When the Economic Stimulus payment hit my bank account, I decided I'd spend a little and see what Kevin Siebold of Krappy Guitars, Hackettstown, NJ could do.
Disclaimer - I play bass recreationally, and don't have a ton of money invested in this hobby. My other basses include a short-scale SX Jazz, a Brice fretless-6, and a Wishbass. I am NOT a Gear Snob, and my GAS is usually pretty mild.
For those who haven't seen them yet, Kevin's "Punkbass" line is designed to give you something to play for a low price. His prices start at $85 for a single-string bass, or $100 for two strings. Although he builds high-quality touchstyle instruments in the $700+ range, the Punkrods and Punkbasses are about having fun on the cheap.
Having browsed through the Punkbasses, I decided I wanted a 3-string EUB known as the "Twiggy" model. This looked about right to me. Not too crazy a design, and 3 strings rather than 2, which would be plenty usable for me.
Note - the complete set of photos can be found in the following Flickr set: Invalid Link Removed
I contacted Kevin by email, telling him I wanted a Twiggy with 3 strings, fretless, and 34" scale. The rest was up to him. He replied with a price of $200 plus shipping. Upon receipt of my PayPal payment, the work began in mid-May.
Kevin chose Santos Mahogany for the outer 2 stringers, then Maple, with a Brazilian Cherry center stripe:
Note how the maple stringers taper from one end to the other.
Later in May, I got a photo taken after the neck had been glued-up and the truss rod had been installed:
In mid-June, I got this shot of the basic neck shaping. It was starting to look like a bass:
Things went pretty quietly for a few more weeks - Kevin had some car trouble to repair and I didn't hear too much, but I finally got an email with a UPS tracking number. Two months to the day after the original order, the finished bass showed up:
Also included was an extendable post which probably started life in the Paint department at the hardware store. That's OK - it has a nice rubber foot on the end, and extends and collapses very easily with a twist.
I don't know what the fingerboard is made of, but it's smoothly sanded and isn't humpy.
The bridge appears to be made from aluminum stock, with a single rod as the actual string support. The rod appears to e free-floating, but I haven't un-strung it yet to be sure. There are height adjustment screws on either end:
The end post clamps into a simple wood block:
The tuners are VERY compact. They remind me of the little guys on my Martin Backpacker guitar, but they're holding tune nicely. As you can see, there's a nice 'hump' behind the nut which makes a nice thumb reference:
The electronics are basic - a single passive humbucking-style pickup, one volume control with a nice knurled knob, and an output jack:
The action is nice and low, and it's pretty fun to play. I'm not used to an upright with only a 34" scale, but I'm getting there. She wants to 'twist' a little as there's nothing to stop it from rotating on the pin, other than my hands. I'm thinking about how to craft a 'foot' to go on the bottom of the pin to hold her steady. It sounds fine through a little practice amp, and I need to try it out through something bigger, but so far, so good!
So finally, here's a wide guy playing a skinny bass:
To sum up:
- Build time: 2 months
- Cost: $200 plus UPS Ground shipping
- Playable out of the box
- No splinters!
A good value, in my book.
Disclaimer - I play bass recreationally, and don't have a ton of money invested in this hobby. My other basses include a short-scale SX Jazz, a Brice fretless-6, and a Wishbass. I am NOT a Gear Snob, and my GAS is usually pretty mild.
For those who haven't seen them yet, Kevin's "Punkbass" line is designed to give you something to play for a low price. His prices start at $85 for a single-string bass, or $100 for two strings. Although he builds high-quality touchstyle instruments in the $700+ range, the Punkrods and Punkbasses are about having fun on the cheap.
Having browsed through the Punkbasses, I decided I wanted a 3-string EUB known as the "Twiggy" model. This looked about right to me. Not too crazy a design, and 3 strings rather than 2, which would be plenty usable for me.
Note - the complete set of photos can be found in the following Flickr set: Invalid Link Removed
I contacted Kevin by email, telling him I wanted a Twiggy with 3 strings, fretless, and 34" scale. The rest was up to him. He replied with a price of $200 plus shipping. Upon receipt of my PayPal payment, the work began in mid-May.
Kevin chose Santos Mahogany for the outer 2 stringers, then Maple, with a Brazilian Cherry center stripe:
Note how the maple stringers taper from one end to the other.
Later in May, I got a photo taken after the neck had been glued-up and the truss rod had been installed:
In mid-June, I got this shot of the basic neck shaping. It was starting to look like a bass:
Things went pretty quietly for a few more weeks - Kevin had some car trouble to repair and I didn't hear too much, but I finally got an email with a UPS tracking number. Two months to the day after the original order, the finished bass showed up:
Also included was an extendable post which probably started life in the Paint department at the hardware store. That's OK - it has a nice rubber foot on the end, and extends and collapses very easily with a twist.
I don't know what the fingerboard is made of, but it's smoothly sanded and isn't humpy.
The bridge appears to be made from aluminum stock, with a single rod as the actual string support. The rod appears to e free-floating, but I haven't un-strung it yet to be sure. There are height adjustment screws on either end:
The end post clamps into a simple wood block:
The tuners are VERY compact. They remind me of the little guys on my Martin Backpacker guitar, but they're holding tune nicely. As you can see, there's a nice 'hump' behind the nut which makes a nice thumb reference:
The electronics are basic - a single passive humbucking-style pickup, one volume control with a nice knurled knob, and an output jack:
The action is nice and low, and it's pretty fun to play. I'm not used to an upright with only a 34" scale, but I'm getting there. She wants to 'twist' a little as there's nothing to stop it from rotating on the pin, other than my hands. I'm thinking about how to craft a 'foot' to go on the bottom of the pin to hold her steady. It sounds fine through a little practice amp, and I need to try it out through something bigger, but so far, so good!
So finally, here's a wide guy playing a skinny bass:
To sum up:
- Build time: 2 months
- Cost: $200 plus UPS Ground shipping
- Playable out of the box
- No splinters!
A good value, in my book.
Sorry, kan't help it.
