first build planning.......help me

[John Rogers]

hey everyone, first I just wanted to say to all of the builders on here that the beautiful basses you have made from nothing but pieces of wood have inspired me to try to make my own, now I need your help

I am still in the body designing stage but I am going to be getting about $400 from a bass I had on craigslist this weekend I want to know if this should cover my plans


plans:
fanned frets maybe? no experience with them
alder body with walnut top and back
bartolini pickups not sure what model yet
probably bartolini preamp too
mahogany/maple/mahogany neck
pau ferro fretboard


is this do-able? or am I in over my head?
all help greatly appreciated

john

[mikeyswood]

No. $400 with no experience in not doable. Fanned frets with no experience is not doable. The Bart package will consume most of the $400 alone.

I would expect that build to cost me ~$1000 with experience. Without experience you can easily double that cost.

Have you finished and assembled your first instrument?

[devo_stevo]

If you don't count the tools that I have bought to build my first one, I spent $165 on wood (walnut, maple and mahogony. Nothing over the top expensive). I have spent about $150 on hardware and still need a pick up. I am going passive with a single EMG pick up so it's a lot less than the Barts that you're talking about. Just with the stuff I've bought so far that I listed, I am in it ~$315. I'm still a ways off too. I have to buy a pick up and the side dot inlay material and the finishing stuff. I'm guessing it's another ~$150. This doesn't count all of the tools that I've bought for it which is a lot more. Oh and I'm building a fretless bass so that I don't have to worry about the other tools and materials that are involved with that. I'm saving the frets for the next one.

In short, $400 won't get you close. Sorry.

[Rickett Customs]

Yeah, $400 wouldn't even buy me a decent bandsaw

If I were you John, start simpler, odds are it will come out better and play better as opposed to getting too intricate, especially on the fist one..... Save that for the second one

[John Rogers]

alright well I'm just gonna scrap the idea and use my money for gas or something haha. thanks guys

[mikeyswood]

I would suggest buying a kit from Carvin. You will be able to finish and assemble your own bass. From there you can add making the body and neck to your next project.

[Dream Weaver]

One more vote for going cheap. Those Barts would blow your budget. =/

Grizzly also has some nice kits.

[BananaKing]

Originally Posted by John Rogers

plans:
fanned frets maybe? no experience with them
alder body with walnut top and back
bartolini pickups not sure what model yet
probably bartolini preamp too
mahogany/maple/mahogany neck
pau ferro fretboard


is this do-able? or am I in over my head?
all help greatly appreciated

john

Hey.

My build and situation was/is fairly close to yours. Since I don't have/make a lot of money, I had to get creative.

My build was also close to yours in specs. (Build thread: First Build - 5 String Neck-thru Singlecut )

So, to give you an accurate idea of the cost associated with it, I'll throw in the cost estimate of what it took to get mine (Just finished buying most of the last few things):

Wood = $170-200
Random Hardware (Like inlays, knobs, straplocks....... everything but the bridge/pickup/big stuff) = $100-150
Tools (I needed a fretsaw, fretting hammer, couple of dremel bits, etc....) = $80-100
Pickup = $125 (It would be more if bought online, but I bought it local)
Bridge = $140 (Ordered from Hipshot direct)

All together (A very conservative estimate) = $615-715

And I didn't even include a preamp in mine.

In order to afford all of this, I spent a long time collecting everything. Every 2 weeks to a month, I would spend a small chunk of money ($50-75) buying a few parts or tools or bits of wood at a time. Since I knew what I wanted very clearly, I made a list of EVERYTHING I would need and then I broke it down into small groups of things I could buy at once for small bits of money.

One time, I might buy the fretwire, inlay dots, Knobs, pots and wiring. The next, I might buy the bridge. That way, it stayed affordable and I could make sure I was getting everything that I needed before I started. It also allowed me to re-check my design and make any changes that I might need to make.

With $400, you could easily collect quite a few pieces that you will need to build a bass, or you could buy some tools. You could pick up all the wood you might need and the bridge and pickup for your bass with that cash. It's up to you.

As for the other things, all of them are possible. I would just be very careful about fanned frets. It is possible, but you would have to measure 6 times, cut once

Anyways, good luck.

[John Rogers]

thanks alot guys, and thanks alot bananaking. what kind of build could I do with my budget? I have most of the basic tools I need

[BananaKing]

Originally Posted by John Rogers

thanks alot guys, and thanks alot bananaking. what kind of build could I do with my budget? I have most of the basic tools I need

Which tools are those?

I did most of mine with a Jigsaw and a Belt sander.

[John Rogers]

i have a jig saw, a dremel, and a belt sander I think too actually haha.


I've changed the design. a practice build now, home depot wood
red oak/poplar/red oak body wings
maple/pop/maple/pop/maple neck
maple fretboard
cheap electronics and hardware

[BananaKing]

Originally Posted by John Rogers

i have a jig saw, a dremel, and a belt sander I think too actually haha.

You're right where I started. I had nothing more than that, really.

Also, feel free to do whatever you want to. It's your build. This is all advice that you can take or leave as you wish.

[dave-chaulk]

"$400 with no experience in not doable"

My first two builds add up to slightly less than 400 dollars, and both turned out fine for me...

[mikeyswood]

Dave - I would have many questions about that given the questions that you pose here. Keep those and let me know if you feel the same way ten years from now.

[stevetx19]

go for it.

It's not about making an amazingly perfect instrument; it's about learning how. Don't worry about a finished product just yet. If you take your time and enjoy the process, your builds will progress in quality. When you finish a bass that looks, feels, and plays very well, you will know not to mess around with cheap hardware. Until then, enjoy!
$400 is plenty to get you started, but if you are serious about learning bass building, prepare to shell out quite a bit more.

[John Rogers]

I have my body shape done now and I scaled up all of my measurements to what I want, but I cant re-create the drawing at this size so that I can create my template. what should I do?

the measurements on the picture are 5 and 7/8" wide, by 7 and 1/16" tall


the measurements for the real body are 13 and 7/8" wide, by 15 and 1/16" tall

[stevetx19]

you need to be sizing up from your scale length measurements(nut to bridge). You may need to redraw your shape keeping the scale length as your starting line.

You can take your drawing to a printing center and run it through the large print machine. It will let you scale up to the size you need.
For example, i always draw my plans in 1/2 scale. My 34" scale is drawn to 17", so i can easily scale up 200% and print out my template.

Do you have one of the guitar building books? Take a look at the stickies for info on the books and a ton of other topics and then check your library or Amazon...that ought to be your first acquisition.

[mikeyswood]

Take your full scale drawing in pdf form to Kinko's and have them print it.

[John Rogers]

ok, hey what is pdf form though?

[kuso]

What did you do your initial drawing in? Photoshop? MS Paint?