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My self-built bass: "The Slim"

Discussion in 'Basses [BG]' started by wilser, May 6, 2004.


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  1. May 6, 2004 #1
    wilser

    wilser

    May 4, 2004
    Northern Virginia
    Hello Everybody,
    I just joined the forum and love it.

    I've been a bassist for about 15 years mainly in the rock/jazz genre. My main bass for years was a Spector NS2, then I had to part with it. Spent many years bassless then bought a Warwick Streamer LX 5 string ...which I love. But I have been intrigued by fretless bass for years, but couldn't justify buying one. Well, what I did was I started to build my own, took me about 9 months (worked on it only a couple of hours a week).

    Well, here are a couple of pics, please comment.
     
  5. May 6, 2004 #2
    birdsg

    birdsg

    Dec 18, 2003
    Birmingham England
    Total respect for putting that together! Must have been really tricky project. Most importantly how does it sound? Have you any sound clips anywhere?

    Well done!!

    Steve
     
  10. May 6, 2004 #3
    James Hart

    James Hart

    Feb 1, 2002
    toms_river.nj.us
    Endorsing Artist: see profile
    Welcome to TB and it looks pretty cool!
     
  14. May 6, 2004 #4
    Hurley

    Hurley

    Feb 12, 2004
    Cape Cod, MA
    First of all, welcome to TalkBass! :)

    Congratulations, the bass looks great. Can you say a little more about it? What electronics, woods, hardware, etc...

    It would be really cool if you could get some soundclips.

    :bassist:
     
  18. May 6, 2004 #5
    wilser

    wilser

    May 4, 2004
    Northern Virginia
    well, I'm not sure if I can post mp3s in here, any ideas, maybe I can email it to someone so they can post.

    Anyway, the bass was built from 100% brazilian wood (minus the cocobolo board). Here's the specs:

    * cocobolo fingerboard with pau ferro binding.
    * 5 piece ipe/jatoba neck
    * mahogany body with jatoba center runner and flamed imbuya top (and matching head plate)
    * EMG-HZ 45 pickup (100% passive, the switch is a coil splitter and the pot is volume)
    * Gotoh Tuners
    * All parts heavy bridge
    * it's got Smith Rock Master strings

    And if I may say so myself, it sounds amazing, I really can't believe the bass came out with such an amazing sound, even more considering I have had no previous woodworking experience. I did have a lot of help from the guys at mimf.com and Melvin Hiscock's book.

    mp3 anyone?
     
  22. May 6, 2004 #6
    James Hart

    James Hart

    Feb 1, 2002
    toms_river.nj.us
    Endorsing Artist: see profile
    email it to webguy (at) hartsafire (dot) com and I'll chuck it on my server.
     
  26. May 6, 2004 #7
    James Hart

    James Hart

    Feb 1, 2002
    toms_river.nj.us
    Endorsing Artist: see profile
  31. May 6, 2004 #8
    tkarter

    tkarter

    Jan 1, 2003
    kansas
    It does sound amazing. I think you did a great job!!

    tk
     
  35. May 6, 2004 #9
    Limo

    Limo

    Sep 22, 2002
    Reykjavik Iceland
    The bass sounds very good, reminds me for some reason of a Warwick fretless:meh:
     
  39. May 6, 2004 #10
    Bardolph

    Bardolph

    Jul 28, 2002
    Grand Rapids, MI
    I like its simplicity. It's classy without being too flashy.
     
  43. May 6, 2004 #11
    Hurley

    Hurley

    Feb 12, 2004
    Cape Cod, MA
    *MWAH* :bassist:

    Nice clip. I want a fretless now. :)
     
  47. May 6, 2004 #12
    Benjamin Strange

    Benjamin Strange Commercial User

    Dec 25, 2002
    New Orleans, LA
    Owner / Tech: Strange Guitarworks
    MUAH here as well. I like the look of it; not bad for a first time.

    What basses inspired you to build it like that?
     
  51. May 6, 2004 #13
    Tim Barber

    Tim Barber Commercial User

    Apr 28, 2003
    Serenity Valley
    Owner: Barber Music
    Welcome to TalkBass. Great job on building that yourself! :bassist:
     
  55. May 6, 2004 #14
    dees

    dees

    Oct 1, 2001
    Laarne city, Belgium
    looks very nice, and it sounds the way it looks :bassist:
    welcome to tb
     
  59. May 6, 2004 #15
    DWBass

    DWBass The Funkfather

    Jan 24, 2003
    Newport News, VA via NYC
    Firstly, very good solid groove playing. I like how you resisted overplaying but I could tell you wanted to add some more flavor in there! ;)

    Question, is that bridge inset into the wood (kinda like how a pickup is)? If so, can't says I've ever seen that before! The bass looks and sounds great! Good job! Now can you build me a fretted 5? :D
     
  64. May 6, 2004 #16
    TxBass

    TxBass

    Jul 3, 2002
    Frisco, Texas
    looks great...and sounds outstanding! great clip! :cool:
     
  68. May 6, 2004 #17
    dirtypunk

    dirtypunk Guest

    Jun 8, 2003
    USA
    hey by the way how much did it cost to make that, i was thinking of making one a while back never had the money
    it does sound great good job
     
  72. May 6, 2004 #18
    Limo

    Limo

    Sep 22, 2002
    Reykjavik Iceland

    Yeah that bridge looks interesting.
     
  76. May 6, 2004 #19
    5stringDNA

    5stringDNA

    Oct 10, 2002
    Englewood, CO
    While I'm not too fond of the looks, I love the sound! Great job!
     
  80. May 7, 2004 #20
    wilser

    wilser

    May 4, 2004
    Northern Virginia
    wow, thanks for the kind words guys.

    The bridge is inset about 3/16" I like the feel of the strings close to the body, so I went for that, low action feel.

    As for the cost, I did have to buy all the tools, since I didn't have any, but for materials and hardware I'd say about 400 US$

    As for inspiration, I was really fond of Carl Thompson, Fodera and Carey Nordstrand at the time.

    BTW, I called it the slim because I built it with a very slim profile, it's a 1" thick mahogany slab with a 1/4" figured imbuya top.
     
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