How would an elk bone body sound?

[dhsierra1]

The wood in most of our basses was once alive, somewhat like the aforementioned bone. The plastic, by a slight stretch, was once dinosaurs. BFD.
And I would not suggest offing a whale for a bass, but if I came across a beached whale bone large enough to harvest as a neck or w/e, I'd bring it home & PM the OP. EIEIO

"I was alive in the forest
I was cut by the cruel axe
In life I was silent
I death I sweetly sing"

Inscription on the face frets of an Elizabethan lute (original in Latin).

Seems recycling "dead" objects in a way honors what was once living as well as enhances those who are alive and able to use it. Like organ/tissue donation, really. Or food....

 

[fourstringbliss]

Calling Dr. Atkinson! Dr. Atkinson, you're needed for consultation!

 

[bjabass]

I'd bring it home & PM the OP. EIEIO

I LOL.

 

[lupien]

Thats awesome! Can't wait to see the result of that.

I always wondered if a bass could be made with moose antlers too..

 

[Fretless1!]

In all seriousness, I think I'd feel a little creeped out playing an instrument that was once a part inside an animal. I think I'm ok using a leather strap, but I think bone is a bit too much for me.

Hmm... but they already make bone nut & saddle... thinking aloud (in print) to myself.

Yes, I am aware the Double Bass used catgut for strings. (Not a word of this to my cats, please.)

Wouldn't bother me a bit. I wear Native American earrings and chokers made of bone and horn. In Native American cultures, and other cultures, you want to use as much of the animal as possible.

I mean, if you eat meat, you're already coming in to contact with the insides of dead animals.

 

[SurferJoe46]

Umm. Meat!

 

[Stealth]

Am I the only one thinking the result will sound quite moosical?

 

[fourstringbliss]

Am I the only one thinking the result will sound quite moosical?

I'll bet it'd be a bass that Ted Nugent would like.

 

[roadkill2309]

I think it would sound rather harsh and clanky. Bone is an extremely hard substance, so I'm thinking you'd be sacrificing warmth.

 

[king koeller]

With so many fantastic tone woods out there, I would think, bone would be heavy as hell, not very ergonomic, and just plain disturbed. It's like whacked people who break into grave yards at night in order to dig up the bones...bottom line, you can make a bass from a toilet seat if you want....
Good Luck...

 

[nurnay]

you can make a bass from a toilet seat if you want....
Good Luck...

Please, no Bongo jokes.

 

[dhsierra1]

...bottom line, you can make a bass from a toilet seat if you want....
Good Luck...

 

[ffutterman]

Invalid Link Removed

How did we ever survive without Google Image Search?

 

[dhsierra1]

How did we ever survive without Google Image Search?

....and too much time on our hands for a Monday afternoon

OK, back to the elk bone bass, OP, will you be laminating up strips of cortical bone and making perhaps a semihollow body instrument or ??

 

[fourstringbliss]

Please, no Bongo jokes.

Looks like this guy wants to make a Bonego.

 

[fourstringbliss]

OK, back to the elk bone bass, OP, will you be laminating up strips of cortical bone and making perhaps a semihollow body instrument or ??

Now we're getting down to the marrow of the issue...

 

[lucas vigor]

None of you cats are giving serious answers!

Elk bone is famous for snappy highs, articulate mids and punchy lows. Rabbit bone, on the other hand, has less transparent highs, more tight mids and a slightly burnished low end.

 

[SurferJoe46]

None of you cats are giving serious answers!

Elk bone is famous for snappy highs, articulate mids and punchy lows. Rabbit bone, on the other hand, has less transparent highs, more tight mids and a slightly burnished low end.

...and it doesn't taste like chicken.

 

[Godfather]

A shoulder is not a bone, it's a joint, where ( at least in homo sapiens ) the upper arm (humerus) meets the shoulder blade ( scapula )

I can't get hold of a whale bone, however elks can grow to be quite large, i'm thinking we'll probably use the hip, possibly the shoulders

 

[RobJ]

None of you cats are giving serious answers!

Elk bone is famous for snappy highs, articulate mids and punchy lows. Rabbit bone, on the other hand, has less transparent highs, more tight mids and a slightly burnished low end.

Granted there needs to be a study done to classify "Tone Bones" by the particular resonant features and textures. Perhaps someone will get a government grant and do this important work.

Never the less in the end the detractors will emerge with claims there are no tonal differences between bones and set about in an attempt to prove it by nailing a bridge and some pickups to Aunt Stella's left over Thanksgiving turkey carcass, recording a few notes and creating a poll.