DIY upright stand?

warlord shank · #1 06-21-2009, 12:36 PM

I've searched the forums and scoured google's infinate knowledge and can't for the life of me find anything about DIY upright stands. I know we have a huge group of DBers, and these things quite honestly take up a TON of room, so I can't believe that no one has found a quick and easy way to make pvc stands or tuck the things away. I don't want suggestions of stands to buy, I want to see the true poor man's DB space-optimization technology in action

Any thoughts, related sites, non-sequiters will be appreciated. pics if you have 'em!
-Shank

Mods, sorry about the thread placement. I couldn't find a DB stand-specific forum

feel free to move it.

longfinger · #2 06-21-2009, 01:46 PM

Are you looking to make a stand for a room in your home or do you want a portable stand to take out of the house?

warlord shank · #3 06-21-2009, 01:54 PM

I need one for my room. After a morning spent searching for solutions, though, I'm just kind of interested in what everyone else has come up with.

mr.hughes · #4 06-21-2009, 02:00 PM

Maybe this is redundant but why do you want one for your room? My stand stays in my car - when the bass is indoors it rests in a corner, out of harms way.

Jake deVilliers · #5 06-21-2009, 02:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by warlord shank

I want to see the true poor man's DB space-optimization technology in action

Ask and ye shall receive!

I got tired of having 2 or 3 or 5 basses taking up the whole floor of the music room (as did Mrs de Villiers!) so I banged up four of these in a little more than an hour.
Its a miniaturised version of the 3 holer I made for Long & McQuade.

The 2 x 8s are 21 1/4", the 2 x 10s are 10 5/16" with a 38 degree bevel ripped on most of the inside face and the 2 x 4 is 10 5/16" with a 1 1/2" hole in the centre.

The end pieces were propped up on the other 2 x 8 to raise them 1 1/2" while I screwed the front on. The 2 x 4 endpin holder was likewise raised 1 1/2".

I tried neoprene foam on the first one but it made the bass too wiggly so I've put thin cork on the resting surfaces instead.

I put little felt buttons on the corners to protect the floor etc

I had all of the tools and materials to hand so they were a quick solution for me.

Of course Maiken wanted to know why I hadn't made them a few years ago!

I'll put bigger pix on my site for anybody who wants to download them and make their own 'Bass Spa Stand'.

Bass Barrister · #6 06-21-2009, 03:32 PM

Thinking outside the box for a bass-in-the-box. . .

Nice work, Jake.

therealting · #7 06-21-2009, 04:05 PM

Jake, those are sweeet!

longfinger · #8 06-21-2009, 04:44 PM

Nice stands Mr. DeVilliers.
Movable too.

If you have no free corners, another thing to do in a room is to place a bass or basses against a wall.

Many ways.

ie. If you look at the photo below you can see guitars hanging on the wall
Those things can work for a DB too. It stands on it's own but the neck goes in the U hook to keep it from sliding sideways and you can have a latch to close it so it won't slip out.

You can take a shelf and build a small nest for the neck to lean in (like the above U) and some rope to tie the bass neck. Lean it against a hanging shelf (belly to center of room) then tie it up.

If you have many basses, a very efficient way attach dowels to a long board, attach this to a wall and then lean the basses shoulder in to wall on to the dowel.

It's hard to explain what I mean in the above, but they all work. In all cases the bass stands on it's own and the various do-das just support it from tipping over.

Gary Lynch · #9 06-21-2009, 04:59 PM

I like what Jake built. Here in California, I would then secure the neck with a cord to the wall. EARTHQUAKES!

rllefebv · #10 06-21-2009, 05:02 PM

Thanks for sharing that Jake!

-robert

Jake deVilliers · #11 06-21-2009, 05:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gary Lynch

I like what Jake built. Here in California, I would then secure the neck with a cord to the wall. EARTHQUAKES!

No need Gary - the endpin goes through the hole in the 2 x 4 crosspiece and keeps the bass upright.

My wife wants wheels on 'hers' so she can play it all over the room!

Jake deVilliers · #12 06-21-2009, 05:12 PM

Thanks for the kind words guys. Part of me would love to build a set in black walnut with lustrous finish and Gold Mother of Pearl Bass Spa emblems and part of me is really happy with the re-used Douglas fir and #2 spruce...

warlord shank · #13 06-21-2009, 07:23 PM

Wow, Jake. I'm really impressed. I was expecting heaps of pvc and duct tape, not an actual working bass stand. Ingenious!

ctregan · #14 06-22-2009, 04:24 PM

Thanks for sharing the stands Jake, they look really good (the bass art on the window sill, looks good too!).

Jake deVilliers · #15 06-22-2009, 04:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ctregan

Thanks for sharing the stands Jake, they look really good (the bass art on the window sill, looks good too!).

Man, you guys are sharp! What, no comments on the vintage Speakerlab WA6 speakers?

GerardSamija · #16 06-23-2009, 10:02 AM

Back in the 1990's I was using something like that, only longer so I could stack 4 basses in a row. There was a 2x4 along the bottom with a hole drilled halfway through for each endpin and thin felt glued to the sloping side rails. I'd stack three one way, then the fourth bass back-to-back with the rear-most of the three. Then I moved across the street and just didn't have any space (nice place I helped rebuild after a fire, but only 460 square feet), so gave away that stand to someone with a few basses.

Since then I've been coming up with various solutions for different apartments. In the place we've been for the past five years the best place for basses is in a room beside my small workshop along one wall. Room for 6 basses there. I could make another long stand... but prefer the flexibility of open floor space so instead use cord loops secured to a 2x3 screwed into the ceiling. There are eyelets screwed into that board and then a couple of strong cord loops tied to each of those eyelets. I can hook basses under the scroll or around tuner pegs or both, and adapt the endpin height to suit the loop and neck lengths. The only 'iffy' aspect is the tendency of basses to rotate. For that I lean the bass heads slightly away from the wall and press the treble side lower bouts against the wall. There haven't been any earthquakes since we moved here, but I suspect the basses will be just fine in anything up to about a 6 or so. These old balloon framed houses tend to just do a bit of wiggling in earthquakes and the basses may rotate and get dinged a little, but nothing serious.

As Jake implied with his comment on spousal wonderings, about why not years ago... ditto. My solution with the loops of cord took a year or so, and a week with 15 basses scattered around the house was the last straw for Shiho. Usually the numbers don't creep up on me like that; 15 was a record number. Most of the time the 6 spaces in that room and a couple of hooks in my workshop are more than enough. Still, there's certainly room for some more stability and I'm considering making something to keep the basses from rotating or swinging into eachother should the house start shaking. We do live in an earthquake prone area, similar to that in California.

Heifetzbass · #17 06-24-2009, 10:05 AM

Here is the new bass rack I built. It is loosely modeled on the Wenger racks... Took a total of 6 hours with finish included.

http://i424.photobucket.com/albums/p...k/BassRack.jpg

Holds three large basses.

http://i424.photobucket.com/albums/p...nstruction.jpg

It has three 7/8 or larger basses in it. It is 63" wide, 59" high, and 22" deep. If you want to see more pics, pm me and I will tell you more.

FYI
BG

Bob Bl. · #18 09-21-2009, 08:21 AM

I just finished making a Jake de Villiers stand. It turned out really nice.

Since it is going to have to live in my living room, I wanted it to look at least half decent. I used a less-than-shabby pine 2"x10"x8' for the stock, cut it out, then countersunk and plugged the screw holes. Sanded, stained, sealed with danish oil. Glued on the cork. Caveman carpentry at it's finest!

I should post a picture, but it just really looks like a fully stained version of Jake's.

Two things I would change:
1 - The board I picked out had good grain and was nice and straight, but turned out to have a slight cup That made the build-up more challenging and the end product look slightly more, umm, "rustic". Live and learn...
2 - I'm 6'0" tall, and play with about 7" of endpin out. If I had made the whole thing just 1" taller, I could just drop it right into the stand without having to stop and adjust the end pin first.

Rats. We'll see how long for #2 to drive me nuts. Sometimes it's that extra 10 seconds of putzing around that stops me from just picking up the bass and playing for a few minutes on a whim. I may have to build a second one at some point in the future.

Bob

Jake deVilliers · #19 09-21-2009, 09:25 AM

Hey Bob, sounds good but we'll need a photo, right?!

You could always just add 1 1/4" high feet to the bottom to clear your endpin. Maybe slices of curtain rod - screw them on then add felt floor protectors.

HCF · #20 09-21-2009, 09:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jake deVilliers

Ask and ye shall receive!

I got tired of having 2 or 3 or 5 basses taking up the whole floor of the music room (as did Mrs de Villiers!) so I banged up four of these in a little more than an hour.
Its a miniaturised version of the 3 holer I made for Long & McQuade.

The 2 x 8s are 21 1/4", the 2 x 10s are 10 5/16" with a 38 degree bevel ripped on most of the inside face and the 2 x 4 is 10 5/16" with a 1 1/2" hole in the centre.

The end pieces were propped up on the other 2 x 8 to raise them 1 1/2" while I screwed the front on. The 2 x 4 endpin holder was likewise raised 1 1/2".

I tried neoprene foam on the first one but it made the bass too wiggly so I've put thin cork on the resting surfaces instead.

I put little felt buttons on the corners to protect the floor etc

I had all of the tools and materials to hand so they were a quick solution for me.

Of course Maiken wanted to know why I hadn't made them a few years ago!

I'll put bigger pix on my site for anybody who wants to download them and make their own 'Bass Spa Stand'.

Or, make one the lazy way and use a beercrate