Hi all,
This is my first post, about my first bass build, and there's enough backstory that I'm not sure where to start. So bear with me (or just skip to the photos if you're impatient, but I'm not much of a photographer so no promises).
I started playing bass 20ish years ago as a teen. I love the gear as much as the playing, and I really loved wood and other natural materials. Months after learning to play, I found myself pouring over Warwick catalogs and high-end bass websites, yet I was financially strapped enough that I knew I couldn't afford the instrument of my dreams. This was compounded by the fact that I'm left handed, so it's pretty much impossible to walk into a local music shop and have instruments to choose from, even if I did somehow scrape together the funds.
Having a creative streak, and an interest in woodworking, and an attraction to all things DIY, I figured there was an obvious solution - build my own bass!
So I started planning, and shopping for wood, and hardware. I spent my spare time sketching the body and headstock until I had shapes I liked. I got a book about building electric guitars that I used for reference in terms of critical dimensions and layout, and comparing it to the Ibanez ATK bass I had at the time, I was able to get a design worked out. Of course, being new to bass playing, new to building instruments, and having no real good references or learning opportunities, I wasn't exactly in a position to get everything 100% correct, but - spoiler alert - it turned out OK anyways.
Eventually, I had bought a pile of rough lumber. Figured maple for the top and back of the body, with bubinga in the core. quartered maple and wenge for the neck. Purpleheart fretboard. The costs were starting to add up, so my 19 year old brain came up with another (questionable) solution: build two and sell one to cover the costs! So there would be fraternal twins - one for me, just the way I want it, and one to sell. As I designed, mine reflected the runaway nature of my creative side - why not just go over the top? So, it would have to be a 6 string! Because, you know, MORE IS BETTER! The right handed twin would "just" be a 5 string, to make it more sale-able.
I remember being frustrated at the time because I wanted Bartolini pickups for mine, but there was a really long waiting list. So I got the barts (J's) for the 5 string righty, and ended up with EMG 45DCs for my 6 string lefty. I got one of bartolini's onboard preamps for the 5, and planned on passive v-v-t controls for my 6.
I borrowed a bandsaw from my girlfriend's father and started cutting wood. It was Christmas day, 1999, when I officially began work. (This date will become important later). I had no other legitimate power tools, everything else was done by hand - chisels, planes, drills, rasps, etc. My father was an antique dealer and occasionally had old hand tools come through the shop, so I raided his stash as needed. I made a jig to cut the fret slots. I glued up neck blanks and body blanks and started shaping the necks...
...and then life happened. I finished college, then got married, got a job, bought a house, had three kids, switched jobs half a dozen times, got divorced, bought another house, remarried... and 19 years passed by. I barely played bass at all, much less thought about building them. The bass parts sat in a gig bag in my attic. I moved them to the new house without much of a thought but never opened the bag. A literal time capsule glimpse into my younger self.
I started playing again earlier this year, then remembered my abandoned project and decided to see if it was worth saving, or if it should become firewood. So I dug out the gig bag of parts and found the shoebox with the pickups, bridges, and other small bits.
Luckily, in the ensuing ~19 years, I've done plenty of woodworking and am probably in a better place skills- and knowledge-wise now to build instruments than I was at 19.
To be continued, once I figure out how to attach photos!
This is my first post, about my first bass build, and there's enough backstory that I'm not sure where to start. So bear with me (or just skip to the photos if you're impatient, but I'm not much of a photographer so no promises).
I started playing bass 20ish years ago as a teen. I love the gear as much as the playing, and I really loved wood and other natural materials. Months after learning to play, I found myself pouring over Warwick catalogs and high-end bass websites, yet I was financially strapped enough that I knew I couldn't afford the instrument of my dreams. This was compounded by the fact that I'm left handed, so it's pretty much impossible to walk into a local music shop and have instruments to choose from, even if I did somehow scrape together the funds.
Having a creative streak, and an interest in woodworking, and an attraction to all things DIY, I figured there was an obvious solution - build my own bass!
So I started planning, and shopping for wood, and hardware. I spent my spare time sketching the body and headstock until I had shapes I liked. I got a book about building electric guitars that I used for reference in terms of critical dimensions and layout, and comparing it to the Ibanez ATK bass I had at the time, I was able to get a design worked out. Of course, being new to bass playing, new to building instruments, and having no real good references or learning opportunities, I wasn't exactly in a position to get everything 100% correct, but - spoiler alert - it turned out OK anyways.
Eventually, I had bought a pile of rough lumber. Figured maple for the top and back of the body, with bubinga in the core. quartered maple and wenge for the neck. Purpleheart fretboard. The costs were starting to add up, so my 19 year old brain came up with another (questionable) solution: build two and sell one to cover the costs! So there would be fraternal twins - one for me, just the way I want it, and one to sell. As I designed, mine reflected the runaway nature of my creative side - why not just go over the top? So, it would have to be a 6 string! Because, you know, MORE IS BETTER! The right handed twin would "just" be a 5 string, to make it more sale-able.
I remember being frustrated at the time because I wanted Bartolini pickups for mine, but there was a really long waiting list. So I got the barts (J's) for the 5 string righty, and ended up with EMG 45DCs for my 6 string lefty. I got one of bartolini's onboard preamps for the 5, and planned on passive v-v-t controls for my 6.
I borrowed a bandsaw from my girlfriend's father and started cutting wood. It was Christmas day, 1999, when I officially began work. (This date will become important later). I had no other legitimate power tools, everything else was done by hand - chisels, planes, drills, rasps, etc. My father was an antique dealer and occasionally had old hand tools come through the shop, so I raided his stash as needed. I made a jig to cut the fret slots. I glued up neck blanks and body blanks and started shaping the necks...
...and then life happened. I finished college, then got married, got a job, bought a house, had three kids, switched jobs half a dozen times, got divorced, bought another house, remarried... and 19 years passed by. I barely played bass at all, much less thought about building them. The bass parts sat in a gig bag in my attic. I moved them to the new house without much of a thought but never opened the bag. A literal time capsule glimpse into my younger self.
I started playing again earlier this year, then remembered my abandoned project and decided to see if it was worth saving, or if it should become firewood. So I dug out the gig bag of parts and found the shoebox with the pickups, bridges, and other small bits.
Luckily, in the ensuing ~19 years, I've done plenty of woodworking and am probably in a better place skills- and knowledge-wise now to build instruments than I was at 19.
To be continued, once I figure out how to attach photos!
