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My First Bass Build
- Thread starter Rob17
- Start date
Hello I'm Rob From Holland and I'm building my first bass, totaly clueless about wood working and electronics, but with the help from the internet, I think I can pull this one off.
Hello,
This is the wood I'm gonna use the bridge and the EMG JHZ pickups.
The bridge I bought on Ebay, to put on my Gibson EB-3 SG bass, which is missing 2 saddles, but it was nickel coloured and looked a little out of place on the SG, so I have a spare and it's going on this bass.
The wood is a piece of meranti (yes,.. I know), with white oak and sucupira, with pine vineer glued in between every piece.
The piece of meranti I had was 4 x 50x 29 Cm., and the pieces of oak and sucupira where 4,5 Cm. thik.
Thinking I would easely plane that 0.5 Cm. off, I bougth it.
Big mistake, apart from not being able not accectly make all the pieces level with clambs, it is very hard labour if you have blunt tools and poor workmanship.
This is a steap learning curve.
The pieces of vineer I bought as a slap of 2 meters by 25 cm. roughly, not straight at the edges, so I had to cut them to size.
I cut pieces of vineer, roughly 4.5 cm, and clambted them between 2 straight pieces of wood of 4 cm. to cut them with a snanleyknife very carefully totaly straight so when gleued, the whole piece of vineer would be visible and not go in a few milimeters, so you have to plane it of till its all wood no gleu.
And it's almost inpossible not to damage the wood surounding the wood your planing.
For me and my poor workmanship that is.
I'm waiting now till I have the money to buy me a table router, that shoul be today.
I'm gonna try to make the body level at both sides, with the router, wouldn't have been neccesery, with matching sizes of wood.
The reason for the wood not being the same size, the meranti is from a wood shop, the curupay and oak from a major diy shop, with only presawn wood and they can't saw, they don't have the tools they say.
But I fell in love with the curupay and oak, so I bought it anyway.
Sorry for my poor english by the way.
This is the wood I'm gonna use the bridge and the EMG JHZ pickups.
The bridge I bought on Ebay, to put on my Gibson EB-3 SG bass, which is missing 2 saddles, but it was nickel coloured and looked a little out of place on the SG, so I have a spare and it's going on this bass.
The wood is a piece of meranti (yes,.. I know), with white oak and sucupira, with pine vineer glued in between every piece.
The piece of meranti I had was 4 x 50x 29 Cm., and the pieces of oak and sucupira where 4,5 Cm. thik.
Thinking I would easely plane that 0.5 Cm. off, I bougth it.
Big mistake, apart from not being able not accectly make all the pieces level with clambs, it is very hard labour if you have blunt tools and poor workmanship.
This is a steap learning curve.
The pieces of vineer I bought as a slap of 2 meters by 25 cm. roughly, not straight at the edges, so I had to cut them to size.
I cut pieces of vineer, roughly 4.5 cm, and clambted them between 2 straight pieces of wood of 4 cm. to cut them with a snanleyknife very carefully totaly straight so when gleued, the whole piece of vineer would be visible and not go in a few milimeters, so you have to plane it of till its all wood no gleu.
And it's almost inpossible not to damage the wood surounding the wood your planing.
For me and my poor workmanship that is.
I'm waiting now till I have the money to buy me a table router, that shoul be today.
I'm gonna try to make the body level at both sides, with the router, wouldn't have been neccesery, with matching sizes of wood.
The reason for the wood not being the same size, the meranti is from a wood shop, the curupay and oak from a major diy shop, with only presawn wood and they can't saw, they don't have the tools they say.
But I fell in love with the curupay and oak, so I bought it anyway.
Sorry for my poor english by the way.
What wood I'm gonna use for a neck is gonna be a money issue, would love to put in a nice piece of purple heart, but what the price of such a piece is I don't know.
They don't have that at the Hornbach.
I want to make it a 5 piece neck, probebly ash and something else, not sure yet.
They don't have that at the Hornbach.
I want to make it a 5 piece neck, probebly ash and something else, not sure yet.
- Apr 18, 2008
- 16,004
- 1
- 31,695
- Disclosures
- I'm highly opinionated and extremely self-assured
I was thinking about a Ritter inspired shape with the long upper horn, but I think I'm going for the more classic bassguitar shape.
It's easyer to do I think.
All those round shapes are not easy I guess.
The scetch I made from 2 pieces of A4 paper, kept getting smaller and smaller every time I hold a scissor, so I need to make a new one, not sure which way to go yet.
It's easyer to do I think.
All those round shapes are not easy I guess.
The scetch I made from 2 pieces of A4 paper, kept getting smaller and smaller every time I hold a scissor, so I need to make a new one, not sure which way to go yet.
purple heart is very inexpensive. But if its your first bass, i wouldnt suggest it personaly, kind of a pain in the ass to work with compared to maple.
I actually used eucolyptus for my first few necks...cheap, works easy, stable, but not as pretty as a lot of other woods.
Thanx for the tip.
Saterday I'm going to buy me a few nice pieces of wood, at the "Arnhemse fijnhouthandel", here in holland.
They have 120 kinds of wood, and I'm definitly gonna check out eucalyptus.
This is the link to their stock, their woods look awsome, people come all the way from Italy to buy their woods.
Invalid Link Removed
Black Katinka has drawn my interrest very much.
That looks very good, it might be the top for my next bass body.
Saterday I'm going to buy me a few nice pieces of wood, at the "Arnhemse fijnhouthandel", here in holland.
They have 120 kinds of wood, and I'm definitly gonna check out eucalyptus.
This is the link to their stock, their woods look awsome, people come all the way from Italy to buy their woods.
Invalid Link Removed
Black Katinka has drawn my interrest very much.
That looks very good, it might be the top for my next bass body.
I just finished my first build and it was a great experience. I learned a lot that I wish I had known ahead of time, but I feel that is part of the process. Here are a couple of internet sites I found instructive
Build Your Own Bass
Invalid Link Removed
Crimson Guitars
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
The Crimosn guitars site has a couple YEARS of photodiary of Ben building guitars and basses. I was able to see the order of the activities and he throws in tips now and again.
Basically, to distill the learning down, here's what I took away from reading and doing. I just an amateur, so seek other more educated opinions.
1. You don't have to make everything perfect. Be flexible and adaptive. Draw it out with measurments so that you don't end up having a 3" pickup sitting in a 2" piece of wood, or having to make a control cavity 1mm from the edge of the body.
2. Build the neck first. Get it roughed into shape and the top (where the finger board will go) properly flattened and the peghead flat and proper thickness. Then determine where the bnut will be. That is your reference point. Then route the channel for the truss rod.
3. If you are building your own fingerboard, do it now. Get the inlays in and cut the fret slots (if needed.) Mark the center of the fingerboard at the top and bottom of the board.
4. Mark the center of the neck at the nut position, and again at a distance away that is equal to the fingerboad. Attach the fingerboard to the neck using the nut position and the lines you drew as the guide. Clamp it and be patient.
5. Cut the fingerboard down to size.
6. Build the body. Fit everything together dry and mark out where the bridge will sit at the correct scale length away from the nut (your reference.) Trace out where your birdge will go. Trace out where the pickup cavities and electronics will go.
7. Do the rest of the body work and fit it all together again to check your layout. Remember the old sayings "Measure twice, cut once." and "Never time to do it right, but always time to do it over."
8. When it looks good, sand and finish. If you are using a porous wood, a grain filler is nice if you want that high gloss finish. Either way, if you should use a sealer if you are going to use a non-oil sealant - such as laquer or nitrocellulose.
9. Take you time with the finish. By the time you get to it you will be ready to have the bass done already. Train yourself not to rush.
I hope that helps in some small way and have a lot of fun. That's the most important point.
Build Your Own Bass
Invalid Link Removed
Crimson Guitars
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
The Crimosn guitars site has a couple YEARS of photodiary of Ben building guitars and basses. I was able to see the order of the activities and he throws in tips now and again.
Basically, to distill the learning down, here's what I took away from reading and doing. I just an amateur, so seek other more educated opinions.
1. You don't have to make everything perfect. Be flexible and adaptive. Draw it out with measurments so that you don't end up having a 3" pickup sitting in a 2" piece of wood, or having to make a control cavity 1mm from the edge of the body.
2. Build the neck first. Get it roughed into shape and the top (where the finger board will go) properly flattened and the peghead flat and proper thickness. Then determine where the bnut will be. That is your reference point. Then route the channel for the truss rod.
3. If you are building your own fingerboard, do it now. Get the inlays in and cut the fret slots (if needed.) Mark the center of the fingerboard at the top and bottom of the board.
4. Mark the center of the neck at the nut position, and again at a distance away that is equal to the fingerboad. Attach the fingerboard to the neck using the nut position and the lines you drew as the guide. Clamp it and be patient.
5. Cut the fingerboard down to size.
6. Build the body. Fit everything together dry and mark out where the bridge will sit at the correct scale length away from the nut (your reference.) Trace out where your birdge will go. Trace out where the pickup cavities and electronics will go.
7. Do the rest of the body work and fit it all together again to check your layout. Remember the old sayings "Measure twice, cut once." and "Never time to do it right, but always time to do it over."
8. When it looks good, sand and finish. If you are using a porous wood, a grain filler is nice if you want that high gloss finish. Either way, if you should use a sealer if you are going to use a non-oil sealant - such as laquer or nitrocellulose.
9. Take you time with the finish. By the time you get to it you will be ready to have the bass done already. Train yourself not to rush.
I hope that helps in some small way and have a lot of fun. That's the most important point.
Oh yes, buy an orbital sander and lots of sand paper. You will be surprised how much you use. Also, it's not worth working a piece of sand paper down to the very last grain. You will feel when the paper has lost it's cutting ability. Change the paper instead of pushing harder. You'll get better results and not ahte sanding so much.
Thanx for the tip.
Saterday I'm going to buy me a few nice pieces of wood, at the "Arnhemse fijnhouthandel", here in holland.
They have 120 kinds of wood, and I'm definitly gonna check out eucalyptus.
This is the link to their stock, their woods look awsome, people come all the way from Italy to buy their woods.
Invalid Link Removed
Black Katinka has drawn my interrest very much.
That looks very good, it might be the top for my next bass body.
They are also the most expensive in holland. Try Invalid Link Removed less choice but better prices. I'm only losing about 184 euros (excl shipping) on wood.
Also a luthier I spoke to wasnt that pleased with some wood he got from Arnhem.
Tell me how it is ^^
Good luck on yer build!
*Subscribed cuz yer dutch*
Friesland!
Hi alduroth,
I checked it out, and they do have some fine pieces of wood and you can acctualy see what it cost online, Looks very good indeed, must brush up on my german, which never have been very good
Thanx for that link ,it's in my favorites now.
I checked it out, and they do have some fine pieces of wood and you can acctualy see what it cost online, Looks very good indeed, must brush up on my german, which never have been very good Thanx for that link ,it's in my favorites now.
I suppose they speak english too though
You're welcome.
By the way, where are you getting yer hardware?
www.thomann.de has decent prices too. Although Ebay works too ofc ^^
You're welcome.
By the way, where are you getting yer hardware?
www.thomann.de has decent prices too. Although Ebay works too ofc ^^
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