DIY Bass in a Box revisted

[TenorClef]

I thought i would offer some final thoughts on this project. Whilst i have ended up with a pretty decent bass that has enough acoustic power to be heard in a big band it has been quite an expensive project in the end which would really only be cost effective to some one who has both the time and suitable wood working skills to keep the costs down. At any rate i thought i'd share some photos of the final result.

[TenorClef]

I was able to apply the shellac myself.

[TenorClef]

However a lot of the harder stuff like graduating the finger board, fitting the bridge and placing the sound post were beyond my limited skills and had to be done by a luthier. Total cost? What started at around £200 has cost 3 or perhaps even 4 times that. In summary, these semi built white basses available from ebay via China are pretty decent quality and very reasonably priced but are probably only cost effective to those with some wood work skills. The ebony fingerboard is not high grade and caused a lot of extra work for the luthier, its a good useable fingerboard now but not a quality ebony board. The spruce body is top notch and will open up nicely. The blonde shellac means in 10 years time i'll have a nice biscuit coloured bass.

[xwtb]

Even assuming the 4x cost overrun factor, 200 pounds x4 = 1350 US dollars = a heck of a deal for a carved bass. Plus, you've gotten the satisfaction of shepherding the project through to completion (in the face of some scepticism, if I recall correctly.) And the finish looks great, even if it's not yet biscuit colored. Congratulations on a nice job!

[forester]

nice work..and congrats for seeing it through.

*that is some wide textured stock on the back and ribs.
keep us posted on how this one behaves.

[Blind Rat]

Nice work inded.

[MIKMAN]

As far as i know the bas is not a fully carved one but a hybrid. Even for a hybrid i agree that the total amount of money spent is not much. If our friend Tenorclef believes that the sound is good and the particular bass is a decent instrument, then the total project is definitely a worthy one.
Needless to say that i'm tempted to order one, with the top thinly glued with hide glue, so i can regraduate it according to my preferences. One of my twin daughters is thinking seriously to start lessons in DB, so i hope that i can give her a good student instrument. The problem is that it's going to be the fourth DB in the family and given the fact that my wife is 12 cm taller than me i have to take her opinion seriously into account.

[Feral Feline]

Links to the original thread or to the company selling these "kits"? Admittedly I haven't searched for them yet, but 'twould be appreciated by us casual TB readers.

Good on ya for doing and posting this project.

[wayne holmes]

Ten - a very beautiful bass-congrats

[Bass]

I'd like to congratulate you on your very nice looking bass that you can be very proud of.

[pathdoc2]

That looks really sweet. Nice work. I love blondes.