Just finished building a double bass

George700DL · #1 01-25-2010, 08:59 PM

Hello,

I'm new to the group, but I've been lurking around here and taking in info for some time. I wanted to wait with my first post until after I have built a bass.

I always loved instruments, and this was my first serious build of this magnitude. I used the "Low-cost Bass Viol" GAL article and plans, with some modifications. My fascination with the double bass was born fairly recently, based on my messing around with basses lying around when their owners took a break from playing.

This bass is used in Transylvanian folk music (where the rhythm viola is my main instrument), so it's typically strung with plain gut (3-stringer), and 99% of the time it's bowed (heavy, home-made bow with black hair). I built the instrument with these points in mind.

The top is 16-piece, pretty close to what the plans called for.

Back and sides are laminated. I didn't include the upper bout bevel, mainly out of laziness, and also I didn't feel like I needed it.

The neck is a 2 piece, cherry. Fingerboard is maple. I incorporated the E bevel, since it allows me to go a bit lower with the gut A string and still have plenty of room.

I chose a simple endpin socket and wooden dowel for the endpin itself. Home Depot tailpiece wire.

I deviated from the plans a little...for instance, I added purfing (made from scratch from walnut and maple boards). I cut the channel by hand, to avoid screwups with a router.

The bass has some "features" that are sure to delight the pros, like an integrated bass bar

I'm aware of the differences, but chose to go with the carved-in bar because of convenience ( = laziness). If something doesn't work out, I can always take the top off and make a real bass bar. I did add a chalk-fitted soundpost patch (kind of pre-emptive), with grain going at about 30 degrees to the top's grain. Thanks Matthew for your detailed photos of this

The only thing I didn't make myself is the bridge - I got a cheap one, and it made no sense whatsoever to cut my own...

The bass is loud, just like I wanted it to be, and it does exactly what I need it to do for this type of music.

I'll try to add some pictures now.

So thanks for letting me lurk around and gather info

Great forum!

Now back to playing my new bass...

George

JtheJazzMan · #2 01-25-2010, 09:04 PM

Thats fantastic, must be quite a feeling to be playing something youve made yourself.

Is it possible to post sound clips?

George700DL · #3 01-25-2010, 09:08 PM

Adding a few more photos...

Not visible from here...the neck is a mortise/tenon type, fairly deep. Hot hide glued, of course.

George

George700DL · #4 01-25-2010, 09:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JtheJazzMan

Thats fantastic, must be quite a feeling to be playing something youve made yourself.

Is it possible to post sound clips?

Thank you, it was a lot of fun building it.

I want to record some samples, after I catch up on some sleep... it might take weeks

George

George700DL · #5 01-25-2010, 09:18 PM

Tail piece + wire...

George

George700DL · #6 01-25-2010, 09:44 PM

For what it's worth... the bass weighs 21.6 lbs. This [pleasantly] surprised me, because I tend to over-do everything. This time I kept the weight in mind at all times.

It's a normal[ish] 3/4 (slightly larger than the plans called for) with a 42" string length.

George

jbrooks · #7 01-25-2010, 09:53 PM

That's great! I want to build one too. What is a good source for plans?

George700DL · #8 01-25-2010, 10:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jbrooks

That's great! I want to build one too. What is a good source for plans?

I used the GAL article by Frederick Lyman (sp?) from a few years back. He was out to prove a concept in that article (building a cheap hybrid bass), but I didn't necessarily have those same constraints. You can order the plans from GAL ("low cost bass viol"), but...you can pretty much use any old plans. It takes a lot of exploring on your own. He used a unique type of a neck joint - I went with the standard, chalk-fitted mortise/tenon.

The GAL plans are NOT 1:1, in case you go with that. All you get is 1/2 the outline for the body in real size. Everything else is scaled down to 1/2. So be prepared to do a lot of preliminary planning/calculations.

In retrospect, any plan would have done, and it would have saved time to go with a 1:1 plan (I don't know if there is such thing, or if everyone pretty much drafts their own).

I would not encourage this as a project unless you absolutely love making instruments out of wood, and are totally passionate about the process itself, like I am. If I wanted something cheap and playable, I'd go with a plywood (this is what is most commonly used for transylvanian/hungarian folk basses now - cheap, bulletproof).

George

**Matthew Tucker** · #9 01-25-2010, 11:44 PM

George , I love it, is that DOUBLE purfling??

Looks like a great rustic bass and well worth the effort!

The only thing I don't go for are those ... tuners. You ARE going to swap them out for something nicer aren't you??

Even secondhand Rubners would be better than those ...

MPU · #10 01-26-2010, 05:53 AM

Nice looking bass. I have something similar with four strings in mind.
How did you laminate the ribs? What wood did you use for the ribs and back?
Marko

Paul Warburton · #11 01-26-2010, 06:32 AM

Great job, man.
I agree with Matthew about those machines, though. After all that nice work, I'd like to see even some older used plates on there.
Those things are cheap, granted, but I've seen some where the plating has actually started cracking off after a bit of use.
I dunno, they just don't have that soulful vibe like your bass seems to have.
Anyway, I think you did a great job.

EDIT: IMO, older used hat pegs would go great with that bass. I gotta guy who might have some.....I can send them to you free if you're interested. Lemme know in a PM.

Gearhead43 · #12 01-26-2010, 07:49 AM

That bass is awesome!

George700DL · #13 01-26-2010, 08:39 AM

Hi Paul,

Thanks very much, a huge offer indeed! PM sent.

George

George700DL · #14 01-26-2010, 08:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gearhead43

That bass is awesome!

Thank you!

George700DL · #15 01-26-2010, 08:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Matthew Tucker

George , I love it, is that DOUBLE purfling??

Looks like a great rustic bass and well worth the effort!

The only thing I don't go for are those ... tuners. You ARE going to swap them out for something nicer aren't you??

Even secondhand Rubners would be better than those ...

Thanks Matthew. The purfing is walnut-maple-walnut, each about 1mm thick. I cut these strips on a table saw, out of all places. I had those woods lying around, so that's what I used.

I see your point with the gears - yes, they're Grovers

I took them apart and turned my own cylinders (pearwood - hard as nails). To be honest, I wasn't worried too much about the look when I started, and the tuners only cost me $50. I've since seen some cheap plate machines for only a bit more, and had I seen those before, I would have gone for them. I picked the hole positions according to how I anticipated the gut strings winding on - they're much thicker than metals. So at this point, I'm not sure how we'll I'd be able to retrofit real tuners.

But yeah, the bass turned out nicer than I expected, so the tuners might need to be swapped at some point. I'm only using 3 at the moment, the 4th is not even installed. I wanna keep the option of using metal strings open.

George

George700DL · #16 01-26-2010, 09:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MPU

Nice looking bass. I have something similar with four strings in mind.
How did you laminate the ribs? What wood did you use for the ribs and back?
Marko

Thanks Marko.

The 4 strings is still an option on this one, I kept that in mind.

Ribs are baltic birch plywood - I had some lying around.

Heat-bent, just like real wood. Not ideal, but it turned out OK.

Back is lauan plywood from the hardware store.

I should mention that there is no need to go with the cheapest materials - it was just convenient for me to use this combination, but I wasn't trying to save money - I just wanted to build a bass without overthinking it.

The author of the GAL article stresses on several occasions that while he was trying to prove an abstract point, the reader should not necessarily stick to the plan and instead use other (better) materials at any point if s/he so desires. I kinda found a happy medium. For instance, the cherry for the neck wasn't too cheap.

George

Jake deVilliers · #17 01-26-2010, 09:30 AM

Nice going George - looks like you have a cool bass there! What is your tuning?

Bass · #18 01-26-2010, 09:53 AM

Great work George! Thanks for sharing your photos.

George700DL · #19 01-26-2010, 09:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jake deVilliers

Nice going George - looks like you have a cool bass there! What is your tuning?

Thanks Jake.

It's A D G.

It's cool to have that much room for the bow, but that E is tempting.

George

james condino · #20 01-26-2010, 11:53 AM

Nice job! There is nothing like the feeling of playing one of your own instruments. The only problem I've run into is the fact that I no longer really want to play any of my other instruments- I just want to spend all day playing my new bass...

j.

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As a side note, for anyone thinking of starting a build, I've got some well seasoned spruce tops available, not as a commercial wood dealer who sells thousands of tops a year, but as a simple bass dork who has more than he needs. PM or call me for the details so we don't derail the thread. (yup, I checked with Chris about sharing this with the community and he suggested I post it in this method)