5 string fretless showcase/sub competition: PHMike's Flubber Fiver For Under A $100

[phmike]

Before the Kala UBass came out I used a de-fretted Johnson baritone ukulele ($45 eBay back then, $75 now) http://www.amazon.com/Johnson-UK-210.../dp/B000B1F4M2 , Ashbory tuners http://www.largesound.com/ , silicone strings and a no-name stick-on piezo pickup to build a bass ukulele. (yea I know - no pics - no bass, the CD they were on is corrupt and I need to try to recover the pics, will post if succesful) I loved the sound I could get out of it but it was prone to feedback and eventually the top began seperating from the body due to string tension. Instead of repairing it I decided to build a solid body version of it and use the nicer polyurethane strings from Kala http://www.kalaukulele.com/ or Road Toad http://www.roadtoadmusic.com/ or Bass Uke http://www.bassuke.com/

Here is a brief outline of my build.
It will be curley maple, headless, fretless, 5 string using Kala UBass type strings tuned BEADG and a piezo pickup. Scale length to be 20-22 inches and string spacing at the bridge and nut to be determined by building a "test bed" on a scrap piece of wood and seeing which spacing feels good. It will not have an onboard preamp so I will use a Fishman Pro-EQ Platinum Bass Preamp http://www.fishman.com/products/details.asp?id=43 which I have had for several years.
Since it is going to be a bit of an unusual build anyway I decided to go further and "fold" the bass up by putting the tuners in the body like in my RISA uke stick instead of at the end of the body like on a Stienberger headless. I have had a RISA http://www.ukulele.de/menu/ ukulele "stick" for several years and love it for it's size and playability. I built a cardboard prototype of my planned project and I think it will be unusual but work OK.

And do it for less than $100 in parts
A detailed parts/price breakdown to be posted later.

Here are some pictures of what inspired me and some of the parts I have so far.

A Kala UBass


A RISA tenor ukulele stick


Tuners, jack, piezo pickups, other parts on order
(There are 6 tuners and should only be 5 so ignore one of'm)


Uke stick laying on curley maple board and tuners lined up near where they will be positioned
(There are 6 tuners and should only be 5 so ignore one of'm)


Camera battery died but I will post a hair (or lack of ) pic and more details soon. And so it begins

[Musiclogic]

This will definately be a nice twist Mike...looking forward to it

[phmike]

Whoops - I was just rereading my post and noticed that I have 6 tuners in the pictures and there should be only 5. This will be a 5 string build so mentally blank out the extra tuner in the pics.

[miziomix]

Originally Posted by phmike

Whoops - I was just rereading my post and noticed that I have 6 tuners in the pictures and there should be only 5. This will be a 5 string build so mentally blank out the extra tuner in the pics.

6 tuners??? Disqualified!!!

hey man, that's a cool project! I like it!!

[Beauchene Implements]

Sweet! Since my boy has gotten old enough to reach up and grab at things, I have been playing my uke a lot more than any of my basses. Can't wait to see how this turns out!

[jmorbita]

subscribed!! good luck!

[Murphys Law]

Regarding the Uke stick I don't like how the strings bend to reach the tuners on one side. Are you planning to carve a recess and stagger the tuners under the body to fix that?

Oh, and: Subbed.

[phmike]

Originally Posted by Murphys Law

Regarding the Uke stick I don't like how the strings bend to reach the tuners on one side. Are you planning to carve a recess and stagger the tuners under the body to fix that?

When I first saw a uke stick I worried about the string angle to the tuners too. So far it has not been a problem on the uke stick but I have made some changes to how I plan to do it on this bass. The tuners will be mounted differently than on the uke stick (but still in a straight line) and instead of a solid "axle" the strings wrap around to go under the body I will use an axle with 5 free turning grooved wheels to help guide the strings. I made some test parts and think the strings can bend at an even greater angle than I plan to have on this bass and they will still work fine. I'll post some pics of my drawings later.

[Grant Bass]

22" eh; whats a normal uke like 17" or sumtin? and those baritone ukes; do you recall the scale on them?
subscribed

[phmike]

I thought I'd post a rough idea of how much this is gonna cost. Depending on how well stocked your friends are or the trash dumpster is these prices could be better or worse. If it goes as planned I hope to keep this under $100 and have enough left over for beer

These items were free or I already had them in my box of parts removed from other instruments or given to me by a friend. Even if you had to buy some of these items I think the total cost for the entire bass would still be under $100.
body wood - found in the trash at a cabinet shop
fretboard - black counter top laminate found in trash, hey, with rubber strings this should work fine or use no fretboard at all
bridge - leftover ebony from another project and some scrap metal
nut - scrap wood (or maybe metal?, decide when I get to it)
jack plate - scrap metal
strap and buttons - a friend gave me a strap (see below) and I have buttons from a friend that removed them to put on strap locks
screws - had these in my parts box
hookup wire - piezo sensor has enough on it so no extra needed
sandpaper, glue, stain, sealer, finish, solder, etc - had this left over from other projects, but if you don't have any of these and you really have to buy it figure maybe $15-25?
tools - have them already or borrow from friend

These items I bought or will be buying. (prices shown include shipping or were in an order with other parts)
strings - $30 (bassuke.com)
tuners - $26 (set of 4 $20, extra tuner $6) (largesound.com)
pickup - $5 yard sale Dean Markley piezo "Artist" transducer
or
pickup - $3 Radio Shack piezo transducer/buzzer #273-073A
output jack - $4

Rough estimate so far - $65

And now for the required hair shot.


I told a friend about this build project and he gave me this strap that matches my avatar. (Thanks Paul )

[phmike]

Originally Posted by Grant Bass

22" eh; whats a normal uke like 17" or sumtin? and those baritone ukes; do you recall the scale on them?
subscribed

There are variations in uke scale sizes but a sopranino is about 11.75", soprano uke (often called std size) is roughly 13", concert about 15", tenor about 17" and baritone is about 19".
I think the Kala bass uke has a 20" scale and places that sell strings say they have strings for 18"-23" scales.

[phmike]

Originally Posted by barnaclebeau

Sweet! Since my boy has gotten old enough to reach up and grab at things, I have been playing my uke a lot more than any of my basses. Can't wait to see how this turns out!

I have more ukes than basses or guitars combined. They are a lot of fun and can be addictive.

[Murphys Law]

Originally Posted by phmike

When I first saw a uke stick I worried about the string angle to the tuners too. So far it has not been a problem on the uke stick but I have made some changes to how I plan to do it on this bass. The tuners will be mounted differently than on the uke stick (but still in a straight line) and instead of a solid "axle" the strings wrap around to go under the body I will use an axle with 5 free turning grooved wheels to help guide the strings. I made some test parts and think the strings can bend at an even greater angle than I plan to have on this bass and they will still work fine. I'll post some pics of my drawings later.

Nice, you seem to have put some serious thought to this. I'm looking forward to some pics

Also, instead of building the axle in a right angle to the strings, you could rotate it a little to help reduce the string bend. And that might look nice too.

I've seen the "Axle with individual wheels" solution on a DIY travelguitar on another forum. There was a problem with the string tension bending the axle. But as you are using flubberstrings here THAT shouldnt happen

[phmike]

My tuner and axle design is very similar to what is used on the Traveler guitar. http://www.travelerguitar.com/
Although they will come with their own quirks (some expected and some yet to be learned), low tension flubberstrings (beginning to sound like a Disney movie) should eliminate the need for a truss rod, be less forgiving if the neck/fretboard is not perfect and allow a lighter built instrument.

[Musiclogic]

used to love the Rat fink CarToons...they were cool

[phmike]

We didn't get the Rat Fink cartoons on TV where I lived as a kid but I did get the Rat Fink comic books. I'm a big fan of Eric Von Zipper too.