• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Double Bass Building an EUB . . . Sort of . . . .

#21
BarStarzBass said:
Well, the control and jack cavities are done, and the volume, tone and blend controls are mounted. My single neck Jazz pickup arrived today, and Francis Deck is going to build me a "naked" version of his HPF Pre that I can mount on-board - it's really coming together! :hyper:

Here's that clip with accompaniment I promised. Recorded the acoustic guitar, electric guitar and percussion straight into my iPad's mike using the Everyday Looper app, and loaded them to Ableton where I then played the solo bass part, with a touch (okay, more than a touch - but I like that saturated sound) of chorus and reverb.
Click to expand...

That is very cool you will have a built in Fdeck pre, I use this for my DB and my EUB, it sounds great
 
#22
delta7fred said:
I am just wondering where you found room to mount all the controls on such a compact body.

I love the sound of it with the chorus and reverb on, although I have never been a pedals sort of person*.

Like you, I am wondering what it would sound like with a preamp.

*Probably because when I started playing nobody used them, if you could afford a half decent bass, a head and a couple of 4X12s (and knock out a 12 bar) you were set up. It is only since joining TB that I realised everyone is now using them but me.
Click to expand...

I mounted the controls behind the bridge - see pics. It's really the only place with enough room, plus it will work either vertically or horizontally if I ever want to strap it on like a regular EB. The knobs are currently not symmetrical because the HPF Pre pot will be in the fourth corner.

The only tricky part to this arrangement is drilling the hole in which to run the pickup wires - that's where side-mounted controls really have an advantage. As it is, I'm going to have to thread the needle between the bridge's through-body holes. There's enough space for a 3/8" channel, but I have to be ultra-precise when I drill. I might chicken-out and go to one side of the through-body holes, but that means the wires from the piezo p/u be very noticeable as they'd have to run across the body from the center of the bridge before they reach their hole . . .we'll see.

As for pedals - well I started off as a guitarist so pedals just come with the territory for me. But for my usual bass duties (I'm in a classic rock cover band) my pedalboard is pretty slim - nothing that's really an "effect" - just a tuner and a VT-bass to give me an edgier tone for some songs (have my amp set to classic old-school tone for most of our stuff). I also have a Unibass to support our rhythm guitar player - I do have a distortion pedal in that chain but that doesn't count as it's only effecting the Unibass "guitar" output - my bass signal stays clean.

But for this upright I really want to explore some solo bass stuff - so some delay, chorus etc. is not too far out there. . .
 

Attachments

  • EUB 001a.jpg
    EUB 001a.jpg
    39.6 KB · Views: 99
  • EUB 002a.jpg
    EUB 002a.jpg
    34.8 KB · Views: 86
#23
It all makes sense now I see the photos, yes it will require a bit of precision drilling to get the pickup wires through.

I used a 100W tube head for many years with two then one 4X12. I then switched to a solid state 1X15 combo so my sound is very clean now and I miss that tube sound. I keep reading about VT pedals and quite fancy the VT Deluxe, the programmable one with 6 different sounds. Maybe a bit of overkill though.

I am quite a fan of Leo's, I have 8 basses all of his design plus a strat, from my lead playing days, against to 2 SGs.

I do have a multi effects box, a Zoom 1010, so called because it had 1010 unusable presets. Fortunately it had 12 user definable ones as well. I don't think I have plugged it in since I gave up playing lead.
 
#24
delta7fred said:
It all makes sense now I see the photos, yes it will require a bit of precision drilling to get the pickup wires through.

I used a 100W tube head for many years with two then one 4X12. I then switched to a solid state 1X15 combo so my sound is very clean now and I miss that tube sound. I keep reading about VT pedals and quite fancy the VT Deluxe, the programmable one with 6 different sounds. Maybe a bit of overkill though.

I am quite a fan of Leo's, I have 8 basses all of his design plus a strat, from my lead playing days, against to 2 SGs.

I do have a multi effects box, a Zoom 1010, so called because it had 1010 unusable presets. Fortunately it had 12 user definable ones as well. I don't think I have plugged it in since I gave up playing lead.
Click to expand...

Off topic a little (but what the hey, I'm the OP!), the VT is great - definitely adds some tube grind - but I really just use it for the SVT "voice". I get my tube grind from my Mesa Walkabout - don't know if you're in the market for a new amp but if you're looking to reintroduce some tubeyness while still retaining the light weight and convenience of an SS - well, I'm probably not the best person to ask since I don't have much experience with an all-tube amp, but per the Walkabout Megathread - up to part 4 and counting - seems a lot of guys feel it's the tubiest of the hybrids. Certainly does the job for me.

I'm a big fan of Leo too - although oddly I don't own anything actually from Fender. I have two G&L basses - a Legacy (P-bass) and the L-2000. Two-and-a-half if you count the neck from this EUB. And a Frankenstrat I've assembled from various Ebay castoffs . . .that's what I used on that little track.
 
#25
Thanks for the info on the Mesa Walkabout, it looks very interesting but I think I will stick with my Trace Elliot combo for now, it might be heavy but it is on wheels.

The Tech 21 VT pedals gets a good press and would get rid of the clinically clean sound I have at the moment. I usually throw my gig money in a pot and buy a new bass when I get enough but as I now have my original 62P, a couple of MMs and G&L L-2000 and L-2500 (Plus 3 project basses) I think I am pretty well set up for now. I may treat myself to the Deluxe soon.
 
#26
Well, it's DONE! Mostly done. All cavities routed, pickups and controls mounted, stain and nitro finish applied . . . just waiting the needed curing period for the nitro before I do final buff and polish, and attach neck and bridge.

Word to the wise - although I think the wise would say "duh" - there's a reason you don't see too many instruments with the controls mounted behind the bridge - drilling the conduit for the pickup wiring is a B%$ch!

I got one of those looooong drillbits for installing wiring, and I had the idea to go through the output jack hole (at the bottom of the bass similar to an electric guitar spot) so my conduit would be perfectly level within the body, and emerge neatly inside the pickup rout.

Or so the theory went. But I failed to account for the fact that these drillbits aren't designed to bore through a continous piece of wood - they are for wall applications where it's drywall, open air, an occasional 2x4 etc. While I kept the drill bit nice and level, it "flexed" inside the body and . . . breached! Luckily, it emerged on the back side, it's a pretty small hole, and it did at least follow the horizontal line I intended so it was near the pickup cavity when it happened. I'll have to patch it, and doing exploratory drilling DOWN to it from the pickup cavity was nerve-wracking, then threading the wire through these connecting tunnels was fun, and the neck p/u's wires just BARELY reach the control cavity - but the worst is over.

Hopefully by the time the finish cures, my HPF-pre will have arrived and I'll be done. I'll post new sound samples and pix then.
 
#27
Finally all done - and here are the pics to prove it. Note the "donor" L-2000 in the background - which is now sporting its new fretted neck.

That white haze - I believe it's residue from the polishing compound I used. I tried buffing it off - nothing. Light sanding with 1,500 paper got it off, but also took some finish with it - so I'm going to wait another couple of months for the clear-coat to harden further, then VERY CAREFULLY go over it with steel wool of 2,000-grit paper.

See sound clip in next post!
 

Attachments

  • Finished EUB 003.jpg
    Finished EUB 003.jpg
    54.9 KB · Views: 93
  • Finished EUB 002.jpg
    Finished EUB 002.jpg
    52.3 KB · Views: 111
#28
So the recording chain for this is:

Boss Bass EQ - very minimal settings compared to the radical settings I had to use for the first sound clip when it was just the piezo. Basically just eq'd to bring out some more "Mwah" - a little goose to the mids and a little cut in treble.

Walkabout Head DI, no speaker.

Yamaha Mixer, where I add a touch of reverb from a Tech 21 RVB

Line 6 UX2 Toneport audio interface

Tracktion - no effects, just recording.

Overall, I'm guite over the moon with the sound. I notice a lot of slapping noise on the recording - guess I need to raise the action and/or get a little less sloppy - on the other hand, I kind of enjoy the percussiveness of it.

Overall I do like what the HPF-pre does for the sound, though the "raw" sound isn't bad either. Overall I'd say it gives me another "voice" option, so I'm glad I put a preamp-bypass switch in. And while it's not very apparent on this recording, the phase-reverse switch on the HPF-pre also affects the voice - one way it's a little rounder/warmer, the other it has a pleasing little roar when playing the upper octave.
 

Attachments

#29
Interesting build, nicely done.

Over the last several years I've been experimenting with fretted and fretless necks in similar builds. My current experiments are of the shortscale (30") variety and I've mounted them all on an NS EUB stand.

One thing I'm curious about is, what did you use for a stand and how did you attach it?
 
#30
Hi Mongo. I basically followed the advice of another TB'er to the letter. I'll try and find the original post so I can give him credit.

But basically I just went to Guitard Center, walked to the drum shop, and bought a Pearl cymbal stand, an extension arm for a single Tom, and a Clamp meant for mounting on a Tom. This gives a very stable tripod, and the Tom (rather than just cymbal) clamp is more sturdy and allows the bass to be tilted toward you (see the pic in my previous post) as well as the usual back-and-forth. The three pieces were about $80.

The clamp has a base that is a little bit rounded, but it's a 3-point mount and two of the points can be flush with the back of the EUB. For the third, I just used some rubber grommets as spacers.
 
#32
I mounted my EUB on a drum stand, here's a picture. It works great, a bit heavy but very solid. I used very thin woods with an acoustic cavity for my bass, the mounting block that the stand attaches to also supports a sound post - this transfers the string tension via the bridge to the stand.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_1551.JPG
    IMG_1551.JPG
    65.9 KB · Views: 86
#33

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back