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Cigarbox Style Bass Build etc.

Will_White

Will_White

Jul 1, 2011
4,175
5,806
Salem, OR
#1
So I just finished a practice amp in a wooden suitcase.
Cigar Box Practice Amp Build
And since it went well and the box was pretty sturdy so I decided to go back to the craft store and get another to make a matching Suitcase Bass. So first some proposed specs:

·34" scale maple/maple fretless SX neck
·Basswood suitcase with Pine main beam
·Tele blade humbucker at far neck
· Passive treble and bass control series/parallel
·Satin Stealth Glow in the Dark paint job

20151112_190222.jpg

I spray painted it and applied a couple coats of satin poly so I can apply a decal to the back. I glued and clamped the main beam in and that's were it's at now. I tried to get a picture of it glowing but it's not bright enough for my phone's camera to pickup, it is extremely bright in person. I'll try to use a black light to see if I can get a picture of it after I get it out of the clamps.
 
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#6
Scoops said:
It's RatFink!

Excellent!
Click to expand...
Yes this one does have a definite Rat Rod influence to it. I forgot to mention the pickup came in today aswell, I'll have to wait until I get the neck and get the neck pocket routed so I can get it in the right place, right up by the neck. Something unique about this style is I can use a bolt-on neck without having a neck plate on the back, it also gives me a place to put a cord and tuner and a place to store parts until they're needed.
20151116_234201.jpg

Edit: YAY I was able to get the glow on camera :) it still isn't nearly as bright looking as it is in person but you can get an idea.
2015-11-16 22.09.22.jpg
 
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#13
So I cut the sound holes, painted the soundhole covers, removed the wood handle and replaced it with a nice metal one closer to the neck side, drilled the bridge ground (when I mounted the bridge I was thinking about active pickups, it was super easy I just had to drill straight through the centre beam under the bridge), buried the decals under 4 coats of brushed on polyurethane (I thought the brushed on poly would fit this build better) and installed strap buttons. I ordered the neck about a week ago so that should be here soon
20151127_144618.jpg

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#16
I got the neck in yesterday, I'll post pictures tonight. The nut was very high for a fretless I took that down a fair amount and I knocked off the gloss on the back of the neck. I'll probably get the neck pocket and pickup cavity routed sometime this week and get it bolted on, on Friday I'll order the tuners and the electronics. For such a simple bass the electronics are going to be pretty complex and I'll be incorporating some things I haven't tried before. I need some help picking out knobs tho so if you could could you head over to mammoth electronics ( Link Removed ) and pick some knobs you think would go well with this bass, I'm leaning towards chicken heads but there's so many it's hard to decide.
 

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