Building My First Instrument 4-string fretless bass

[Cerb 0]

This project has been my main passion for quite a while now, but because of a lack of funds, it has been on standby for a while. It will be the first instrument I've ever built, aswell as my first real experience with woodworking. The neck seen in the picture below is not the neck that will be in the final product. That neck managed to warp on me, so I'm just using a single board of wenge instead.

 

 

Here are some specs:

Strings: 4

Fretted/Fretless: Unlined Fretless

Body: Maple/Walnut/Maple

Neck: Wenge with Mahogany and Poplar at Body

Neck Construction: Through-neck

Fingerboard: Acrylicized Andiroba

Electronics: Active with Passive Switch

Pickups: Bartolini Jazz neck and bridge- 9J1LS

Preamp: Bartolini 3-Band Prewired Harness - HR-5.1ap

Hardware: Satin Chrome

Bridge: ETS Tuning Fork

Tuners: Hipshot Ultralites

 

You can check out all of the progress Here.

[BuffaloHelp 24]

Oh how sweet! I've heard that many musicians would rather have the personalized instrument than just picking it up from local guitar dealers. But my concern is what about the bowing of the neck 5 years or more from now? There isn't a way to adjust the bow unless you are planning to keep it in air tight case OR you can do like I did--put it in a steam room for about 1 hour, take it out and iron the board with full blasting steam.

 

Are you worried about unnecessary vibration caused to uneven string gap? Do you have a blue-print that you obtained from a set style or are you doing this completely out of free hand drawings and self-designed?

 

Gosh, after paying $600 for a classical guitar, there's no way I'm attempting to build one for myself Nice work! Keep us updated with your progress--such as the paint job (colored or natural finish) and what kind of sand grids you have used.

 

By the way, I'm moving this topic to Real Life Experiences.

[Saint_Michael 3]

not bad look, more creative, i remember my horrible wood shop experiances in school .....nah nevermind but they couldn't find that finger though.anways if you think about it buff, you be paying less if you build it yourself, mind you you have to take your time on it, so it does what it needs to do. do you also plan on burn carving into it at or any carving at all?

[Cerb 0]

Oh how sweet! I've heard that many musicians would rather have the personalized instrument than just picking it up from local guitar dealers. But my concern is what about the bowing of the neck 5 years or more from now? There isn't a way to adjust the bow unless you are planning to keep it in air tight case

Actually, a truss rod is inserted under the fingerboard. This is fully adjustable front to back. Even your classical guitar should have one. It might not be adjustable, but it should at least have a steel rod.

Are you worried about unnecessary vibration caused to uneven string gap? Do you have a blue-print that you obtained from a set style or are you doing this completely out of free hand drawings and self-designed?

The design is totally my own. Obviously, the standard 34" string scale (from nut to bridge) and string spacing (19-20mm) are normal. The trick is a lot of measuring. Measure, measure, and measure again before you cut.

...such as the paint job (colored or natural finish)...

Natural finish all the way. No way in hell would I cover that beautiful wood. The board that I'm most proud of, though, is the one that will be used for the fingerboard. A picture should be on the blog I linked to in the first post.

anways if you think about it buff, you be paying less if you build it yourself, mind you you have to take your time on it, so it does what it needs to do.

One would think so. That's hardly the case though. Just the woods set me back a good $200. I'm going to have another $5-600 in parts. Plus, you have to figure in tool cost. I'm about to drop another $200 for a router. For a kid that's 15 years old, and works at a coffee shop for just above mininum wage, it isn't easy.

do you also plan on burn carving into it at or any carving at all?

There will be a little bit of carving, but not tons. There will be a tummy carve, and I may make the back of the body concave for comfort. The 'horns' will be rounded over, and the rest of the body will have a slight radius to it. Once taken down to thickness, the body should be just under 1 3/4".

[Cerb 0]

For anyone that cares to check it out, I've added a few designs for future basses to my site at cerb.trap17.com. I've also just finished making a sweet set of maple/walnut knobs for my basses controls. I should have pictures up soon.

[Achieve 0]

It's good to hear that you enjoy music, and more importantly that you are taking on something like building an instrument, all for you Cerb - good luck. I once attempted, and note the way I said tempted to create an acoustic guitar in my tech school group (yep - im only 14). I carved it out fine and stuck on everything that needed to be there, built a bridge and to be honest I was very impressed with my efforts, I think it looked pretty good in my opinion - Only problem was adding the strings, didn't really go that well to be honest... I've added strings before because as I said, I am very fond of guitar. I added the strings, tied them up, threaded them through and tuned the guitar. It all sounded perfect. Then I realised something was up... There too much variation between the frets. So I went back to the original plans, they looked fine. I also compared them physically (appearance wise) to my real acoustic and it looked fine, then I compared the plans to that of the real acoustic and again it looked fine - just didn't work that's all... Anyway - I aint really to upset to be honest, I'm much happier with my proper acoustic, lol - good fun though... It's an exspensive game though isn't it? Anyway, I think your instrument will be totally awesome Cerb, and once again best of luck. Sean.

[Cerb 0]

Finally! Another person near my age that knows how to type proper English. I figured it would never happen (I'm 15 by the way). You mentioned the odd fretjob. That was one reason I decided to go with a fretless. Not only that, but I love the sound of a fretless instrument -- so warm, and round. It's funny that I'm trying to tackle the neck-through, but am not really looking forward to doing a fretted neck when the time comes.

It's an exspensive game though isn't it

... Insanely expensive. This bass is the main reason I went out and got a job recently (making drinks in a coffee shop). I'm about to drop another $5-600 on this baby, and once finished it will have cost around $1200. The good news is the fact that it will be worth far more than any mass produced instrument of the same quality. I'm certainly not skimping on the hardware. Only expensive, well-made pieces will be going on the bass.

Anyway, I think your instrument will be totally awesome Cerb, and once again best of luck. Sean.

Thanks much.