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Double Bass So, you want to build a DB

J

jb6884

Jan 30, 2006
66
1
St. Louis, MO
#1
All,

I just bought the book entitled "So.. you want to build a double bass". After reading it a dozen times, I think I am ready to start acquiring some basic tools for this bohemeth project. My main question for the luthiers out there is, where can I get a decent (at least good enough) graduating caliper that is large enough for a bass? This seems to be one of the most important tools for the project, and it looks like one of the more expensive ones too. I have just about everything else, minus a few gouges, and carving knives.

My second question is: What wood do you suggest starting with.. I've heard Poplar is a decent choice in lieu of maple. What about the top? Any cost effective alternatives? I think a rational approach to building my first bass would be to not spend several hundred bucks on a couple chunks of maple and spruce.

One thing that seems to be missing from the book is doing the final shaping of the neck & fingerboard... I would guess the neck contour is a matter of improvisation, and what feels good... what about the finger board? Is there some kind of template/measurement I should be using for the radius? I have a couple of basses on hand for reference, so I think I could also "wing" that part too. Am I making anyone nervous yet? :-D Any other advice?

Thanks in advance!
 
#2
Hi JB

I can't help you re. the builder's tools, as I'm still learning to do relatively simple repairs...

However, you may have noticed that another TBer (Wilser) has recently posted asking about DB wood sources. You might want to exchange info., particularly as you might be tackling the same problems at approximately the same time.

Good luck, and let us know how you're making out!

Eh_train (Paul)
 
#5
You can make an inexpensive caliper with birch plywood and dowels. Or you can make a plywood frame and attach a dial indicator. I don't recommend using poplar, as it is very tricky to bend. Get some soft maple, but buy it from a lumber dealer, not an instrument-wood dealer. Try Hearne Hardwoods in PA, or Gilmer (on-line) for starters.
 
#7
Get some soft maple, but buy it from a lumber dealer, not an instrument-wood dealer. Try Hearne Hardwoods in PA, or Gilmer (on-line) for starters.
Click to expand...

So, unseasoned wood would be ok to use? I would assume that anything from a non tonewood supplier would not have been seasoned for 5 years. Would anyone venture to guess on what I'd pay for a block of maple?
 
#8
jb6884 said:
So, unseasoned wood would be ok to use? I would assume that anything from a non tonewood supplier would not have been seasoned for 5 years. Would anyone venture to guess on what I'd pay for a block of maple?
Click to expand...
Hardwood dealers sell kiln-dried or air-dried wood, not green. The amount of time a piece of wood has seasoned is less important than its internal moisture content. I've bought lots of "seasoned" wood from tonewood suppliers that was way too moist to use. Many of them are in the Pacific Northwest, where the ambient climate conditions will never allow the wood to reach a proper level of dryness (unless they use some type of drying system). Even if the wood was ten years old, in those climate conditions it might never go below 11 or 12% moisture content. I don't like to use any wood that has not been stabilized in the 7-9% range. Wood that has been super-dried becomes more stable and does much less shrinking and expanding than wood that has not. (This property is called "sorbtion hysteresis".) Aging wood by no means insures that it is dry. That said, it is good to "torture" the wood for its first few seasons, by allowing it to go through several hot/cold and wet/dry cycles with the weather. This tends to relieve internal stresses in the wood. Often it will warp or split; better now than when it's an instrument! BTW, Much of this info comes from my friend Robert McIntosh, a fine luthier and cabinet maker who has made a study of lumber drying and stabilizing.
 
#9
arnoldschnitzer said:
You can make an inexpensive caliper with birch plywood and dowels. Or you can make a plywood frame and attach a dial indicator. I don't recommend using poplar, as it is very tricky to bend. Get some soft maple, but buy it from a lumber dealer, not an instrument-wood dealer. Try Hearne Hardwoods in PA, or Gilmer (on-line) for starters.
Click to expand...

I bought a digital "dial" indicator, which registers in thousandths of inches or hundredths of millimeters (switch from metreic to SAE and back), and has a 25.5 mm throw. I got it from Harbor freight for $30, and it came with an extra battery-- I have cut out some 1" plywood for a caliper with a 15" throat and 2" of clearance, so it will go over the side of a violin or viola with the ribs on (I hope--it's not done yet). The meter seems to work very well, though.
 
#11
When I made my first violin I made my own thickness caliper out of metal because I have access to welding equiptment at work. I also used a digital gauge like 1st Bass. I made it with one day making a double bass in mind, I think it has an 18" throat, but I don't know for sure off the top of my head. I also sandblasted and painted it for a sleek look.:cool:

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