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Double Bass My homemade 5-str EUB, lets here your input.

toonman

toonman

May 11, 2004
170
6
48
Independence Missouri
www.toonbass.webs.com
#1
well I already started a thread on the luthier's corner about it. here is the link: http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=161607
I'm still in the process of putting it together. I have most of it together and still need to do alot of sanding and just a few more cuts to make. there some good pictures on the link. these pictures are the most recent. I used hard rock maple and bloodwood neck through construction with bloodwood for the fingerboard. I ran a 3/8" steel rod down the neck as a non-adjustable truss rod. I am going to use a k&k double big twin pickup mounted on the side of the bridge as it should be and also two other piezo pickups mounted under the bridge with a balance knob to blend the K&K and other two together. This should also create two different types of vibrations to play with. I'm still constructing the bridge, it's going to be made out of maple. It is going to be recessed in the body about 3/4" deep, and the electronics (k&k pure preamp) is going to be disassembled and mounted in the back just above the bridge cutout with the pots and 1/4" jack mounted in the cover plate where I can access them easily. My only unanswered question is how long are brand new strings. I'm concerned I'm going to have to eat up about 6" of string because I made the body short like the ns design EUB. I have a plan but I just cant find out how long thwe strings are. I ordered the d'addario hybrids. let me know what you think. Keep in mind this is my first attempt to build a bass of any sort. I just hope I can get it to sound good.
 
#3
toonman said:
My only unanswered question is how long are brand new strings. I'm concerned I'm going to have to eat up about 6" of string because I made the body short like the ns design EUB. I have a plan but I just cant find out how long thwe strings are.
Click to expand...
An average mesurement for "ball to end-of-metal wrap/beginning of peg silk end" is around 140 cm.
The "problem" with most EUBs is the short tailpiece to bridge distance, which brings the end of the metal wound part higher and around the pegs, which is not desirable, but most of the time inevitable, unless you get special strings.
 
#6
bassteban said:
If you recess the bridge into the body, will you be able to adjust your string's speaking length/scale(by shifting the bridge's distance from the nut)?
Click to expand...
Is this desirable?
Since most well made necks are cut in a way to have a D or Eb reference, changing the scale doesn't make much sense, IMO.
You decide which scale you want and make the instrument accordingly.
The recessed bridge also makes it self-aligning, which is a plus methinks.
 
#9
thanks for the replies. I figured out a way to make it work with out the strings going up the back of the body and covering up the place I had planned for the electronics. the bridge is going to be recessed in the body about 1/2" and I'm going to feed all the strings through the front of the body directly under the bridge with holes to recess the balls of the strings. the bridge will sit right on top of them. I'm making a piece to match the body that raises the strings up a little to take up the slack in the back near the bottom. the strings will wrap around that and back through the body and over the bridge. Kinda hard to explain as you noticed. I think it will work.
 
#10
Ray Parker said:
I tlooks to me like the string angle across the bridge is going to be odd. Like 90deg (nearly flat) toward the playing part of the string and really sharp as it goes into the body.
Click to expand...
I dont think it going to be quite 90degrees. I made the finger board a little longer than usual I think. I started this with no Idea what I was doing, All I had was the measuements of the nut, the bottom of the neck and the scale. with the strings at a sharper angle, wouldn't it put more pressure on the piezo's and get a higher output?
 
#11
The angle of the strings has a lot to do with how the strings respond and sound. With the angle that you're going to get it's going to sound a lot more like a big, fretless Slab than a fiddle.

As far as pressure on the piezos, this would depend on how you've mounted them.


toonman said:
I dont think it going to be quite 90degrees. I made the finger board a little longer than usual I think. I started this with no Idea what I was doing, All I had was the measuements of the nut, the bottom of the neck and the scale. with the strings at a sharper angle, wouldn't it put more pressure on the piezo's and get a higher output?
Click to expand...
 
#16
Well, I am finally totaly finished with my EUB. I was waiting on some string ferrules to show up and wanted to put a couple more coats of tungoil on. I have to say I am totally impressed with the sound it produces along with the way the tungoil finish turned out. The bloodwood is absolutly beautiful next to the maple. Since the bridge is mounted into the body, I had to file and file to achive the action and spacing I was looking for and finally sanded the bridge down to the strings grooves. If I need to raise the action, I can just shim the bridge up a little on which ever side needs it if nessesary. Still working on how to make it adjustable with a couple thumb screws. The sound is very close to a double bass. But with the three band EQ I can achive many different tones. I just need some good riffs to start out on. I really would like to pick up some good jazz licks. Any jazz recomendations??? There is a kick ass DB solo jam on an Earl Klugh album I have, I think the song is Winding River. The transition from BG to DB was rather easy. I didn't put any inlays on it and havn't made up my mind if I'm going to or not. But I just took some little white dot stickers and put them in place for awhile just to get used to it. I'm already playing without them. Its Kinda funny how this worked out, There's a tiny little black knot in the center of the fingerboard right where the fifth fret would go. So I kinda have a natural fifth fret marker. Anyway, I am extremely happy with it and can't wait to do more with it.
 
#17
bassteban said:
Bob Gollihur has some pics of a bass he built on which he solved the same problem(string length) by making the anchor point for the ball ends halfway up the back......
Click to expand...
Probably picked up from NS Design (Ned Steinberger) as that's how their EUBs do it. It's very logical so some other EUBs probably do as well.
 

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