Hey, it was an honest mistake, I've have some history with these strings and the instrument. I had an Ashbory I picked up from a member of another guitar/bass forum many years back. Those silicone strings were so tacky it was difficult to play the instrument, but I liked the tone and it's portability. I could put it in the saddle bags of the motorcycle. Back then you could only buy the Ashbory strings as a set and they weren't cheap, the problem was the silicone "G" string would break, often. So I traded the Asbory for an Flea Market Ukulele.
I joined a ukulele forum to learn more about the instrument and it's options and associated gear, it was an instrument I could still take on the bike. That's where I meet Owen, of Road Toad Music, he was building regular ukuleles and a bass ukulele, but his strings were black Polyurethan, of his design and patent. I contacted Owen privately and asked him about the possibility of me using his hardware and strings to convert a Tenor ukulele into a bass. He sent be a decription of the process and the parts I would need. I ordered the parts but I had some trouble with the idea of taking a perfectly good acoustic instrument and using it as an instrument that would only work plugged in. I decided to build the bass on a Cigarbox. I was accomplished and sounded really good, I've built them for a couple of my buddies. After many years of use one of the Pahoehoe strings finally broke so I tried a set of these Aquila Nylgut bass strings. Shown in this picture of the bass, the Fender Rumble 40 and the battery/inverter rig I put together for off road and sailing.
As I mentioned, I have had a lot of fun with this bass, it is intentionally tacky, I jokingly call it the crown of my trailer trash line of nearly viable instruments.
I joined a ukulele forum to learn more about the instrument and it's options and associated gear, it was an instrument I could still take on the bike. That's where I meet Owen, of Road Toad Music, he was building regular ukuleles and a bass ukulele, but his strings were black Polyurethan, of his design and patent. I contacted Owen privately and asked him about the possibility of me using his hardware and strings to convert a Tenor ukulele into a bass. He sent be a decription of the process and the parts I would need. I ordered the parts but I had some trouble with the idea of taking a perfectly good acoustic instrument and using it as an instrument that would only work plugged in. I decided to build the bass on a Cigarbox. I was accomplished and sounded really good, I've built them for a couple of my buddies. After many years of use one of the Pahoehoe strings finally broke so I tried a set of these Aquila Nylgut bass strings. Shown in this picture of the bass, the Fender Rumble 40 and the battery/inverter rig I put together for off road and sailing.
As I mentioned, I have had a lot of fun with this bass, it is intentionally tacky, I jokingly call it the crown of my trailer trash line of nearly viable instruments.
Soooo.... my original plan has changed some. I need to set the stage, first, though.
For instance, the car that is currently in my profile picture was originally going to have a classy tuxedo-ish paint scheme (Black, white, and red), but while carving the front out, I thought of the perfect grille shape, which turned out to look a lot like a fox's nose. And so, I decided that it *had* to be a fox car, and thus, orange, pearl white, and black is what I wound up with.
What's been seen cannot be unseen.
I think I may wind up using curly maple on top and limba or something underneath.
).
Yeah, I am definitely going for form over function, ha ha. That just tends to appeal to me more. I might wind up chambering the front leg and put a generous tummy bevel to try to keep the weight somewhat in check. I'm hoping that by not chambering the back leg and having the controls well past the bridge, and (hopefully) putting the tuners on the back, I'll have some counterweight to that neck.
I also need to make a tail out of fabric, so there's that, too.
). I had an idea, though. What if I use the 5 string version on all but the lowest string, and used something like a Hipshot Bass Xtender on the lowest string? Would an Xtender be useful on a six stringer?
I have a handheld drill, a Dremel tool (with wand), an orbital sander, a handheld belt sander, a benchtop grinder, a coping saw, a little hand saw, and a bunch of miscellaneous tightening devices... that's about the extent of my tools. =P
