The Mediocre Builders Club

[John LaTorre]

And when I say "many mediocre instruments" I mean it. Here's a rundown of about half of the ones I've made:

No truth to the rumor: Some Musical Instruments I've Made

 

[OldCoupeTom]

I just finished building the bass i was working on when it got too cold to work in my garage/workshop for the winter. Unfortunately, although i have 5 sets of strings for bass, all of them are short scale. so, i have to order some before i can string it and set it up.
But i just love the build so i can't wait that long to show it off. here it is, the newest version of the floating top bass...

View attachment 4683091 View attachment 4683092 View attachment 4683093 View attachment 4683094 View attachment 4683095 View attachment 4683096

Looks nice in the photos. Curious about the weight?

 

[bass theory]

Looks nice in the photos. Curious about the weight?

Since it is made of dense hardwoods it is a little heavy. But as it is mostly hollow (actually hollowed out as much / or more than most semi-hollow basses are.) it is not unmanageably heavy. I also converted it to a short scale which moved the center of gravity well within the strap buttons, making it more comfortable.

 

[bass theory]

well i lost my outlet. the company who was renting the space to Jason, decided to expand their own business and so chose not to renew the lease. I think to guarantee no issues they raised the rent to more than He could pay first. anyway, that isn't my concern. But we are all back to selling out of our houses and online for now.

 

[markwrob]

well i lost my outlet. the company who was renting the space to Jason, decided to expand their own business and so chose not to renew the lease. I think to guarantee no issues they raised the rent to more than He could pay first. anyway, that isn't my concern. But we are all back to selling out of our houses and online for now.

If Jason had enough foot traffic, hopefully another space will open up. But yeah it can be tough at times. Good luck to all!

 

[bass theory]

well i lost my outlet. the company who was renting the space to Jason, decided to expand their own business and so chose not to renew the lease. I think to guarantee no issues they raised the rent to more than He could pay first. anyway, that isn't my concern. But we are all back to selling out of our houses and online for now.

My wife, my hardest critic to impress. saw the guitar shop the other day. her comment.... Your(meaning my) guitars are a lot nicer than the others. wow was i ever shocked.

There is a big crafting festival in the county fairgrounds this weekend. I was helping set up my daughter's booth and noticed that Jason had one also. So i showed him my most recent bass. the one made of sapele and oak... He loved it. I then sat it at my daughters booth while i was getting lunch. My daughter called me to ask what i wanted for the bass... three guys were checking it out. I said it'll be $1600.00 if i decide to sell it but i need to make some adjustments to the nut height and the bridge before i would be willing to sell it. they left their names and phone numbers for when I am finished with it. lol, i didn't even post it for sale and it was behind her both, not on display. I think i might be on to something with that last design.... thank you all for pointing out the things i needed to correct. and especially the suggestion to cover screw holes with inlays.... that made a huge difference. My daughter thought i was crazy. she said the one guy would have bought it without the final setup work (i need to file the nut down almost 1/16th of an inch.... way to much to sell it like that. The action is high enough that the notes might actually go slightly sharp from fretting.)

After all this time worrying that my wife would be upset at the time and money i am investing in building basses (and i think she was at first) she now sees that i can make it work and is supportive. Now if i can only get her to be supportive of me retiring....

 

[markwrob]

This sounds awesome, BT! Break a leg!

 

[MirandM]

...After all this time worrying that my wife would be upset at the time and money i am investing in building basses (and i think she was at first) she now sees that i can make it work and is supportive. Now if i can only get her to be supportive of me retiring....

Retiring means building more basses... which is the oposite of retiring however... in your case it would probably mean you're even happier than a kid in a candy store

 

[Leigh Semmens]

DANGER!!! Will Robinson!!! Don't ever retire, I tried it, and now I can't work out how I ever found the time to go to work.

 

[Marc DLarosa]

Sorry. Been a while. Work got crazy AGAIN. I FINALLY finished Her.

Good thing She's patient...

 

[definenredefine]

That finish is lovely...

 

[bass theory]

this is for those of you who (mistakenly) think you will never get good at building.
I have gone from making absolute garbage to some fairly nice basses in the past year and a half. But i have always been plagued by not getting the setup where i wanted it, and not understanding why.

I have followed the internet guides to the letter and yet my setups always come out very high. Even Jason Wittig who taught me how to do a low setup is baffled by it. For a few months now I had a theory. And I finally was able to prove it.
First of all, you have to understand that most of the guides and aimed at people replacing a Fender neck. I really hate how things are so focused on Fender because of how they mislead the rest of us.

• with the Fender offset neck, the angle of string deflection at the nut is less than 5degrees. This of requires string retainers to keep the strings tight to the nut.
• With the way Jason build his one-piece necks the deflection is only 7degrees. he sometimes finds he also needs retainers.
• I have chosen to use scarfed-joint necks for several reasons.
  • I don't want to be seen as a Fender copier.
  • the scarfed joint is the sturdiest style neck because the grain is always in the strongest direction.
  • no need for retainers ever.

Here is the problem:

• It is nearly impossible to make a quality scarfed joint neck at less than 15degrees deflection.
• at 15 degrees defection the string needs to seat deeper into the nut to hit the first fret at an angle that will play in perfect tune.
  • the same goes for getting the action right throughout the neck length.

I finally found the proper way to grind the nut to achieve this. place a straight edge across the second and third frets and measure the gap at the first fret it will be a couple thousandths of an inch. a straight edge from the nut to the second fret should have the same gap at the first fret, no more than that. When it is correct a straight edge slide along the frets should almost slide over the nut. It should meet just the slightest resistance at the nut.

 

[MirandM]

this is for those of you who (mistakenly) think you will never get good at building.
I have gone from making absolute garbage to some fairly nice basses in the past year and a half. But i have always been plagued by not getting the setup where i wanted it, and not understanding why.

I have followed the internet guides to the letter and yet my setups always come out very high. Even Jason Wittig who taught me how to do a low setup is baffled by it. For a few months now I had a theory. And I finally was able to prove it.
First of all, you have to understand that most of the guides and aimed at people replacing a Fender neck. I really hate how things are so focused on Fender because of how they mislead the rest of us.

• with the Fender offset neck, the angle of string deflection at the nut is less than 5degrees. This of requires string retainers to keep the strings tight to the nut.
• With the way Jason build his one-piece necks the deflection is only 7degrees. he sometimes finds he also needs retainers.
• I have chosen to use scarfed-joint necks for several reasons.
  • I don't want to be seen as a Fender copier.
  • the scarfed joint is the sturdiest style neck because the grain is always in the strongest direction.
  • no need for retainers ever.

Here is the problem:

• It is nearly impossible to make a quality scarfed joint neck at less than 15degrees deflection.
• at 15 degrees defection the string needs to seat deeper into the nut to hit the first fret at an angle that will play in perfect tune.
  • the same goes for getting the action right throughout the neck length.

I finally found the proper way to grind the nut to achieve this. place a straight edge across the second and third frets and measure the gap at the first fret it will be a couple thousandths of an inch. a straight edge from the nut to the second fret should have the same gap at the first fret, no more than that. When it is correct a straight edge slide along the frets should almost slide over the nut. It should meet just the slightest resistance at the nut.

Reminds me of the intonation problems some of us have when using string-through-body at the bridge. Because of the rather steep angle it tends to separate de windings on the string at the saddle, making movement for intonation much more difficult.
This is notably the case when the holes through the body are made at 90º. When I made my Peavy Orion I made the holes at an angle and rounded them out to have a flowing string into the bridge, no sharp edges. No winding separation occurred and it intonates just perfect.

In your case I would probably do the same at the nut, make the route through curved. Nice side effect is that the contact area of the string is much larger making the vibration in the neck more profound. Just a thought.

 

[Volker Kirstein]

Blä. These two remain untouched for over 2 years now... but, happened. The old world is dying, and the new world struggles to be born. I'll get to it. One day.

• Froggy - Free bass!

Basically just needs to be polished, reassembled, and set up. Maybe a decal on the headstock.

• Svetlana - a "Soviet" reverse headstock shorty P

The bridge still needs to be measured/mounted, then polished, strung, set up.

 

[bass theory]

It seems like forever since I have been on here, I have been working on my house to get it ready to sell when i decide to retire. So, I still won't be posting regularly for a time. I did find another retail outlet for my work. Door County Music Co. in Sturgeon Bay WI has agreed to sell any bases I bring them. My asking prices are higher than anything they have sold before, but they didn't flinch when I said "starting at $2,000 and going up from there. Now i need to find the time to build some more. Unlike the last place, the owner plays and teaches Bass Guitar. He also carries several basses in his shop including some customized. Although no custom hand made from scratch before. I knew this was going to work when i saw a Cigar Box guitar in his window.

 

[OldCoupeTom]

I knew this was going to work when i saw a Cigar Box guitar in his window.

Good luck on this endeavor. Good that you are not reluctant to price your products in such manner so as to reflect the true value of your time, knowledge and efforts.

 

[markwrob]

Good luck on this endeavor. Good that you are not reluctant to price your products in such manner so as to reflect the true value of your time, knowledge and efforts.

I heartily agree! Break a leg, BT!

 

[RodRy]

It seems like forever since I have been on here, I have been working on my house to get it ready to sell when i decide to retire. So, I still won't be posting regularly for a time. I did find another retail outlet for my work. Door County Music Co. in Sturgeon Bay WI has agreed to sell any bases I bring them. My asking prices are higher than anything they have sold before, but they didn't flinch when I said "starting at $2,000 and going up from there. Now i need to find the time to build some more. Unlike the last place, the owner plays and teaches Bass Guitar. He also carries several basses in his shop including some customized. Although no custom hand made from scratch before. I knew this was going to work when i saw a Cigar Box guitar in his window.

Had to do some searching to find their site, but for the curious: Link Removed

Only 6.5 hours drive away! Or I can take the Badger over!

 

[MirandM]

It seems like forever since I have been on here, I have been working on my house to get it ready to sell when i decide to retire. So, I still won't be posting regularly for a time. I did find another retail outlet for my work. Door County Music Co. in Sturgeon Bay WI has agreed to sell any bases I bring them. My asking prices are higher than anything they have sold before, but they didn't flinch when I said "starting at $2,000 and going up from there. Now i need to find the time to build some more. Unlike the last place, the owner plays and teaches Bass Guitar. He also carries several basses in his shop including some customized. Although no custom hand made from scratch before. I knew this was going to work when i saw a Cigar Box guitar in his window.

Whatever you do, don't ever sell your blue "industrial" first made bass. You should honor that one as it's the one that started it all. It's also an excellent reminder of the road you took to getting to build basses like you do right now and in the future. And it's highly original, in spite of what people may think or say otherwise.

 

[Jon Clegg]

It seems like forever since I have been on here, I have been working on my house to get it ready to sell when i decide to retire. So, I still won't be posting regularly for a time. I did find another retail outlet for my work. Door County Music Co. in Sturgeon Bay WI has agreed to sell any bases I bring them. My asking prices are higher than anything they have sold before, but they didn't flinch when I said "starting at $2,000 and going up from there. Now i need to find the time to build some more. Unlike the last place, the owner plays and teaches Bass Guitar. He also carries several basses in his shop including some customized. Although no custom hand made from scratch before. I knew this was going to work when i saw a Cigar Box guitar in his window.

Good to hear. I remember thinking that some of your original seller's rules seem a bit off.

I recently delivered my first venture into the world of 7-string guitars -- the way my customer tunes it, it may as well be a bass: G-C-G-C-f-a-d
It was a bear to set the intonation on that low G (I may recommend that he go up to an 0.080 on that string) but so far no complaints!