Ever built your own??

[godom72]

So, I am thinking of building my own bass using a kit. My question here is, who out there had ever built their own bass and what sort of pitfalls did you encounter.
To me it’s a blending of two of my favorite hobbies, woodworking and music (bass guitar). I thought I would start by modding on a precut kit just to see what I could do, then expand from there. So, who here had built there own and would you do it again?

 

[godom72]

Three vids. The guns and guitars guy is kinda who got me motivated to try this on my own.

 

[Bob_Ross]

30-some-odd years ago I briefly held a day job in an architectural millworking shop.
(Full disclosure: I only got the job because the guitarist in my band was the shop manager. In truth, I had absolutely no business being hired as a professional woodworker.)
But this gave me access to a whole shop full of power tools and seasoned lumber, so, after I'd exhausted my repertoire of speaker cabinet designs, I turned my spare time project goals towards building a bass guitar.

Fortunately I was smart enough to know that I had neither the skills nor patience to build a neck...but a body seemed well within my capabilities. So I nabbed the (bolt-on) neck and bridge from an old bass, bought some new electronics, and built a body from scratch. 8/4 Eastern hard rock maple, with a 1/4" cap of Padauk (aka Vermillion).

It looked awesome

...-ish.

Unfortunately I left it in a friend's basement shortly before he got divorced and his wife sold off all his possessions, so I have no idea whatever became of that instrument. But yeah, build yer own, fun times.

 

[bound'n'blocked]

Never from scratch, but I have built several parts guitars and basses. I think pitfalls are determined by the level of the build attempted. A pre-fab kit, if you know which end of a screwdriver and soldering iron are which, will be pretty simple. I would love to try one from scratch, but I know my limits.

In my case, the final clear coat finish is always the hardest for me. Although I am starting to get that cat skinned as well.

Go for it!

BnB

 

[abarson]

Check the "Luthier's Corner" section. Luthier's Corner

Kits are a good choice to understand what goes into construction at a high level. Kits aren't really going to get you involved in the woodworking aspect, unless you plan to modify it. But it helps to understand why that design has been successful in the first place.

As with any project, research and planning make all the difference in the possible successful outcome of the build. I recommend the book Melvyn Hiscock – Make your own Electric Guitar as a good place to start. I built bass #1 under its influence and it is still a good instrument. Don't be afraid to ask lots of questions or make a few mistakes.

 

[lug]

I bought a Carvin neck-thru neck and built the rest around it. To my mind, it was actually easier to go this route than mess with the neck pocket, etc.
pre-finish

post-finish:

Finish is just rubbed on Danish oil. Probably the easiest way to finish a guitar.

 

[mongo2]

I've worked on and built instruments since the early '70s. For me the most critical part is fretwork and nut work.

 

[saabfender]

I’m strictly a parts guitar guy. More power to anyone who is willing to undertake building one from scratch. Way beyond my level and I’m a decent woodworker. I’ve got a Peavey 5-string that’s miles beyond what I could ever accomplish on my own.

 

[crlujan]

From parts, yes. Which is basically what a kit would be.

Easy and fun. I did have a friend help with the soldering though. He parts together his guitars. This Tele is one of them. The bass is the one I parted together.

 

[WI Short Scaler]

I've never attempted it and I'm pretty sure it's out of my skillset to do so.

I have done some pretty major rebuilds on both of my Musicmasters, made necessary by the condition of them when I got them. Cool to see what people can do.

 

[Bob_Ross]

the final clear coat finish is always the hardest for me.

Oh man, don't get me started! As I've mentioned numerous times on TB, I have a parts bass (Warmoth) that has been completely assembled -- and I even used it on a gig once -- except for the final clear coat

...for going on three years now!

I just haven't been able to convince myself that I have the time and the space and all the stuff on hand, ready to go, to dive in and do it. And I'm not talking about anything too exotic, just a wipe-on poly finish by hand. Eh, one of these days...

 

[flam]

I did a guitar build from a kit for a friend of mine many years ago. The paint ended up being incompatible and took almost a year to actually harden, looked awful. By then we just said screw it and I threw everything together. It's not a bad guitar, but very rough around the edges. I keep asking him to let me redo it, but he never let's me.

Edit- to answer the OP's question, I'd consider doing it again, but nobody really makes a kit of anything I like enough to bother.

 

[ThaCoast]

Yup: built, modified, repaired a lot of my own, & a lot for others over the span of 8 years. You can check it out here, I'm 24 years old, & been doing my own set ups for a decade.

 

[Nev375]

Yes.

Be really good at thinking things through right down to the smallest detail.
Know what you are doing before you do it. That's the most critical skill.

 

[arbiterusa]

I worked for almost five years for a boutique acoustic builder, so yeah, I've built my own. Not from parts.

Here's the funny thing: they're great examples of woodworking and finish. And I just didn't like the sound. Kept one, sold the rest. It sits in my closet and I don't play it. I play cheap imports (mostly) that sound great.

Turns out building and getting what you want is much harder than it looks.

 

[REV]

I bought a Carvin body and neck and built a bass for my Son. He toured all over with it and it's still one of the best basses I've ever played. No real pitfalls to speak of but I've done a lot of repair work and built a few guitars. I mainly used the Carvin stuff because he needed the bass fast and he didn't want a P or a J.

 

[Clark Dark]

Yes I assembled my Gecko after purchasing the neck and body from Warmoth. A builder would say there's a bit of a difference, luthiery being what it is

 

[somebrains]

Look around and make sure someone else hasn't built out parts/ideas you'd like cheaper.

I used to build piles of parts for people as house specials at stores I worked at.

A lot of the "repair" work that was fun was random scores people brought it to get working or standardize.

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
Warmoth J Bass Guitar With 1997 Carvin Active Pickup System & Levy's Gigbag

 

[Porkchop2]

Made this one out of a Cort P-bass, back in 96' I think. Super heavy.