Hi all,

Here is a small bass I built for my 3 years old daughter (who wanted to play bass just like daddy....)

Specs are :

1 piece mahogany body-neck
21 inches scale
birdsere maple fingerboard with walnut binding
home made p pickup under birdseye maple cover (soapbar)
pickup made with burglar alarm magnets
tuner from an old harmony guitar saved from garbage.

Here it goes....

Before

http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff278/renniw_photos/DSCN6323low.jpg

Halfway

http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff278/renniw_photos/DSCN6327low.jpg

Finished

http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff278/renniw_photos/DSCN6330low.jpg

And side by side with my own bass

http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff278/renniw_photos/DSCN6334low.jpg

She didn't see it yet as her birthday is april 1st, but I think she may like it...

oh, man that is super cute, I'm definitely make one for my daughter now, can you give more details please?

Very nice. Gives me an idea for my 3 year old son- except I don't have the talent to do that myself.

oh, man that is super cute, I'm definitely make one for my daughter now, can you give more details please?

What excatly do you want to know?

Wow Man,

That's a very nice bass. I think I'll "try" to do the same for my daugther's upcoming birthday.
Thanks for the idea.

how did you do the pick up?

how did you do the pick up?

The pickup is my first winding and was done kind of randomly...

First, I had to find magnets. I've bought 4 door contacts to and removed the magnet from the holder (there are no magnets reseller in my area....)

http://www.gesecurity.com/portal/site/GESecurity/menuitem.f76d98ccce4cabed5efa421766030730?selected ID=14338&seriesyn=true&seriesID=

Then I stole my wife 4 plastic bobbins from her sewing kit (the small one that goes under the needle...)

http://sewing.about.com/od/sewingmachineparts/p/bobbin.htm

I glued them 2 by 2, and inserted the magnets in the hole.

I had some 42awg wire a my shop, so I installed the bobbin assembly on my drill.

The drill runs 1350 rpm, so I guessed 4000 turns would be fine and I ran the drill for around 3 minutes for each 2 bobbin set.

Then I took a piece of maple, removed the inside so it became like a box with no cover.

I glued the bobbin assembly and filled the thing with wax.

Hope this helps....

EDIT : I passed over the soldering part... the 2 coils are wired in serie and go directly to the output jack.

yes man, thanx :)

Nice woods too! It would be interesting to hear a clip or two - especially with that pickup. Wouldn't it be neat to find out that something you put together from scratch might have a sound that's more appealing that the commercially available stuff!! If it goes, you might have to change your screen name to MacGyver!

You might have a niche market product here ... even for bassists that are looking for a lead instrument to supply some melody for their tunes and don't want to get into an ERB.

Z

wow. that is seriously a nice looking bass. good job. let us know what your daughter thinks.

great looking!! the expression on your childs face when she gets it will be priceless !!!!!:hyper:

Wow, thats cool! It would make a great travel bass too!

Thanks everybody for the nice comments. It's very rewarding that my work is appreciated...

Right now, it's tuned EADG an octave higher than a regular bass.

I've put baritone guitar strings on it to try as I had no idea what kind on strings I might use.

If anyone has better ideas for strings, let me know...

Hi, renniw.

Super cool. I bet she'll be happy.

Just today I was talking to the father of my nephews, as the younger had his 4th birthday party, and he told me that he had been looking for a miniature guitar for the boy. A miniature bass would be super cool, perhaps I should build one also. (I 've been thinking that miniature thunderbird in that photo of some bass player with his boy, who played in a band called OX or something ;))

Regards
Sam

Hi, renniw.

Super cool. I bet she'll be happy.

Just today I was talking to the father of my nephews, as the younger had his 4th birthday party, and he told me that he had been looking for a miniature guitar for the boy. A miniature bass would be super cool, perhaps I should build one also. (I 've been thinking that miniature thunderbird in that photo of some bass player with his boy, who played in a band called OX or something ;))

Regards
Sam

Miniature Thunderbird built in 1972 for John Entwistle's son, Christopher.

http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/aa161/ponticat/minibird_01.jpg

That is just too adorable. What a lucky girl. You know you are now committed to at least two or three more versions as she grows up. Just like shoes with kids, it will seem like a day or two from now this will just be too small.

Greg N

Hi, ponticat.

Miniature Thunderbird built in 1972 for John Entwistle's son, Christopher.

http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/aa161/ponticat/minibird_01.jpg

Thanks', I've only seen the "stairs" photo.

Sorry renniw for derailing Your awesome build thread a bit.

Regards
Sam

That is just so cool, great job! I think she will be very happy!

Great job man. Makes me wonder whether my kids would have appreciated their violin lessons more if I'd built them their violins :hmm:

That bass looks awesome!

My daughter is interested in guitar, but we just bought her a student (or what appears to be a student) guitar from Wal-mart.

Hope your daughter gets a kick out of it!

:)

Totally Awesome, I bought my 4 y/o a Samik Fairlane, but she's not ready for it yet....time to build.

Thanks for the inspiration.

sound clips please!

thats so cute! your daughter is a lucky girl! :)

sound clips please!

Yes....I too would appreciate clips please.

Just goes to show what a fathers love for his daughter can do! Mate you made my heart jump, what an effort, she will be the happiest little girl in history & you deserve a medal for parenthood!

Please let us know how she likes it!

Cheers

Rusty

Awesome...just awesome. What a lucky girl.
:)

Sorry if I missed it but when does she get it?

^ Her birthday, April 1st.

April 1st, said so in first post ;)
Awful, awful day to have a birthday, would just give your parents an excuse to give you a guitar-shaped empty box :(

That's awesome and congratulations to you and her!
I'm dying to hear some sound clips from that burglar alarm pick-up