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Winter Build Off 2026 - Run Whatcha Brung

Beej

Beej

Supporting Member
Feb 10, 2007
14,267
28,547
Vancouver Island
#1
Greetings and Happy New Year!

As you may know this year’s winter build off has seen a handful of changes, the biggest being that it will run from January 1 to April 30, giving everyone four months to complete. This year also sees the addition of a special “Unfinished Business” category – more on this below.

This year’s theme is “Run Whatcha Brung”. Stolen from motorsport, basically enter what you want to enter and let the woodchips fall where they may.

To enter the build off, start a new thread using "Winter Build Off 2026" as part of your title, and start building! In your initial post, provide a picture of your pile of lumber and/or parts with the phrase “This is mine” written somewhere in the pic.

RULES:
1. Entrants must post a build thread with “Winter Build Off 2026” in the title.
2. Entrants can enter anytime before the build off end date (in other words, late entries are permitted).
3. Multiple entries in the same or different categories are permitted and encouraged.
4. Each build thread must have a "pile of wood/parts" pic. The pic must include the written phrase "This is mine"
5. To be eligible for voting, before the deadline, you must:
i) create a submission post describing your instrument with pictures
ii) your instrument must be giggity. Meaning you could play it at a gig

6. Entrants must declare which Build Category they are entering:
Scratch Builds must be built from scratch from dimensioned lumber.
a) Dimensioned lumber includes: Billets, 1-pce neck blanks, matched tops, stringers, thin laminates, veneers, fingerboards, pre-slotted/radiused fretboards, etc.
b) Scratch builds must not have any components glued up or cut out prior to the start. Built components must have their build process pictorially included in the entry thread.
c) Minimum diameter for lowest pitch string is 0.083".

Partial Builds must identify all components used and explain what is built and what is bought.
a) All built parts must have their build process pictorially included in the entry thread.
b) Minimum diameter for lowest pitch string is 0.083".

Assembly Builds must identify all components used.
a) All modified parts used must have their modification process pictorially included in the entry thread.
b) Minimum diameter for lowest pitch string is 0.083".

Non-Bass Builds include musical instrument builds that would be excluded from the bass Build Off categories.
a) Examples include: guitar, shamisen, lute, mandolin, other non-bass instrument builds, or bass-related builds that do not have minimum 0.083” fat strings, etc.
b) Instruments may be stringed or use other means to generate sound but must be capable of generating sounds.

Special Category: Unfinished Business
Got a stalled build in the corner? This special edition category is for you! Show that instrument who's boss by bringing it to the finish line. This must be an instrument which you have built, but is not finished for whatever reason. It must be your build to enter. In other words, if you're completing someone else's unfinished work, that would go into either Partial Build or Assembly Build instead. The other rules applying to Partial and Assembly Builds also apply here.

Please put a post in this thread declaring your entry. Include a link to your build thread so we have a central reference point for all of those that wish to participate.
The build off starts Thursday, January 1, 2026 0910 PST (UTC -8) This post right now marks the start of the build off.
The build off ends 1600h PST (UTC -8) Thursday, April 30, 2026. Voting will open right after the build off ends.

Reference wikis are here (suggestions are welcome, PM me):
Build Off Rules, Guidelines and Reference Information: https://www.talkbass.com/wiki/build-off-rules-guidelines-reference-info/
Past Build Off Threads: https://www.talkbass.com/wiki/build-off-threads/

Any questions can be posted here or PM myself or @Alex Xander.

Happy Building!

List of Builders:
1. @smart51 S https://www.talkbass.com/threads/winter-build-off-2026-yewkulele.1681655/
2. @ddm0502 S https://www.talkbass.com/threads/wbo26-the-reboot.1681658/
3. @postalflunkie U https://www.talkbass.com/threads/winter-build-off-2026-colonel-hathi.1681660/
4. @Gary_M N https://www.talkbass.com/threads/winter-build-off-2026-flight-of-the-bumblebee.1681666/
5. @postalflunkie S https://www.talkbass.com/threads/winter-build-off-2026-cb1x.1681671/
6. @Alex Xander U https://www.talkbass.com/threads/winter-build-off-2026-a-dark-rainbow.1681732/
7. @Gary_M S https://www.talkbass.com/threads/winter-build-off-2026-daddy-needs-a-new-fretless.1681734/
8. @AK4570 S https://www.talkbass.com/threads/winter-build-off-2026-the-spruce-loose-goose.1681740/
9. @Flamingo21 P https://www.talkbass.com/threads/winter-build-off-2026-one-for-dad.1681742/
10. @AK4570 U https://www.talkbass.com/threads/wbo-26-bass-mandola.1681741/
11. @Alex Xander N https://www.talkbass.com/threads/winter-build-off-26-every-bassist-needs-a-guitar.1681787/
12. @Rôckhewer U https://www.talkbass.com/threads/winter-build-off-2026-vuturé-arch-top-u.1681799/
13. @Phreaky Phriday P https://www.talkbass.com/threads/wi...d-lightness-sub-short-scale-headless.1681831/
14. @Beej U https://www.talkbass.com/threads/winter-build-off-2026-scamp-5-string.1681854/
15. @Flying B S https://www.talkbass.com/threads/winter-build-off-2026-primal-screamray.1681861
16. @BishopJP S https://www.talkbass.com/threads/winter-build-off-2026-medium-scale-barn-wood-bass.1681878/
17. @Water buffalo U https://www.talkbass.com/threads/winter-build-off-2026-off-with-his-head.1681893/
18. @13ghosts S https://www.talkbass.com/threads/winter-build-off-2026-evolutionary-pair.1681982/
19. @MoleSandwich S https://www.talkbass.com/threads/winter-build-off-2026-wandre-transonic-inspired-headless.1682003/
20. @BishopJP U https://www.talkbass.com/threads/winter-build-off-2026-guitar-with-barn-wood.1682189/
21. @Dark Horse S https://www.talkbass.com/threads/winter-buildoff-thread-4-string-mandolin-shaped-object.1682196/
22. @Bonkersville U https://www.talkbass.com/threads/winter-build-off-2026-18-years-in-the-making.1682198/
23. @mapleglo P https://www.talkbass.com/threads/winter-build-off-2026-5-string-fenderbacker.1682339/
24. @joover S https://www.talkbass.com/threads/winter-build-off-2026-domed-fretless.1682353/
25. @gooseontheloose U https://www.talkbass.com/threads/wi...nfinished-business-a-dream-come-true.1682594/
26. @lbridenstine U https://www.talkbass.com/threads/wi...usiness-english-walnut-nerdy-revival.1683307/


S=scratch build
P=partial build
A=assembly build
N=non-bass build
U=unfinished business
 
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#2
I'm in
postalflunkie

Thread 'Winter Build Off 2026 - Colonel Hathi'

Here's my entry for the 2026 build off in the Unfinished Business catigory.

This started in october. I kind of had one of those spontaneous moments of creativity and just ran with it. I'm making a tribute to one of Colonel Claypools earlier pachyderm basses, but fretless.

So far I have the neck (three piece mahogany) carved, and the body wings (mahogany with a cherry top) mostly shaped. The fingerboard is katalox with 29 contrasting "fret" lines.

20260101_132944~2.jpg

Hardware will be a Seymour Duncan 1/4 pound p-bass pickup, stacked volume/tone, tune-o-matic style bridge with string...
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Reactions: AudioTaper, RonC72, BishopJP and 7 others
#3
I'm in with a non-bass build...

Gary_M

Thread 'Winter Build Off 2026 - Flight of the Bumblebee'

This will decidedly be a non-bass entry. :cigar:

SO1QLHQ.jpg


Ever since Van Halen II dropped, I've been mesmerized by this guitar. That paint scheme just did it for me. I'm not much of a guitar player, but when has that ever stopped me? :D

There's a lot of conflicting information about the origin of the guitar, but I think the most reliable story is that it was built for Eddie by Charvel just prior to the photoshoot for VH II. It had a black humbucker and the headstock was painted black with a Charvel logo on it. He played it primarily during the 1979 tour...
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I'll likely enter a bass build as well, I just can't make up my mind on wood choices. :D
 
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#4
And just like that, I'm in for the scratch build catigory also
postalflunkie

Thread 'Winter Build Off 2026 - CB1X'

My entry in the "Scratch Build" catigory for the WBO26.

So the name sounds odd, but here we go. Two of my personal favorites that I've built for prior build offs used the same template, my first original design. The "Carbine bass" from 2020, and "B major" from 2021
Thus, Carbine Bass (CB) single (1) Cut (X)

I decided this year to modify that template as a single cut body.
I'll be making a nine piece thru-neck with hard maple, walnut and flame maple. The body core will be flame maple with maple and walnut accents, a walnut cap on the back and a figured walnut top.

For hardware I'm...
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Reactions: BishopJP, Crawforde, Bent77 and 2 others
#10
OK, I'm in with a scratch build bass entry. :)

Gary_M

Thread 'Winter Build Off 2026 - Daddy Needs a New Fretless'

I built a 5 string fretless of my own design for the WBO 2022. Now it's time to build a 4 string version of it. That original build thread can be found here if you're interested. Sidenote; I recently discovered a problem with that bass that will need to be fixed, so I'll make thread detailing that later this year.

OK, on to the details. The 5 string version featured neck through construction. I'm trying to conserve my (maple) resources for some upcoming builds; so I plan to make this one a "built up" set neck more like a Carl Thompson, Fodera or Ken Smith type of construction. The...
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#11
Here’s my Unfinished Business entry

Alex Xander

Thread 'Winter Build Off 2026 - A Dark Rainbow'

I figured since I proposed the Unfinished Business category, I should enter it. This is very much a budget build.

This build started about two years ago when I was on a cruise ship for the first time, not really enjoying myself. With a laptop on a poolside chair (with a beer in hand), I tinkered with a bunch of lamination layouts utilising known offcuts dimensions before arriving at the one glued up to make the body blank below. It was important to me that it had complimentary colour tones and also that the front and rear laminates were different.

1000002491.jpg



1000002492.jpg
...
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Reactions: AudioTaper, Bassdirty, Gary_M and 6 others
#12
I’m in with a scratch build.

AK4570

Thread 'Winter Build Off 2026 - The Spruce Loose Goose'

First and foremost, this is going to be experimental!

For the last couple of years my wife has been encouraging me to branch out a bit and explore some of the, shall we say, “non-standard” building practices. Around the same time, I’ve started having some lower back issues related to injuries from the past that are deciding to make themselves known. All my current basses are heavy. Real heavy. And, since I have a background in boat work, I am going to attempt to kill multiple birds with a single stone… or bass. I will be attempting to build a foam core, carbon fiber bass (bolt on, CF...
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#13
Here's my partial build.
Flamingo21

Thread 'WBO 26 - Bass Mandola'

Some years ago, I bought an old guitar with the purpose of turning it into a bass. It was an old, run down guitar: its neck had been reset rather clumsily, and it was missing some frets. It also had a lot of cosmetic damage.

I did make a functional bass of it, with four bass tuners instead of the six old ones, and new wooden hardware. It has a piezo pickup in the bridge. I think the strings are Gold Tone. There's a thread about the conversion in Luthier's Corner. (I'll give you the pics later, they're on another device.)

I like what this bass does, but I've grown dissatisfied with its...
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#14
Unfinished business

AK4570

Thread 'Winter Build Off 2026 - One for Dad'

This one is unfinished business… In several ways.

The LC is a (fairly) safe place, so let’s talk about fathers for a minute.

Fact is, all of us have one. Good, bad, indifferent, present, gone, good role model or bad… We’ve all got a Dad. My Dad is probably no different than many of yours, and our relationship has (just like everyone else’s) had its ups and downs. Truth is, I didn’t make things very easy for him, and he didn’t make things so simple for me either. We haven’t agreed on much, and we haven’t seen eye-to-eye on almost any issue you could name. Except for apple pie. That one...
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#20
For the non-bass build category…

Alex Xander

Thread 'Winter Build Off 26 - Every Bassist Needs a Guitar'

We have a fairly tight local group that hosts a monthly open mic night. Despite living in a town of only 12,000 people, I sometimes find myself being one of five bassists present, and there’s often a spare guitar that I spend the night playing, rarely touching a bass.

Sounds like a good reason to build a “six string, short scale piccolo bass”, right?

Specs
Two piece macassar ebony body
One piece macassar ebony neck
Macassar ebony FB
Evo gold frets
Quad coil “hot rail” pickups with gold rails to match the frets
Modified Telecaster shape
All hardware sourced from the polarising...
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