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Double Bass Building an Upright, need Dimensions

#5
Hey everyone, just so you know, I'm only looking for help, not a war, If you can give positive feed back great, if not don't high jack my link. I'm 52 and can make my own mind up as to what to do, so again just looking for some measurements.
Thanks UprightCowboy
 
#8
Get a copy of Peter Chandler's book on double bass building. It is not perfect, but it will give you a reasonable starting point. He also sells nice plans of several models shown in the book.

Find a bass that you like the tone and playability and aesthetics of and make a giant blueprint of it for yourself. You will likely spend close to 1000 hours on your first double bass build- better to know that you liked the bass you're trying to replicate than to find out afterwards that the plan you used was for a bass that does not fit you....

I'd also suggest go visit someone who builds double basses; even if you have to go a log distance or pay for a couple of hours of their time, it will be very valuable information. Basses take a log time to build- no sense trying to reinvent the wheel on your own. There are centuries worth of good information available from others who have experience already and understand what it is like trying to build your first instrument.

Keep us in the loop.

j.
 
#10
Thanks j Sounds like good advice, I live in the middle of Michigan if you or anyone else knows of a Bass luthier, I know there is one in Grand Rapids and thats not to far from me, i could make a day trip of it. Thanks again for the sound advice, love these kind of posts.
UprightCowboy
 
#11
My bass dimensions are as follows:
Upper Bout: 20"
Lower Bout: 27"
C Bout: 15.5"
Body Length: 45"
Rib Depth @ Upper Bout: 7.5"
Rib Depth @ Lower Bout: 8.5"
I wish I had the skills to build my own bass, good luck, I can't wait to see how it turns out.
You should be able to buy most of the parts you need at uptonbass.com

Edit: I see you're in Mid-Michigan, Steve and Aaron Riley (Guarneri House) do amazing work, they would definitely be valuable resources. Plus you could probably buy all of your parts from them.
 
#13
Thanks MK1, I saw the Riley's website online today throughout my searching process, I'll have to see if were related, Me grandmutter was a Riley.
To go in and see the inner working as j stated would be great info to gain, so I'll give them a call and see if they'd be willing to let me stop by.
Can you give me the neck and fingerboard measurements as well.

I'm not going to reinvent the wheel so to speak, but I do have some other ideas I'm going to research further for this project, ie.. woods mainly, I like to be different
BASS I'll post the project start -finish
UprightCowboy
 
#16
Thanks MK1, I'm looking at using Bloodwood or Purpleheart for the fingerboard and tail piece.
Bloodwood being my first choice, as for color mainly, I'm still deciding on soundboard depending on tone what I'll end up using for the backs and sides, but a bit of research will let me figure out what I come up with.
I'm sure I'll make the neck and fingerboard first and mount the tuners and nut, then onward.
UprightCowboy
 
#17
I have no intention of building a DB, although i am a handy carpenter and joiner. But it was most interesting to read the posts and I hope that as UprightCowboy progresses all DB players will get even a small improvement in their understanding of the bass. Good luck UC.

Inidentally, I have just bought a nice English bass from Paul Bryant. He says on his website that he is going to stop building - but when I spoke to him on the phone he said that he might just build another one if he's in the mood.......... His attitude to woods is quite interesting; he reckons that the old bass makers would use all sorts of wood, even old floor boards if necessary, so he also uses all sorts in his construction.
 
#18
Roger thanks for your post, I looked into making an archtop guitar and saw some incredibly built instruments that was farout looking, but played pretty well, the key thing I learned here was testing the sound board by SLOWLY removing wood and testing the sound tone, this was from the Archtop MASTER himself Benedetto, he would remove most of the wood, then start thumping it with his fingers to hear the tones, and remove more where he knew it would make the changes he was looking for. So the building parts process I do see as too long, but getting the tone, and the setup is the key.
UprightCowboy
 
#19
You can "cheat" some by buying necks predone. The claim on making an upright is you have to be able to simultaneously think on a grand scale while not losing detail focus. I suppose when you get things that large you have material issues that will come up and bite you. expanding and shrinking woods comes to mind.
 
#20
I strongly recommend taking this discussion/chronicle to the Setup/Repair forum. That's where the luthiers are and you'll get better advice on things like wood choices. Take some time to consider things like weight while considering color and other properties of woods. A heavy tailpiece is generally not thought to be conducive to good sound.

In any event, the Setup/Repairs forum is a better place for these discussions.

I would definitely invest in plans. External measurements are a but a small factor in the construction of a bass. Most sites that sell basses, list these measurements, though. It would be a quicker way of accumulating a lot of data.
 

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