Who are you?

[reverendrally]

Pete Wood
38yo, Married, 3 kids.
Sydney, Australia.
Been playing bass (upright and electric) for more than 20yrs now. Did a degree about 10 years back on upright. Worked fulltime as a muso/music teacher before going to bible college. Now I'm a church pastor and planting a church in a new housing estate in Sydney's western suburbs. Been playing with tools for a long time, always did setups and basic soldering/adjustments. However, the idea of building something scared me and I thought it would be too hard. Which is bizarre considering I've built a kit car and various other things over the years. I have a mate and he has been building guitars for a few years. I watched him and last year decided to have a go because the new 6 string fretless I wanted I couldn't buy or afford to have custom made for me. He said, "it's about time". So I started 2x4 strings as testbed prototypes for the 6 string. This is how far I am with one of them...



The other needs a lot of work. Then late last year my 3yo started bugging me so I built him a Stingray 2 string for Christmas. It was a great learning experience and my first finished bass...



I've just started a fender bass VI style instrument for my S.I.L. So I'm a newbie, but I'm having a go... and I think I'm seriously hooked.

[Nidan]

My name is James , I've been building instruments for 13 years . My latest projects are a neck through swamp ash guitar with curly koa caps , and a deep tenon Alder bass with a curly koa cap . The bass is all hand carved.

I'm a happy grandpa , and have 2 grown kids .
By day I'm a senior Unix consultant.

I've been an avid motorcyclist for over 40 years and have a 103" HD Street Glide and a Yamaha FJR 13000

Also a 2nd degree black belt and have studied martial arts for 17 years

[sprocket123]

Nice projects in there Nidan

[JohnnyLiBass]

Hey all. New here, long time lurker but I thought it was time to come out of the shadows. I've got a couple basses that i'll be working on renovating in the near future so I'm sure i'll be in and out. I am no luthier, I just wish I was. HA. Name's John btw.

[Valdemir]

My name is Valdemir, 35y.o., I'm from Brazil and I've started building basses about 6 years ago. I built some guitars too.
I like to play bass and I finished building my definitive instrument about two months ago. Below is a link that shows it.
Thank you all.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zzqXx1f5trg

[mrz2u]

Jeremy Z, 42
Wife and three kids, 5, 5, 7
Photographer by training but not by trade anymore
Pay the bills slugging it out for a major computer maker in Texas
Former avid cyclist…got married and spawned and fat so perhaps again one day I’ll get back to 10k miles a year when I have time!
AVID DIY’er… I completely enjoy DIY in just about all endeavors. From building my own entertainment center cause no one made one I liked to brewing my own beer… If I can make it myself I prefer it that way.

Played in the jazz band in high school while preferring heavy metal! Not much of a player anymore, just fart around for my own enjoyment. First bass was a cream colored Precision. Got a great deal on it but hated the color. Decided to sand it down and paint it a different color…turned out terrible but I was 14 so what did I know? Pawned it and bought a Aria Pro II ZZB deluxe (blue one here http://www.matsumoku.org/models/aria...s/zzb/zzb.html ) Band director hated that thing. I refused to play either the Jazz or very vintage Precision we had at the school. It was something to see in the old pictures and videos from those concerts. Sold it and bought a late 80s Squier 5 string PJ bass, not the precision knock offs, this was the one with the odd head stock and no pick guard made in Japan. Yanked the frets and filled the slots to go fretless. Got tired of the black gloss so I stripped it down (forgot how bad it went in 1984). This went much better and the wood underneath was actually not bad. Shaped it quite a bit removing all hard lines. Every cut and contour flows into the next, like a river stone. Finished with about 10 coats of tung oil and loved the results. Only problem is the neck pocket got real loose and never has been great since.

My oldest son wanted a guitar. Didn’t want to spend a ton of money so I bought a Squire Strat at a pawn shop for $65 with a stand. He took little interest so I decided I wanted to strip, shape and stain it like I did with my bass. HOLY S**T that was a pain in the arse! The finish was so thick that its now almost ½ inch thinner. Looks nice but plays like crap now.

I get a bug in my head about something I want to do and it preoccupies my mind till I eventually act on it or successfully get it into remission. I have always wanted a neck thru bass. Been looking out here a lot and looking at all sorts of builders work! I have a friend that builds beautiful acoustics and have been picking his brain a bunch. He feels very confident in his abilities to build and know my other work and obsessive nature so he is pushing me to get started. I was going to build a new one piece body for that Strat to get my feet wet but decided to just build a new body for my bass instead. This might put this bug into remission but I doubt it. It already seems simpler to me to build the neck thru…this neck pocket thing seems like a real pain. We will see! At the very least it will be a good excuse to buy more tools and that’s always a good thing?

[merlinlutherie]

Hi, I am Merlin 21,
I have been interrested in luthery for 3 years and I study it at cegep near Montreal for 2 years. In my free time I work in a workshop I setted up in an appartement. I use a bandsaw, a pressdrill and a router with multiples jigs to do everything In the building process of an electric bass.

I also enjoy using handtools and I build a spanish classical guitar and a ukulele at school right now. My workshop experience come from 6 years of bike mechanic as a day job.

I have a blog which I update with pictures from my builds and Jigs it is full of tips but is is written in french: www.merlinlutherie.com

And I play bass In a Montreal band called Mangomango! for 3 years, new songs are coming out soon!

[Markpotato]

Hello, I'm a luthier from Texas, now hailing from Arkansas. I've run across the talkbass forum many times over the years just searching on google for things, but for some reason I never thought about the fact that there's probably a sub-forum for luthiers. Well what do you know? So here I am.

Currently planning a personal build for myself, using parts from, and intended to replace my Cort Curbow 5 string bass.

[Warnelius2008]

Name : Ryan
Age : 28
Occupation : Machinist

I'm married and I have my first child on the way. I've been working with wood for nearly 12 years. I currently have a second job at a local Woodcraft as a sales associate. I did start woodworking with smaller projects such as cribbage boards, chess boards, and cabinets.

I am currently working on building segmented drums, but it's still in the design stage. I've built a total of six basses, averaging a little more than one per year.I work on CNC's for a living, but I like to keep my bass building a little more old school...

[ishtar]

New to bass.... and a southpaw. Came across a lefty Vintage® Icon LVJ74MRJP, essentially their Jaco bass attempt. Have a Badass II bridge that needs to be installed with uncut saddles.

I will ask for luthier advice in the luthier section.

Glad to be a member her and wishing you all a great 2013.

[Wil_Couch]

Greetings All-

Wil Couch
35yo, married, no kids, 2 dogs
Buffalo, NY
Inside Sales Manager for Felt Bicycles

Have been playing music for 25+ years, and come from a long line of musicians and luthiers. I started building in the mid 90's, but took A LONG time off (life, wife, etc.) and just picked it back up again. Currently working on 2 basses and a uke.

I am fortunate enough to have my grandfather, a professional luthier, as a resource. He and I have built two instruments (linked below) together, and he has provided me with plenty of wood, tools, and information. My great-grandfather was an award winning violin builder, although that's about all I know about him. My earliest memories are of my mother singing and playing guitar. She has also build a couple of acoustic steel strings with my grandfather (her father.) I guess building runs in the family...

I would LOVE to turn this into a "real thing" someday.

First build
Second build
Current build - Pallet Bass

[abcbasses]

Greetings from Australia...,

My name is Harry. Computer programmer is my real job. I've been fiddling around with bass guitars for a little while, around 5 years or so. Mainly just repairing, parts swapping and refinishing.
Started looking at building about a year ago and has been taking it a little bit more professionally now as a part time thing.

My main motivating factor to build is looking at some great musicians who can't really afford a good quality gears due to its price, especially in Australia.
Money is never the main point for me regarding building basses. It is more about passion and having fun at the same time. Nothing is more enjoyable to be able to put smile on other people face.

Feel free to drop me a PM about your dream build. If I can make it happen I definitely will.

Thank you for reading.


Harry

[JMorciglio]

Hello,

woodworker, diemaker,millright.

Have been working with composites, fulltime since 07'.

Started building "partscaster" bodies in the 80's.
Built over 20 instruments in the last couple years.
Doing some serious R+D with carbon builds.
Some Work in Progress shots;
Bass VI;

Starcaster inspired

VB-650 and "T-Byrd" lil' sis' builds;


John

[Matteo Marziali]

Hi, my nickname is my real name!
I live in Italy, and i'm 37 years old.
I live with my partner and our son Galileo.
I work for Prada, i design female shoes.
I started build instuments 3 years ago, when i was trying to adjust the TR of my bass to play some difficoult Primus songs, and i discover the "luthiery" and Carl Thompson. In the summer of 2010 i saw a couple of time all his videos on YouTube, and I fell in love with him and with his basses!

I built 3 basses, and a couple of guitar. I'm now finishing my fourth bass

The first one, (i finished it for Carl Thompson birthday)

A Claypool replica and another 32"