2011 double bass build

[matthew]

Trying to get a bass made by June to take to a competition in San Francisco. This will be a race against time.

Making the mold







Spruce from a pallet to make the blocks:





I use a mirror so i can see where the gouge is leaving the work. Don't want to go past the pencil line!









The one that John West rejected:



in place on the mold

[Lillian]

Matthew, do you have a apprentice? If not, you really ought to think about acquiring one. It would be a shame not to pass on all this wonderful knowledge you have garnered over the years.

[matthew]

Lillian, this is only my third bass from scratch. It is I that needs to be the apprentice. But at 49 I'm just too argumentative and won't sweep someone else's floor!

[Allen]

You sound just like every apprentice that they give me at work, and those little bastards should know how to sweep a floor .

There's not going to be much free time left in your days or nights to get that done in time. Going to be a great ride watching it take shape.

[Kim]

But at 49 I'm just too argumentative

No your not!








This build is going to be great fun to watch.....love the mirror tip

Thanks for sharing Matthew

Cheers

Kim

[matthew]

For the blocks, I built a new curved sole plane but stupidly went for a "stylish" swooping bandsaw cut in the upper edge of the plane. Looks nice but pretty useless because I can't get a good grip on it.

To finish the surfaces of the blocks I use 80 grit and some PVC pipe.

[Nick]

Now this is one post I'll be following with the excitment of a kid at christmas! Gonna be a lot of work in a short time Matthew so thanks for taking the time to photograph & post it as well

[rocket]

Thanks for sharing this Mathew, i'm a bit older than you but i'd still consider putting my hand up for that aprenticeship if i lived within cooee of you. Looking forward to you posts!!
Cheers,, Rod.

[Clancy]

Trying to get a bass made by June

Are you going to quit the day job to manage that??

I use a mirror so i can see where the gouge is leaving the work.

Great tip. Damn obvious. Wish I'd thought of it when scraping the last bindings.........

I'll be watching this keenly.
Good luck with the deadline but don't forget to have fun while trying to achieve it, otherwise what's the point

[matthew]

OK - big chunk of cedar, rubbed joint, not clamped.



cut outline with bandsaw and flatted underside





roughed out with an arbortec blade. horrible noisy thing but I'm pressed for time.



Then the arching is taken down to the final edge thickness 8mm and the centres blended in with a big gouge to start with





followed by a modified smoother - curved sole, shallow curved blade a bit like a scrub plane.





I seem to be getting a bit sensitive to this cedar. Makes me sneeze and itch. What a bummer. But have to keep working, so I'm dressed in japanese national costume from now on.



There are a bunch of ways to get the arching right. They all have their place.

Contour maps:



Romantic lighting:



A sensitive touch ...



When the going gets smoother i move over to my smaller plane "the camel" for the smoothing work.





.. and even pull out the laser for some high-tech fun:

(the Peugeot RCZ was inspired by this next shot ...)



Lower bout arch still has some way to go. See how it is flat in the middle?



centre arch looking beautiful



long arch flattish in the middle. Italian instruments done like this

[J.F. Custom]

WoW Matthew

This is very impressive stuff and I'll be joining in for the online ride, with thanks!

It's looking great already and you're off to a flying start - at this rate, I almost believe you'll make it

My sister plays the double bass and has requested I make her one... so I'll be watching the fine print so to speak. One day, I'll do it for her and may just pick your brains a little...

Oh, and I'll add my voice to those above - what a great tip that mirror one. So simple, most wouldn't think of it.

Thanks for the efforts and good luck

Jeremy.

[Dave White]

Matthew,

I'm watching this one with huge interest, what a journey - and not just the making, how are you goung to get it to California? The freight charges will be as big as the bass Perhaps you can sail it over there

Great woodworking skills but has anyone told you that the cedar top glows in the dark

[matthew]

tip - glue a piece of mirror to a piece of plywood. very handy round the shop.

my bass will have a removable neck and it should fit in a specially made lightweight box with the neck in a separate one. Bet you didn't know that a third of the weight of the bass is in the neck/scroll/machines/ fingerboard assembly?

but i have a few hurdles to leap before I get to that stage ... and one big one that i can't really go into here

I'm glad you're entertained! cross fingers it can continue!

[Lillian]

Lillian, this is only my third bass from scratch. It is I that needs to be the apprentice. But at 49 I'm just too argumentative and won't sweep someone else's floor!

Yeah, a no, not buying that one. The other two statements, maybe.

If this is only your third one, either you have done this before in a former life or you have been making very similar, but smaller, say cello's perhaps. Either way, you've got chops. We're all happy that you are willing to share with us.

I'm with everyone else, I'm really interested in watching this one come into being.

[Allen]

The trick with the laser is great. Sure makes seeing those contours easy.

[kiwinoz62]

Hi Matthew,
Your a magician full of tricks. . . mirrors, lasers, what will you pull outta the hat next?
Good luck with the build, will be watching with keen interest.

[Lillian]

Pat Foster showed how he shapes his neck using a laser as a guide on the OLF.

http://www.luthiersforum.com/forum/view ... 102&t=4562

[matthew]

a nice thing i do is mount the laser level on a camera stand high up on my workbench shining at the middle of the room. Then with my bass top on the island bench - which has wheels - and the lights out except for a reading light, i move the whole thing back and forth through the laser light, from end to end. It's like a medical scan; you can see the "slices" in real time as the curve changes. you can see the slightest imperfections in curve shape. hard to see smoothness, but that's what fingertips are for.

I also use the laser for neck alignment, bridge alignment and sometimes bricklaying.

[Nick]

Hi Matthew,
Your a magician full of tricks. . . mirrors, lasers, what will you pull outta the hat next?

Hopefully no smoke!
Nice going Matthew, loving the laser 'contourer' I can definitely see the flat area you mention (sticks out like dogs balls!) when using this techinque, I've always felt alot through my hands when carving & pride myself on my ability to pick up tiny imperfections, but this would certainly back up that method with the visual senses as well! & speaking of feeling, you look like you are enjoying running your hands over that waist just a little too much!

[matthew]

Yeah I make a point of NOT combining the Romantic Lighting technique with the Shapely Coutour Feeling technique. But I do close my eyes for the latter

(and I have a smoke alarm just in case things get out of hand)

Hmmmm ... maybe I should try the Laser Technique on my wife ...

[needsmorecowbel]

*(stocks up on sponges with which to absorb knowledge)

I vote we crash Matthew's house for a rave party or at least a disco...that laser is a beaut

[Clancy]

maybe I should try the Laser Technique on my wife

Hmmm, that could be dangerous

"Honey, did you know you've got a flat spot here"

or worse

"Sweetheart, when did you develop that curve there"

Best re-think me-thinks, and keep it a personal thing with the basses

[matthew]

is that a gun in your pocket? No its a laser dear.

[DarwinStrings]

No way am I doing that mirror thing, watching my gut wobble around would just distract me and make me sigh. Looks like a very satisfying job to push that gouge through that spruce though Matthew and the "scrub" type plane sounds like a nice bit of roughing out work too. Thanks for the look at what you are up to.

Jim

[charangohabsburg]

That's another absolutely phantastic double bass thread! I think that when the instrument will be completed all those pictures should accompany it forever, just like a booklet accompanys it's CD.