Bass for my daughter

renniw · #1 02-09-2008, 06:55 AM

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

Halfway

Finished

And side by side with my own bass

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

rap138 · #2 02-09-2008, 06:58 AM

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

Gasman · #3 02-09-2008, 06:59 AM

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

renniw · #4 02-09-2008, 07:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rap138

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?

falstro · #5 02-09-2008, 07:19 AM

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.

rap138 · #6 02-09-2008, 07:21 AM

how did you do the pick up?

renniw · #7 02-09-2008, 07:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rap138

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/sit...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/sewingmac...s/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.

rap138 · #8 02-09-2008, 07:50 AM

yes man, thanx

**T. B. Player** · #9 02-09-2008, 08:15 AM

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

davetakis · #10 02-09-2008, 08:29 AM

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

CTbass&birdsong · #11 02-09-2008, 08:38 AM

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

Darkstrike · #12 02-09-2008, 08:50 AM

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

renniw · #13 02-09-2008, 10:03 AM

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...

T-Bird · #14 02-09-2008, 10:22 AM

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

ponticat · #15 02-09-2008, 11:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by T-Bird

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.

Nelson Guitars · #16 02-09-2008, 11:14 AM

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

T-Bird · #17 02-09-2008, 11:34 AM

Hi, ponticat.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ponticat

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

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

Sorry renniw for derailing Your awesome build thread a bit.

Regards
Sam

fretlesswonder · #18 02-09-2008, 11:40 AM

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

Son of Magni · #19 02-09-2008, 11:56 AM

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

Rudyboy98 · #20 02-10-2008, 10:27 PM

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!