Acoustic bass in 6 days, Priceless

[JayC]

OK guys here are some shots of the acoustic bass that I have promised. Before looking at the pictures I would like to add the preface that this instrument came about as a result of a night spent with a bass playing friend of mine and one or two of Westend's best draught beers. We had a problem in that our families were due to embark on a week away together and we didn't have an acoustic bass for him to jam with. So with a week up my sleeve and anything I could scrape together out of the workshop I set out to rectify the problem.

The end design came about as a result of input from my 4 sting plucking friend and the materials we had at hand. It is loosely based on the ideas of Liutaio Mottola and his Tinnoza bass http://www.liutaiomottola.com/instruments/Tinozza.htm and my friends insistance that you must be able to make an acoustic bass that has the feel of his prefered Fender Precision Bass. Solution as you can see in the attached pictures is an acoustic body with an electric bass guitar neck joint .

One problem I have found with the acoustic bass guitars I have played is the need to keep enough volume in the sound box and keep it comfortable to play. As this instrument was only really supposed to be a quickly built bit of fun I had no hesitation in moving away from convention
and making the soundbox a little asymmetrical, flattening the top of the lower bout a little to allow a comfortable position for the right arm and pushing out the opposite side by the same amount to keep a relatively similar volume in the sound box. I also reduced the depth of the instrument at the lower bout and left it deeper at the neck for similar reasons. the result is a surprisingly comfortable if not unorthodox looking instrument.

I also used a reproduction fender P neck purchased from Fretco here in Adelaide. Bracing is conventional X pattern with the only exception being that I morticed the Upper transverse graft into the extended Neck block which abuts the Upper transverse brace. The neck is attached with 4 Allen head screws two enter through the back and neck block ala Tacoma Thunder chief.

In all it took 5 and a bit consecutive days and nights to make from start to finish, I ended up with a severe case of contact dermatitis, the finish isn't anywhere near good enough for my liking and in my opinion it's little odd looking. But here's the rub my mate loves it, we have had many hours of Jamming on our holiday and at a couple of parties since and to my surprise and absolute delight it also sounds fantastic !!!

Happy viewing

Jay

[Dennis Leahy]

Very, very cool Jay!

I wondered why no one was extending the upper bout toward the peghead, sort of like an abbreviated harp guitar neck. That extra internal volume has got to do wonders for reaching down to deeper notes. You're goung to laugh when you see my first ABG, because the upper bout looks so similar. (Mine is limited to a CAD scribble at the moment -maybe next year for the real deal.)

Thanks for showing it, and I'm glad to hear it was a success!

Dennis

[DarwinStrings]

The only thing that looks a "bit odd" to me is the P bass headstock. The rest of it is fantastic. I have recently been asked about a acoustic bass with a mariachi flavor but not quite the same, I will be showing him your pics. I love the way the lower bout seems to bend away from the player. Great work Jay. Any chance of seeing a shot direct on to the side?

Jim

life is good when you are amongst the wood.

[Joe Sustaire]

Jay that is great looking!
Makes me want to build one.
What is the body depth?

Thanks,
Joe

[Kim]

Jay that is great looking!
Makes me want to build one.
What is the body depth?

Thanks,
Joe

Hey Joe!

Great to have you join us here mate, welcome to the ANZLF


Thanks for posting the images of the bass Jay, I love that thang

7 days to build a bass! Bloody hell, it takes me that long to string one. Well done M8.

Cheers

Kim

[JayC]

Thanks again all

Joe, welcome aboard the depths of the body are 130mm at the neck joint 135 at the deepest part adjacent to the third back brace and tapered to 125mm at the tail.

Jim here are the only pictures I have of the side, I will try and pry the bass out of it's owners mitts one more time and take a direct side view next time he is over.
and as I know you guys love picking up things in the background of posted pictures,that is my foot.

Dennis I think extending the upper bout even further is a great idea. Even with the exaggerated depths on this one, low E is still is a little thin. My next one might be a 5 string this at leasts gives the play some tonal options.

Kim I only did it as a bit of a challenge, after the contact dermo and 18hr days I don't think i'd do it again. At least till next time

Regards
Jay

[Kim]

Jay,

Just curious, was the contact dermo from the wood or epoxy grain filler or the finish?

[DarwinStrings]

The combination of that pic and the dimensions is enough thanks Jay, cheers.

Hi Joe, look forward to seeing your version.

Jim

[JayC]

Kim,

I cant be entirely sure but I suspect it was the QLD Maple. I have used the epoxy since with no hint of a problem. It was also already happening before the finishing stage. I believe it originated from a couple of cuts on my hands and fingers getting the resin and oils from the wood when bending in them. Fingers went purple then skin in all contact points, fore arms, belly around the kidneys got a heap of small blisters and rash. It was hell at the time.

My most excellent wife bravely volunteered to head into the workshop and vacuum up all the surfaces, and I finished the last day of the build in full battle gear.

I have the workshop separated into a clean bench area and a machinery section with extraction and a home made fine particle filter (I'll show this in another post). Because of the rush to finish I didn't follow my usual procedures and a lot of dust and fiber got into my clean area. I'm reassessing the airflows in the shed to get more fresh air into the bench area

I don't want to go through the scratching again.
Regards
Jay

[Kim]

Sounds nasty Jay, not sure if you have read about my own experience with contact dermo when using epoxy but I would some it up as harrowing. I developed problems back in September of last year, I am just now starting to get some feeling back in the skin surface of my shins as the nerve endings grow back, incidiouse stuff that epoxy.

Here is a post about my ordeal, it is long winded but the message is important and besides, I had lots of time on my hands back then between scratching as I was off work for 3 weeks due to being so shit faced from the side effects of the antihistamines and steroids required to stop my body from destroying itself.

viewtopic.php?t=1056

Cheers

Kim

[kiwigeo]

Nice bass JayC. Also nice to see someone else hailing from Adelaide.

[ozziebluesman]

The bass looks a winner Jay. I have a plan in the future to build an acoustic bass myself. Thanks for sharing the pictures and your idea's.

Cheers

Alan

[Hesh1956]

Very cool Jay!!! The fastest bass ever I'll bet!!!

Hey Joe welcome aboard my friend!

[JayC]

Kim,

Thanks for the excellent article the whole ordeal sounds horrible. I still had the rash for a few weeks but the itching was manageable after about a week. It certainly makes you reassess the way we work with materials that appear quite inert. I've been a printer by trade for many years and am quite cautious about all of the chemicals I use occupationally. Like many I'm not so cautious at home. I guess it's like they say, your body can only take a certain amount of any one substance.

Kiwigeo - likewise, I'm assuming that you weren't in the shed too often a couple of weeks ago in all that heat.

Thanks Alan I look forward to seeing the end result.

last but not least thanks Hesh while it was a challenge and I wouldn't do it that way again it did open my eyes a little to the fact that it doesn't have to take me a year like the first guitar. Buying the neck certainly made all the difference, problem is carving the neck on the last two has been my favorite part as strange as it might sound.

Regards
Jay