• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Double Bass Matthew's Double Bass Building Project

#101
OK with so soon I have to start to build the neck. I can't get quartersawn maple here in Oz, at least not easily in DB sizes. Can't get walnut easily here either. Perhaps I should just shell out for an imported maple neck blank, but perhaps I can find a solution locally.

Alternatives could be Jarrah (type of eucalypt), Brazilian Mahogany, Spanish Cedar, Blackwood (a native acacia species used in guitar sides), Tasmanian Oak (another eucalypt). What do you reckon? Any other suggestions ?

Also, as I may not be able to get wood cut thick enough, I was considering making up a neck out of two pieces of 1.5" plank glued up mirror-fashion to stop the wood twisting.

Although my first instinct was to cut the two neck outlines, chalk fit, and then glue with hide glue, the local guitar luthier - a very experienced fellow - said "you don't want to do that, you want a permanent bond, so use epoxy, but put colourant in the oxide so that the glue line is not as visible. (Apparently it's the transparency of epoxy that makes epoxy glue-lines so much more visible - a trick of the light.)

Your opinions are welcome!
 
#102
Considering
a) the number of hours you've spent on this project;
b) how well it's turning out; and
c) how unlikely you are to do it again soon;

My two coppers says "Spend the money on a nice maple blank and ebony board."

Take a bow, MT. It's a joy to see you do this work.
 
#103
Matthew,

I would not use any of those woods you named for a neck. Mahogany is the best of the bunch but not really the correct density. Spanish cedar is way too soft and not strong enough Jarrah is too dense I think.

I think Sam is on to something when he gives you his advice. After you carve the scroll you will have wished you used good old maple.

One possiblility is Queensland maple Invalid Link Removed
 
#104
Matthew, I have to echo the opinions of both Sam and Ken on the neck wood issue.

Flindersia (Queensland Maple) is not nearly hard enough for the job. I have a piece in my workroom right now that I am making a couple of experimental tailpieces from and it doesn't seem like bass neck material to me. While we're on the topic, I'm making a couple of tailpieces from Yellow Siris too. It really reminds me of Koa.

Bear in mind that you don't have to make the neck, heel and scroll out of a giant piece of wood. There's no reason you can't use 6/4 material and do a built-up heel, then graft the pegbox on after. Many older instruments were made this way.

Jake
 
#106
KSB - Ken Smith said:
Would you mind pointing a few out? I have never seen an old Bass that was built up from 6/4 size wood. I have not seen an old Bass either that was originally 'made' with the Scroll grafted either.

Many or most of the older Basses over 150 years old have a grafted Scroll but I have neve seen one made that way as much as many of them.
Click to expand...
While I'm sure this will not meet Ken's rarified definition of "old", it should satisfy Jake's and my definition of "older" quite nicely. I previously owned an Albert Rodier bass that was made in 1938 with a grafted scroll. I also have a copy of a 1954 Rodier catalog where it states that all of their top of the line basses were all made with grafted scrolls. As far as making necks out of 6/4 size wood, I wouldn't be surprised if my friend Paul Warburton's Bohmann bass neck was made with 2 pieces of 6/4 wood plus a center piece of another hard wood. I've also seen numerous examples of mulitple piece necks in the last 50 years of so.
 
#107
I'm a little surprised that you haven't seen one Ken.

I have only had two REALLY old basses in my hands to fondle and admire; an ancient Hungarian beast travelling with a Gypsy band (!) and an old Italian that was pencilled 'Pietro Lippi 1763' and which was carrying enough cleats and patches to build another instrument with!

Both of these large basses had built-up heels and grafted pegboxes. The Italian scroll was beautifully dovetailed and all but unnoticeable until the nut was removed; the heel joints were likewise all but invisible under the almost black varnish.

The gypsy's bass, on the other hand, was rough in every way possible, which didn't prevent it from making an unmistakably old sound.

I added these experiences to the fact that most guitars were built that way until well into the machine age (most classical guitars are still made like this) and assumed that all old basses would have been made in this fashion.
I am making my own steel string guitars with a built-up heel and a scarf joint at the peghead, and when I build a bass I'll use three pieces there too. The method of bandsawing a one-piece neck out of a huge piece of precious wood and throwing most of it into the scrap bin strikes me as foolhardy in the extreme.
Add to that the fact that you can orient the grain in a better direction with a scarf jointed guitar neck, but now I'm way off topic!

Seeya, Jake
 
#108
A) Though Ken has far more experience than me, I would venture to say the grafts to which you refer were preair jobs, not original construction. Original construction with a separate neck/scroll is the technique being discussed at present.

B) A scarf-joint headstock on a guitar is, IMO, very little like a grafted scroll. The idea of preserving wood may be a commonality, but the technique and precticality are quite different, as I can tell.
 
#109
Take a bow, MT
Click to expand...

(Blushing) thanks for your kind words Sam. But I wouldn't know what to do with a bow. It's pizz for me ...

The only built-up necks I have seen are at the heel where the heel has been extended after raising the overstand or resetting the neck. Except for Pauls Bohrmann. And that's the bass that made me think of sing two pieces of wood for the neck in the first place.

It has been an exciting weekend, so I thought this time I'd bring the bass over to Talkbass to show it off. I couldn't resist putting the lid on to pretend its nearly finished :-)

You can come over to the workshop tomorrow when I've put the pics up and you can see how my linings are going.
 

Attachments

  • DSC03708.JPG
    DSC03708.JPG
    50.3 KB · Views: 222
  • DSC03700.JPG
    DSC03700.JPG
    41 KB · Views: 142
#113
Jake deVilliers said:
The Australian woman who is selling Aussie woods up here has some material that looks like your back and sides and it is spectacular when wet!
Click to expand...

Yeah that'll be silky oak. And if it doesn't work out as a bass, I can always turn it into a spectacular boat ...:D

Have you seen blackheart sassafras and huon pine? Get a bit of huon pine and sniff it. I'm going to have the worlds most fragrant purfling ...
 
#115
Well ... it's been a bit damp and miserable as you say, and the back wood got a bit wet in the big storm last week, and I have to dry it out again before I glue it. I have made myself a heating box for this task ...

In the mean time I have been playing, instead, with an old 14" bandsaw i've acquired.

cheers

matthew
 
#116
Been through your whole site. Can't wait to see it finished....as I'm sure you can't either.:)

I did a search here on uprights and couldnt find anything. So I googled and found a site with a bunch of double bass links.........found your site.........and low and behold.....where did I end up?.......back at TalkBass of course.:bassist:
 
#118
.matthew e wengerd. said:
you did a search on "uprights" and couldn't find anything here? What were you looking for?
Click to expand...


Well, I "searched this forum" on the luthiery forum under bass forums. Didn't see a luthiery forum under double bass forums......and didn't bother to search setup and repair as I was looking for builds in progress. Contemplating building one as I have more time than money.:)
 
#119
Well you found it eventually! This forum is pretty much the centre of my bass making universe. Yes there's no luthier forum in DB but this is where the luthiers hang. It should be "luthiery, setup and repair" I suppose. Glad you are enjoying my build ... I'm back working on the top plate again now, getting edges down to thickness and working towards a final arching shape. Will update my website soon.
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back