Hi all.
This is my first post, so here's a little background.
I'm a 28-year-old self taught musician in Portland, Oregon. I started out on guitar, piano, harmonica, etc., and the last few months have been playing electric bass guitar in a trio that me and two buddies formed (we have a lot of original songs, with some flavors of bluegrass, indie, baroque pop, grand hall, jazz/blues).
I've always loved double/upright bass, and am hoping to migrate to it over time (obviously not a straight transition - I will probably take lessons).
I did a lot of price comparisons and thoughts before arriving at my decision. A carved bass would obviously be the best tone, but is far out of my price range. A plywood bass is a cool alternative, but for a decent setup, it is still out of my price range. I've searched, and it seems a good-quality EUB is going to run at least $1,000 (I know there are a couple models for slightly less, but have noticed that there are a lot of talk about tweaking or dealing with minor issues online), but that doesn't even include the expensive task of amplification to get a good sound out of the thing.
So I decide on making my own. With a twist. I'm making a hybrid, acoustic upright bass, using an oval washtub as the back and sides. I'll be using actual double bass parts for quite a bit of it, and have priced the whole thing (sans amplification, at just under $1,000).
Anyways, I wanted to start this thread to chart my progress, and ask for some advice.
----
Here is a rough, but proportional drawing of the current tenative plan.
Current design details:
String length will be 41.5"
The soundboard will be made out of 1/4" aircraft grade birch plywood. I am steam bending it to create an arched top with a re-curve. (I've engineered a simple process for this)
The back and sides will be a 16.25 gallon, oval washtub. 32.5" by 16.5" by 10.5".
I'll use spruce for the soundpost and bass bar.
I will purchase 3/4 size double bass neck, ebony fingerboard, bridge, strings, tailpiece (most likely)
---
I've got a couple contingency plans. If the thing is an abysmal failure, I can re-use most of the parts in a standard EUB project. I've figured out how to make the soundboard removable, so I can tweak the internals if needed, after I make it.
----
Feel free to ask me any questions about design details, and give me unsolicited recommendations. (Constructive, please
)
And now to request a little advice, for some of those as-of-yet undecided areas?
Soundholes: I've read up on the acoustics of soundhole placement and size. My current understanding is that soundholes with a total surface area equal to a circle, who's radius is one-quarter the radius of a sphere with a volume equal to the volume of the body of the instrument (roughly), provides the loudest volume.
However, I've what I've read seems to imply that this volume increases the treble, but sacrifices power in the lower frequencies. I notice that double basses tend to have somewhat smaller f-holes (proportionally) than violins, so I'm currently planning on going for someting a little smaller.
Tailpiece: I think that a sandard tailpiece will be a little too large for my needs. The distance from the bridge to the bottom is going to be about 16.25", so to fit most bass stings properly, I will probably need something a little smaller. I will either make something myself, or look for alternatives. One idea was to use a cello tailpiece. Can it handle the string tension? Are there other issues I should consider? Other alternatives?
Strings: I will play mostly pizzicato, but will probably want to play arco sometimes. Although we tend to play a few songs that are 1-5, blue-grassy, my playing style is migrating in the direction of Jazz (which I've always loved). So I think I'm going to want a little lower action, and a little higher string tension. I'm also probably looking at improving the lower end power, and increase warmth, through every choice I can. I'm looking at the Evah Pirazzo strings. Is this the right direction? Other advice?
I'll eventually need advice on pickups, preamps, amps, etc. We'll have played our first sets by the time this is done, but will mostly just be playing rather small venues (it's more of a hobby/passion - we all have day jobs).
---
Thanks for reading this long thing, and I look forward to sharing the process with you all, as well as getting to chat with you all in the future.
Zeytoun
This is my first post, so here's a little background.
I'm a 28-year-old self taught musician in Portland, Oregon. I started out on guitar, piano, harmonica, etc., and the last few months have been playing electric bass guitar in a trio that me and two buddies formed (we have a lot of original songs, with some flavors of bluegrass, indie, baroque pop, grand hall, jazz/blues).
I've always loved double/upright bass, and am hoping to migrate to it over time (obviously not a straight transition - I will probably take lessons).
I did a lot of price comparisons and thoughts before arriving at my decision. A carved bass would obviously be the best tone, but is far out of my price range. A plywood bass is a cool alternative, but for a decent setup, it is still out of my price range. I've searched, and it seems a good-quality EUB is going to run at least $1,000 (I know there are a couple models for slightly less, but have noticed that there are a lot of talk about tweaking or dealing with minor issues online), but that doesn't even include the expensive task of amplification to get a good sound out of the thing.
So I decide on making my own. With a twist. I'm making a hybrid, acoustic upright bass, using an oval washtub as the back and sides. I'll be using actual double bass parts for quite a bit of it, and have priced the whole thing (sans amplification, at just under $1,000).
Anyways, I wanted to start this thread to chart my progress, and ask for some advice.
----
Here is a rough, but proportional drawing of the current tenative plan.
Current design details:
String length will be 41.5"
The soundboard will be made out of 1/4" aircraft grade birch plywood. I am steam bending it to create an arched top with a re-curve. (I've engineered a simple process for this)
The back and sides will be a 16.25 gallon, oval washtub. 32.5" by 16.5" by 10.5".
I'll use spruce for the soundpost and bass bar.
I will purchase 3/4 size double bass neck, ebony fingerboard, bridge, strings, tailpiece (most likely)
---
I've got a couple contingency plans. If the thing is an abysmal failure, I can re-use most of the parts in a standard EUB project. I've figured out how to make the soundboard removable, so I can tweak the internals if needed, after I make it.
----
Feel free to ask me any questions about design details, and give me unsolicited recommendations. (Constructive, please
)And now to request a little advice, for some of those as-of-yet undecided areas?
Soundholes: I've read up on the acoustics of soundhole placement and size. My current understanding is that soundholes with a total surface area equal to a circle, who's radius is one-quarter the radius of a sphere with a volume equal to the volume of the body of the instrument (roughly), provides the loudest volume.
However, I've what I've read seems to imply that this volume increases the treble, but sacrifices power in the lower frequencies. I notice that double basses tend to have somewhat smaller f-holes (proportionally) than violins, so I'm currently planning on going for someting a little smaller.
Tailpiece: I think that a sandard tailpiece will be a little too large for my needs. The distance from the bridge to the bottom is going to be about 16.25", so to fit most bass stings properly, I will probably need something a little smaller. I will either make something myself, or look for alternatives. One idea was to use a cello tailpiece. Can it handle the string tension? Are there other issues I should consider? Other alternatives?
Strings: I will play mostly pizzicato, but will probably want to play arco sometimes. Although we tend to play a few songs that are 1-5, blue-grassy, my playing style is migrating in the direction of Jazz (which I've always loved). So I think I'm going to want a little lower action, and a little higher string tension. I'm also probably looking at improving the lower end power, and increase warmth, through every choice I can. I'm looking at the Evah Pirazzo strings. Is this the right direction? Other advice?
I'll eventually need advice on pickups, preamps, amps, etc. We'll have played our first sets by the time this is done, but will mostly just be playing rather small venues (it's more of a hobby/passion - we all have day jobs).
---
Thanks for reading this long thing, and I look forward to sharing the process with you all, as well as getting to chat with you all in the future.
Zeytoun
