigs, tools and methods for acoustic building. Try going over to the OLF. Jigs

OLF

Peace,Rich

[helpbassattack!]

I have just attached my neck to the body and this bass is huge. Prop. a bit wider than the earthwood. the bass has a 7 coat lacquer finish with a dark walnut stain. now i just have to attach my tailpiece, slot the bridge, pick out my strings, and either make a piezo transducer or look for one online. I will try to post some pics when the bass is done(side shots, ex). Also to eliminate neck dive i have attached a shoulder strap right behind the nut (like an acoustic guitar or classical strap).

[helpbassattack!]

http://s243.photobucket.com/albums/ff243/johnnybravoooo/

These are some shots of my bass, hope you enjoy!

[Prostheta]

I'm very scared of your headstock collapsing!

[helpbassattack!]

I'm very scared of your headstock collapsing!

it might not look strong but the 13 degree angle headstock is surprisingly sturdy! It is 1 and one half inches thick on the side and the with of where the tuning pegs are mounted in 5/8" thick. So hopefully it doesnt collapse due to the tension of the dr longneck bass strings.

[fryovanni]

I am not sure what to say or comment on. As I said in an earlyier post you certainly used non-standard menthods, and this did make it more challenging. It looks like you made it through the process, and I am going to bet you feel like you learned a lot. Good effort!

Maybe when you get ready to plan out #2 you could look around at a few resources that can give you a better idea of how others approch some of the tasks. You will find things like bending sides are very easy really(sometimes people think they are harder than they are).

Also I think you will find details like; binding, rosettes, and so forth are really a fun part of acoustics. They take time and patience, but are really rewarding.

Good for you!

Rich

[helpbassattack!]

file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/John/My%20Documents/john%20pick%201.wav

this is my playing my bass with a pick.

file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/John/My%20Documents/john%20fingerstyle.wav

here it is fingerstyle

file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/John/My%20Documents/john%20pick%202.wav

here it is muted sorry for talking a bit during it

[Mr. Preston Swift]

The videos don't work. Try posting them on youtube so you and others can have easy access to viewing them.

[helpbassattack!]

The videos don't work. Try posting them on youtube so you and others can have easy access to viewing them.

their just recordings, and i think they work when you copy and paste the address in the address box.

[fryovanni]

I think those are all aimed at your hard drive. I paricular they are setting in your my documents folders root directory. You would have to post them if you want them to be available.

[Jon]

I think those are all aimed at your hard drive. I paricular they are setting in your my documents folders root directory. You would have to post them if you want them to be available.

Correct. They're uploaded on your harddrive, you'll need to put them on the internet so others can view.