I'm building an electric upright

[toonman]

Its going to be similar to the ns design But with layered woods. I'm using maple, bloodwood, and ebony. bloodwood for the finger board. My question is If weight is of no concern can I just use a 3/8" square steel rod in the neck instead of a truss rod.

 

[Cerb]

I would imagine that it would work just as well as long as you didn't need to adjust it somewhere down the road. Anyone else have any experience with this?

 

[bassteban]

I think some really old Martin acoustic guitars have a non-adjustable truss rod. I think I saw replacements on the stew-mac site. Interestring question- as acoustic uprights have none at all- am I right?

 

[paintandsk8]

You are correct on Acoustic uprights having none at all. It all depends on your design for the EUB though. Most uprights have thick (1"+) necks with thick fingerboards (1/2"+), and they are very short compared to BG necks, so a truss rod is just not necessary or effective. So, if you are going to build a neck like that for an EUB, you can get away with no trussrod. I'd rather be safe than sorry though. But to answer your, question, I would say yes. the steel rod would work.

By the way I think that bloodwood board is going to look killer. I've never held any in my hands though, Do you think it is hard and dense enough to make a good sounding fingerboard?

 

[toonman]

here is a couple of pics of the wood and the progress I've made on it so far. the bloodwood is very dense and very hard to cut. I think it will have a nice sound for an upright. Any good suggestions on how to shape the finger board? I was going to take a file to it until I have the desired results but If anyone has A better idea please let me know. I was going to use ebony in the body as a layer, But damn is it expensive. 65 bucks a bf. I think I'll just use it for the nut and bridge.

 

[toonman]

And a couple more.

 

[bassteban]

That bloodwood is nice. I hand planed my fingerboard, then sanded with a concaved sanding board. The bass is not done yet, so I have no idea if it will work. Lots of gambles on this one!

 

[toonman]

I will have to try planning it by hand. Any idea how thick it needs to be or is that a personal preference.

 

[bassteban]

Mine leans more toward a traditional feel, neck-wise. I measured my 60 yr old German 3/4, & loosely copied that. Mine has 5 strings & a 38" scale, so it's wider, shorter & a bit flatter than a normal DB. Looking back at all this, it may not help you at all. Measure an NS, if you can, or some of the other EUB's.

 

[toonman]

here is the most recent pictures I have of my bass. the finger board came out much better than I was expecting since this my first time to take on a project as difficult as this.

 

[mashed potatoes]

wow! that bloodwood looks beautiful!
the project seems to be coming along very nicely. keep up the good work!

makes me wish that i could build an EUB