Members pariah223 Posted January 30, 2006 Members Share Posted January 30, 2006 Hello everyone. I have decided to build a bass guitar as my next project. My last project was a fender strat, it was a "first time" build so i didnt wanna stray from anything that has been done before just for the fact that i wanted to learn more about the properties of wood, and stuff like that. a pic of the strat is in my sig.. nothing was bought pre done except for the hardware. The wood, the pick guard, all of that was made by me from rough cut wood. Anyway, im doing the same with a bass, but this time im doing my own design influenced by both fender and wal basses and i figured i would share it with all of you!. I have the body planned out, but not the neck and head yet. It is a bolt on design (for now, havnt fully decided yet). 4 string.. made of maple and walnut. Ill attach a picture of the body design since that is as far as i am right now. Check back frequently because i work fast. here is both a 2d drawing, and a 3d render of what im thinking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members groutt Posted January 30, 2006 Members Share Posted January 30, 2006 Did you upload the 2-d twice? I know nothing about bass design. But it look like a real friendly shape to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members pariah223 Posted January 30, 2006 Author Members Share Posted January 30, 2006 yes i did upload 2d twice.. sorry bout that, heres the 3d. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BigPigPeaches Posted January 30, 2006 Members Share Posted January 30, 2006 Maple + walnut = heavy like a black hole. But good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jrkirkish Posted January 30, 2006 Members Share Posted January 30, 2006 Looks like it'll be nice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members hanjo Posted January 30, 2006 Members Share Posted January 30, 2006 oh man, you have no idea how long I've been waiting for someone to do this, im hoping to make my own bass this summer when i have more time and money, so this should be insanely informative, thank you so much... lookin forward to this thread Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Super Bass Posted January 30, 2006 Members Share Posted January 30, 2006 nice, did you use solidworks for the 3d or what did you use? immediately when i looked at the body shape i thought semi hollow short scale bass......just looks like one of those bodies....maybe you should chamber it a bit to relieve the weight that the other guys says it'll have. just a thought Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members james on bass Posted January 30, 2006 Members Share Posted January 30, 2006 I like the shape. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members pariah223 Posted January 30, 2006 Author Members Share Posted January 30, 2006 thanks for the comments guys. i dont think it is going to be quite as heavy as even i originally thought. The body thickness is a little over an inch and a half instead of an inch and 3/4 (can still take the pickups and stuff no problem). Wal makes basses that are mostly maple, and since i have worked with both ash and maple.. the weight difference is minimal. The 3d was done in 3ds max. I got some progress shots to put up, but i dont have my camera with me. I got most of the laminating done, now i gota glue the parts together to make it a soliid piece. Oh, and i didnt do it in 3d because it woulda taken more time then it was worth. but im using a 1/2 radius bit on a router around the sides, so that will help with weight as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members pariah223 Posted January 30, 2006 Author Members Share Posted January 30, 2006 Here are some pics of the wood i got, as well as them cut and ready to be glued. Maple/walnut blanksWalnut LaminatesMaple Cut Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members pariah223 Posted January 30, 2006 Author Members Share Posted January 30, 2006 got the side walnut laminates being glued and clamped together as well as the middle piece, heres some pics. Side clamped Middle piece Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members LO_RYDER Posted January 30, 2006 Members Share Posted January 30, 2006 Wow...solid walnut wings? thats going to weigh a ton. Walnut is usually just on the top with alder or ash for the rest. Looks good though! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members pariah223 Posted January 30, 2006 Author Members Share Posted January 30, 2006 no no no im not that daring.. the wings are just a 1/4 inch walnut laminate with maple in the middle. There is no solid walnut anywhere on the body, all laminates. but the laminates are front and back.. so its like.. a walnut and maple sandwich. Luckily, just by holding all the pieces together, without any excess cut off or no rounding or anything, it dosnt seem like its going to be as heavy as many would think.. Heres a couple more progress shots.. yay for 30 minuit clamping with tightbond wood glue in a 50 degree + climate! Here u can see the sandwich effect a little better Maple/walnut sandwich and here are all the pieces to make up the body not glued together. This next step could take a while because now i gota do a lot of planing and such to get the edges square. Thank god for my milling machine to help with some of that. Pieces of the body Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members johnny6644 Posted January 30, 2006 Members Share Posted January 30, 2006 Looks like it's gonna be absolutely beautiful I put together a Carvin kit, but this is waaaay outta my league. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members vlVlv Posted January 30, 2006 Members Share Posted January 30, 2006 How did you do the scratch of you bass...it seem to be very professional...and you will have a nice bass for sure! But I'd like to know more about how to make a bass...mostly on the body because I guess that you buy a neck and a headstock separately...right? But how can you make a body...I mean, you have to keep an open spot inside the bass to be able to set the pots and the pickups...I don't know how it is possible to do something like that... And is there some technical issues for the size of the body and all those things? Thanks... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bholder Posted January 30, 2006 Members Share Posted January 30, 2006 Very nice. I hope to get into that kind of thing sometime soon, when my building out back is finished and the house is more straightened out... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members pariah223 Posted January 30, 2006 Author Members Share Posted January 30, 2006 Originally posted by vlVlv How did you do the scratch of you bass...it seem to be very professional...and you will have a nice bass for sure!But I'd like to know more about how to make a bass...mostly on the body because I guess that you buy a neck and a headstock separately...right?But how can you make a body...I mean, you have to keep an open spot inside the bass to be able to set the pots and the pickups...I don't know how it is possible to do something like that...And is there some technical issues for the size of the body and all those things?Thanks... Building a guitar from scratch will be very tough if you have no woodworking, or tool skills.. because not only will you have to learn the anatomy and structure of a guitar, but you will have to learn how a saw or a plane works. As for the 'open spot' in the body. Those are routed out after the whole thing is together with a router. I will have progress shots of all that in time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members pariah223 Posted January 31, 2006 Author Members Share Posted January 31, 2006 Here is the final seam to be joined for the body wood. I am however tired and want to give the glue enough time to cure before i put it all together and handle it too much. Might be a couple days till the next update because i still gota do some designing for the neck and head. Final seam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bottomfeeder Posted January 31, 2006 Members Share Posted January 31, 2006 it looks great. I am jealous that i had to abandon my from scratch before it got of the page. last link doesnt work by the way.... now it does! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Zebra Posted January 31, 2006 Members Share Posted January 31, 2006 That's awesome man. I started a similar project this summer, but got sidetracked when school started. Right now I have a basswood body sitting next to me that's 90% completed. I'll have some more time to finish it up in a few months. You already have a project behind you, so I'm certain you'll be fine with this one. I found that making the body (with no powertools) was really quite easy. Routing and the neck pocket should be more of a challenge, and I'll get help with the neck. Luckily I found someone who has experience with woodworking, and specifically guitar-making who's willing to help on the tough parts and advise me on construction. Hopefully in not too much time I'll have a fretless 35" four-string with a pau ferro fingerboard and maple neck. It's really not too overwhealming of a task if you can get a professional like a woodworker to do some of the tricky machinery stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members pariah223 Posted January 31, 2006 Author Members Share Posted January 31, 2006 Originally posted by Zebra That's awesome man. I started a similar project this summer, but got sidetracked when school started. Right now I have a basswood body sitting next to me that's 90% completed. I'll have some more time to finish it up in a few months. You already have a project behind you, so I'm certain you'll be fine with this one. I found that making the body (with no powertools) was really quite easy. Routing and the neck pocket should be more of a challenge, and I'll get help with the neck. Luckily I found someone who has experience with woodworking, and specifically guitar-making who's willing to help on the tough parts and advise me on construction. Hopefully in not too much time I'll have a fretless 35" four-string with a pau ferro fingerboard and maple neck. It's really not too overwhealming of a task if you can get a professional like a woodworker to do some of the tricky machinery stuff. Yea, im lucky to not only have a fully equiped machine shop in my garage, but i also have alot of experience with them as well as a dad who has been using machines longer then i have been alive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members pariah223 Posted February 12, 2006 Author Members Share Posted February 12, 2006 Well its been a while since the last updates, but here are some progress shots. The first picture is what i did to decide how i wanted the grain patern to sit. I cut out the shape on construction paper and layed it out to find the best spot. I then traced it with white chalk and cut it out. The excess you see from the cutout is for machining purposes. The hole at the top right is so i have somewhere to bolt it down and the bottom is so i have a square surface to line things up from. Just makes life easier. Laying out the grain patternTraced and ready to cutBody mostly cut out Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jazz Ad Posted February 12, 2006 Members Share Posted February 12, 2006 Nice wood. Keep us up to date. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bassman1956 Posted February 12, 2006 Members Share Posted February 12, 2006 Sure is looking good! your linky to that guitar you built means this bass has great promise... Keep us posted! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members pariah223 Posted February 16, 2006 Author Members Share Posted February 16, 2006 well, taking a break from the body until i get some of the parts to continue on, here is an idea for the headstock. I dont wanna get to crazy with the head, so i kept it kinda basic and flowing like the body. And im a 2L 2R kinda guy. I have a couple other ideas, but i think this one will end uip being the winner. If i get time, ill add the tuning machines and such to the other designs and put them up to see if you guys agree. Once i decide on one, ill model it out just like the body to see how it looks. Also, do you guys have any input on wether it should be angled or straight? Is there any benefits or cons to either of them do any of you know? Straight would be easier to make, but angled may look better and i wouldnt have to have a gaudy string retainer on the head. Head stock design. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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