well I already started a thread on the luthier's corner about it. here is the link: http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=161607
I'm still in the process of putting it together. I have most of it together and still need to do alot of sanding and just a few more cuts to make. there some good pictures on the link. these pictures are the most recent. I used hard rock maple and bloodwood neck through construction with bloodwood for the fingerboard. I ran a 3/8" steel rod down the neck as a non-adjustable truss rod. I am going to use a k&k double big twin pickup mounted on the side of the bridge as it should be and also two other piezo pickups mounted under the bridge with a balance knob to blend the K&K and other two together. This should also create two different types of vibrations to play with. I'm still constructing the bridge, it's going to be made out of maple. It is going to be recessed in the body about 3/4" deep, and the electronics (k&k pure preamp) is going to be disassembled and mounted in the back just above the bridge cutout with the pots and 1/4" jack mounted in the cover plate where I can access them easily. My only unanswered question is how long are brand new strings. I'm concerned I'm going to have to eat up about 6" of string because I made the body short like the ns design EUB. I have a plan but I just cant find out how long thwe strings are. I ordered the d'addario hybrids. let me know what you think. Keep in mind this is my first attempt to build a bass of any sort. I just hope I can get it to sound good.

and one more pictures.

My only unanswered question is how long are brand new strings. I'm concerned I'm going to have to eat up about 6" of string because I made the body short like the ns design EUB. I have a plan but I just cant find out how long thwe strings are.
An average mesurement for "ball to end-of-metal wrap/beginning of peg silk end" is around 140 cm.
The "problem" with most EUBs is the short tailpiece to bridge distance, which brings the end of the metal wound part higher and around the pegs, which is not desirable, but most of the time inevitable, unless you get special strings.

Bob Gollihur has some pics of a bass he built on which he solved the same problem(string length) by making the anchor point for the ball ends halfway up the back side of the body. I plan on doing the same on mine. Keep up the good work- looks nice!

If you recess the bridge into the body, will you be able to adjust your string's speaking length/scale(by shifting the bridge's distance from the nut)?

If you recess the bridge into the body, will you be able to adjust your string's speaking length/scale(by shifting the bridge's distance from the nut)?
Is this desirable?
Since most well made necks are cut in a way to have a D or Eb reference, changing the scale doesn't make much sense, IMO.
You decide which scale you want and make the instrument accordingly.
The recessed bridge also makes it self-aligning, which is a plus methinks.

I'm just talking about enough adjustability to intonate the bass, not radically alter the scale. And I'm not by any means claiming expertise here, or that I see a flaw, just trying to address potential problems before they're built in.

I tlooks to me like the string angle across the bridge is going to be odd. Like 90deg (nearly flat) toward the playing part of the string and really sharp as it goes into the body.

thanks for the replies. I figured out a way to make it work with out the strings going up the back of the body and covering up the place I had planned for the electronics. the bridge is going to be recessed in the body about 1/2" and I'm going to feed all the strings through the front of the body directly under the bridge with holes to recess the balls of the strings. the bridge will sit right on top of them. I'm making a piece to match the body that raises the strings up a little to take up the slack in the back near the bottom. the strings will wrap around that and back through the body and over the bridge. Kinda hard to explain as you noticed. I think it will work.

I tlooks to me like the string angle across the bridge is going to be odd. Like 90deg (nearly flat) toward the playing part of the string and really sharp as it goes into the body.
I dont think it going to be quite 90degrees. I made the finger board a little longer than usual I think. I started this with no Idea what I was doing, All I had was the measuements of the nut, the bottom of the neck and the scale. with the strings at a sharper angle, wouldn't it put more pressure on the piezo's and get a higher output?

The angle of the strings has a lot to do with how the strings respond and sound. With the angle that you're going to get it's going to sound a lot more like a big, fretless Slab than a fiddle.

As far as pressure on the piezos, this would depend on how you've mounted them.


I dont think it going to be quite 90degrees. I made the finger board a little longer than usual I think. I started this with no Idea what I was doing, All I had was the measuements of the nut, the bottom of the neck and the scale. with the strings at a sharper angle, wouldn't it put more pressure on the piezo's and get a higher output?

The bridge is only going to be about 1.5" tall and about 3" from where the strings are coming out of the bass. What if I added another bridge to raise the strings a little. the length of string behind the bridge probably has some play in the sound as well.

The 'after-string' is a impediment when you're trying to amplify. The neck looks like it's a fixed angle, isn't it?

The 'after-string' is a impediment when you're trying to amplify. The neck looks like it's a fixed angle, isn't it?
Yes

Then you pretty much have the angle that you're going to have. By looks I'd say that it'll probably sound similar to the Steinberger or the Zeta.

Well, I am finally totaly finished with my EUB. I was waiting on some string ferrules to show up and wanted to put a couple more coats of tungoil on. I have to say I am totally impressed with the sound it produces along with the way the tungoil finish turned out. The bloodwood is absolutly beautiful next to the maple. Since the bridge is mounted into the body, I had to file and file to achive the action and spacing I was looking for and finally sanded the bridge down to the strings grooves. If I need to raise the action, I can just shim the bridge up a little on which ever side needs it if nessesary. Still working on how to make it adjustable with a couple thumb screws. The sound is very close to a double bass. But with the three band EQ I can achive many different tones. I just need some good riffs to start out on. I really would like to pick up some good jazz licks. Any jazz recomendations??? There is a kick ass DB solo jam on an Earl Klugh album I have, I think the song is Winding River. The transition from BG to DB was rather easy. I didn't put any inlays on it and havn't made up my mind if I'm going to or not. But I just took some little white dot stickers and put them in place for awhile just to get used to it. I'm already playing without them. Its Kinda funny how this worked out, There's a tiny little black knot in the center of the fingerboard right where the fifth fret would go. So I kinda have a natural fifth fret marker. Anyway, I am extremely happy with it and can't wait to do more with it.

Bob Gollihur has some pics of a bass he built on which he solved the same problem(string length) by making the anchor point for the ball ends halfway up the back......
Probably picked up from NS Design (Ned Steinberger) as that's how their EUBs do it. It's very logical so some other EUBs probably do as well.

here is a good picture of the back and the ebony cover plate.

Well, I am finally totaly finished with my EUB.
Great! When's the production model coming out (and how much $) ? :D :D :D

Hi toonman.
Just a suggestion: why don't you fill out your public profile on Talkbass?
http://www.talkbass.com/forum/profile.php?do=editprofile
Thanks in advance!

Hey toonman, I was wondering if you had any trouble with dissasembling and mounting the K&K preamp & how big of a cavity it takes to internally mount it? I'm thinking of doing this on my next EUB, but i'm concerned since my bodies are so much narrower than yours. BTW, It LOOKS great, but we all want to know how it SOUNDS!! You should definetly make us some mp3's if you have the means.

I guess I'm going to have to figure out how to record/send a sound file. I'll try that today. as far as internally mounting the K&K pickup and preamp, that was pretty tough. I still dont have it exactly the way I would like it. First I bought two 10k and two 100k pots and replaced the cheap plastic pots K&K puts in the preamp. I had to attach them with small wires about 3" long which was a pain. It took up alot of room too, Figure about 1" per pot all in a row. The circuit board inside the preamp is the same size as the preamp itself. (2" X 2.5") I made the hole for the electronics about 1 1/4" deep to allow room for the new pots and circuit board and all the wires. The output jack had to come off and have wires run to it so I could mount it in the cover plate, be careful not to strip out the jack by tightening it too much. K&K products sound good but they use cheap parts. And for the input jack, I removed it completely and ran the K&K pickup wires through the body into the cavity I carved out and just soldered the wires where they should go on the circuit board. The only problem I had was finding a way to secure everything in place. The cover plate is the only thing holding everything in place. every thing fits pretty snug. When you take the cover plate off everything comes with it though. Another drawback is that the K&K pickup is glued to the side of the bridge near the bottom and wedged between the bridge and the body when in place. It can not be removed without desoldering the wires from the circuit board. Since the strings are fed through the front of the body under the bridge, I made sure to leave enough slack in the pickup wires to be able to raise or remove the bridge so I can change the strings if needed. I cut out a small groove on both the bottom and the bottom side of the bridge to allow the pickup wires to be fed under and up to the bottom side of the bridge. It wasn't too hard to do, Just time consuming figureing out where you want everything to go.

I dont know If I have the time to start producing these. I would love to though. I put alot of time into it and thats what everyone would be paying for. Price would probably be between $1800.00 - $2000 for one.

thanks for the info, Maybe I'll just stick with the fishman powerjack :hmm: ...