30” Scale Compact Semi-acoustic Fretless Bass Build

[rudy4444]

NOTE: The following 2 photos would coincide with Step #88 in the overview of the build shown on previous pages. It's one of those little details that I failed to photograph earlier!

Here's a shot of the long shank 5/32" drill bit fitted with countersink that's used to drill the string holes from the front and countersink for the ball ends from the rear.

Here's a shot from the rear showing the results of the piloted countersink.

The smooth portion of the drill bit shank works nicely as a pilot to guide the countersink from the back. Since the holes are basically drilled at a 45 degree angle the piloted countersink makes it easy work to form perfect recessed pockets for the ball ends.

I thought I'd post these photos to demonstrate what I worked out to make the nice pockets in the end grain of the walnut.

 

[rudy4444]

This bass is getting the "hot wax" neck treatment, but this time I'm using pure Carnuba wax.

The methodology is shown back in the previous postings if you want to see how it's done.

The Beeswax finish used on the previous bass is totally awesome, but there's always room to test something possibly better. The Beeswax has a fairly high melting point, but the Carnuba tops it by 40 degrees or so at a 185 degree F. melting point. The wax requires a bit more heat to bring the neck surface to the melting point of the Carnuba, but otherwise it's a pretty straightforward application.

The completed instrument's neck has a obviously tougher surface finish and we'll see what it does long-term. This is the first instrument I'm using the Carnuba hot wax on, but it feels really great and I think it's going to be a addition to my arsenal of finish regimen.

 

[rudy4444]

Here's the newest rendition of this design.

It has many similarities to the previous bass, but it has only the piezo bridge pickup. The Dunlop Straplocs are the flush variety and the control cover incorporates a Gotoh battery box to eliminate the need to pull the cover off to install a fresh 9 volt battery.

It sounds awesome and I'm thinking the new owner is gonna like it!

Same basic specifications as the prior bass, 30" scale and compound radius lined ebony board with Abalone position markers and discrete side dots.

Sweet Bass Clef sound holes! Pocket for two-way truss rod access with a 5/32" Allen wrench, and a volume knob that started life as a Radio Shack communications knob. A bit of re-shaping and sandpaper / steel wool as it was fastened to a stub of 1/4" rod and spun in the drill press transformed it to look like fine ebony.

Single volume control for the Baggs Element. The folks at Baggs are extremely helpful and sent me a diagram for how to replace the standard soundhole volume control (these are meant for acoustic guitar) with a nice full-sized 250 ohm control, purchased from Tube Depot.

The strings are recessed about 1/2" below the body surface.
I love the convenience of the Gotoh battery box. I did the grain-matching thing for the control cover, too.
The strap connector is a Dunlop Straploc flush mount pocket. The strap pops off and on in a second or two and the recessed connector makes the body very sleek if you're not using a strap.
Top and back plates are carved, of course. The jack plate retains the output jack for the Baggs Element transducer. It incorporates a switching circuit so plugging a 1/4" cable in actuates the preamp power.

Gotta love those Hipshot Ultra-lights! They are truly a thing of beauty.

The string windings work out to be JUST long enough to clear the nut. Not a problem, but on the next one I'll try the medium length (32" wrap) LaBella tapewounds. By only recessing the balls just below the end of the body the wraps should end up 1" past the nut, which would be PERFECT!

Most cool, it fits in a standard electric guitar gig bag. They'll never know you're the bass player until it's too late!

 

[Fat Freddy]

Here's the newest rendition of this design.

It has many similarities to the previous bass, but it has only the piezo bridge pickup. The Dunlop Straplocs are the flush variety and the control cover incorporates a Gotoh battery box to eliminate the need to pull the cover off to install a fresh 9 volt battery.

It sounds awesome and I'm thinking the new owner is gonna like it!

Same basic specifications as the prior bass, 30" scale and compound radius lined ebony board with Abalone position markers and discrete side dots.

View attachment 2761805

Sweet Bass Clef sound holes! Pocket for two-way truss rod access with a 5/32" Allen wrench, and a volume knob that started life as a Radio Shack communications knob. A bit of re-shaping and sandpaper / steel wool as it was fastened to a stub of 1/4" rod and spun in the drill press transformed it to look like fine ebony.

View attachment 2761806

Single volume control for the Baggs Element. The folks at Baggs are extremely helpful and sent me a diagram for how to replace the standard soundhole volume control (these are meant for acoustic guitar) with a nice full-sized 250 ohm control, purchased from Tube Depot.

View attachment 2761807

The strings are recessed about 1/2" below the body surface.
I love the convenience of the Gotoh battery box. I did the grain-matching thing for the control cover, too.
The strap connector is a Dunlop Straploc flush mount pocket. The strap pops off and on in a second or two and the recessed connector makes the body very sleek if you're not using a strap.
Top and back plates are carved, of course. The jack plate retains the output jack for the Baggs Element transducer. It incorporates a switching circuit so plugging a 1/4" cable in actuates the preamp power.

View attachment 2761808

Gotta love those Hipshot Ultra-lights! They are truly a thing of beauty.

View attachment 2761809

The string windings work out to be JUST long enough to clear the nut. Not a problem, but on the next one I'll try the medium length (32" wrap) LaBella tapewounds. By only recessing the balls just below the end of the body the wraps should end up 1" past the nut, which would be PERFECT!

View attachment 2761810

Most cool, it fits in a standard electric guitar gig bag. They'll never know you're the bass player until it's too late!

View attachment 2761812

That bass is just wonderful....

 

[BassHappy]

Another one done "in the white" and ready for disassembly and finishing. These sound so good that there's just no need for that magnetic pickup!
View attachment 2754157

Beautiful bass Rudy, really fine job!

 

[FenderB]

Wow, you're very talented. Beautiful build.

 

[rudy4444]

Thanks much BassHappy and FenderB, your comments are much appreciated.

I used to be much more into using fancier woods, inlays, etc. when building instruments, but I've found as I grew older that I really appreciate simplicity, even preferring "plain" for my designs.

There's something very Zen about a simple instrument that's well executed.

The longer I build the more "shaker-like" my instrument building philosophy becomes.

 

[shortscalesrule]

Wow! So cool to watch an instrument go from plank to perfect! Thanks for documenting it all for us (even those of us who will never do something like this).

 

[chinjazz]

So nice Rudy! Strokes of true mastery! Thanks for posting such great detail. This needs to be a sticky thread.

 

[rudy4444]

Thanks for the ever-so-kind complements, they are always accepted graciously. I don't do enough basses to consider myself a bass builder, but what I build bass-wise is more a result of first and foremost, "frugality". Usually there's open back banjos going on in the shop. (Don't shoot! )

I'm always more comfortable playing an instrument that I put together for a few hundred, but even greater, it gives me the opportunity to research and work out all the details for myself and lets me play the bass that I want to play. The best part of all is playing music on an instrument crafted by your own hand, that's priceless.

I'm not a big fan of stickies on any forum; usually the material is accessible if someone does a simple search. There's a WHOLE lot of really talented folks who contribute on this forum, so we don't want to over-emphasize any particular individual's contributions. (With the possible exception of Bruce... )

I attempted to put together the build topic in a way that I could leave all the photo files alone so the entire topic would have all the photos linked without any intervention on my part. We are always somewhat at the mercy of Imgur or any other third party photo hosting service, so that's always a concern. I think Talkbass recently started doing direct photo hosting in topics due to the proclivities of some of the other hosting services out there.

Thanks again for all the nice comments. (I'm OK with the anti-short-scale comments, too.)

 

[PauFerro]

For years I've been trying to find a way of not having to take off my table saw blade when I'm creating slotted fingerboards! Your Lowes miter saw and that inexpensive blade are the bomb!! Thanks!!! Sure beats Stewmac's fret slotting blade a $100+ when I looked yesterday.

 

[rudy4444]

For years I've been trying to find a way of not having to take off my table saw blade when I'm creating slotted fingerboards! Your Lowes miter saw and that inexpensive blade are the bomb!! Thanks!!! Sure beats Stewmac's fret slotting blade a $100+ when I looked yesterday.

You're entirely welcome and glad I could pass on something useful.

The saw setup works great and the gauged slotting blades are available in just about any slot width you could desire, although I find the .023" works fine for all my needs. The slotting blades are quite robust, too. When I used to make custom lap steels I did literally thousands of slots using a single blade.

 

[MayaTambien]

Marvelous thread, thank you. I want one... (that's just "cool instrument" lust, not something I can act on any time soon). And you're right--there's no need for the mag pup as long as you carry a fresh 9v.

 

[Fat Freddy]

This model bass isn't for sale...……..is it???......

 

[rudy4444]

This model bass isn't for sale...……..is it???......

No sir. (Not by me, at least...)

The two that were built are being gigged with and we both love our basses. The battery seems to last a LONG time, so it's probably a good idea to stick a new 9 volt in when it comes time to replace batteries in the smoke detectors and alarm clocks in our house.

I love doing gigs where I can carry this fairly petite bass in its bag in one hand and my Fender Rumble 100 in the other hand.

If anyone wants one of these they can work with a local luthier to make 'em a copy. Everything they need for instructions is contained in this topic.

The latest thing off the workbench is this hollow body electric 6 string slot head, inspired partially by my love for the short scale bass... (It's a long story...) It's "in the white" here for test driving before it gets torn down for final sanding and finishing. (Oh, and I love this one too....)

Thanks again for all the nice comments!

 

[dwizum]

That's a pretty guitar. What will the finish be? Looks like cedar or something similar for the top?

 

[rudy4444]

That's a pretty guitar. What will the finish be? Looks like cedar or something similar for the top?

It's Douglas Fir. I have a current topic in the "Electric" section at the Acoustic Guitar Forum and I've been told that folks will come looking for me if I do anything other than a natural finish that will slightly darken the carved top without obscuring the grain.

 

[scourgeofgod]

It's Douglas Fir. I have a current topic in the "Electric" section at the Acoustic Guitar Forum and I've been told that folks will come looking for me if I do anything other than a natural finish that will slightly darken the carved top without obscuring the grain.

I feel like you should test them on that. I'd bet anyone actually looking for you has dollars in their pocket. Great work man.

 

[dwizum]

Even better, find a photoshop wiz to fake a photo showing a cherry sunburst or something!

But yes, it's a beautiful instrument. I'm a sucker for slotted headstocks!

 

[rudy4444]

Thanks, ya'll!

I'm waiting for the weather to warm up a bit because I love to put on the particle mask and do my sanding on the deck in the open air. I'm having so much fun playing the hollow body slot head 6 string that I'm going to hate tearing it down for final sanding and finishing. This one came about because a friend gifted me the Seymour Duncan '59 bucker and I've had the 16" by 2" by 8 foot piece of mahogany for a LONG time, wondering what I would eventually do with it.

The body and the Douglas Fir top are fully carved and there's no internal bracing, so it's a bit of a unique build. I too am a sucker for slot heads and build a lot of banjos using 3+2 slot head tunneled fifth string necks.

I'm also a big fan of not trying to make a lighter wood look like something it's not, so my gut feeling is to go with the natural finish.

I had two thinline Teles until the collorbone injury spoken of in the fist post of this topic changed my directions a bit.

This guitar just might merge me back into regularly playing electric, though...