Worst. Bass. Build. Ever.

[Fabio_MIJ]

Incredible work! hardware replacement + finish and you have a nice bass

 

[Acoustic356]

The bridge is the best part... that's what you call a high mass bridge!

 

[Acoustic356]

... and to be complete it needs a drop D...

 

[Shorelinegold]

I tried to play it at a gig last night and the input rejected the cable right before we started. Worked great through sound check, then the cable just jumped out of the jack and didn't want to go back in. It felt like there was a spring in there pushing it out...it was awesome!!

Luckily, I had the forethought to bring a backup...Freewood, my latest build (a new MusicMan style build that isn't tested either!! :/ It's the walnut bass that is pictured with OJ earlier in the thread). So much fret buzz!!! Most uncomfortable gig ever. Gotta do some fretwork!!!

Is the first bass telling you it wants to be an acoustic bass only?

 

[Mantis Tobaggan]

this is the best thread I have ever read on TB

 

[Dean N]

It felt like there was a spring in there pushing it out...it was awesome!!

Your bass clearly rejected your rig. It's just not Mad Max enough for that much bass awesomeness.

 

[Lonnybass]

Amazing!

 

[CalBuzz51]

The fifth string could be a drone string, you could tune it to whatever you want.

 

[MVE]

My favorite are the mismatched tuners; please tell me one of them is reversed.

 

[bdplaid]

then the cable just jumped out of the jack and didn't want to go back in.

LOL! perfect. the bass itself got in on the action! it even vomits. perfect.

You, sir, are a true man. Giving The Finger while going down in flames. Awesome.

I have had a few (as in all) builds where something went terribly amiss. That's what pickguards are for.

My Mantra: do NOT look under the pickguard.

Kudos!

 

[matty1039]

Put the fifth string half way up the neck, lick a banjo.

 

[Ellery]

WOW. And I mean that in a good way.

 

[Acoustic356]

Put the fifth string half way up the neck, lick a banjo.

I will not... and I repeat... I will not lick a banjo...

 

[Ross W. Lovell]

• Here's the deal. My favorite bass from my youth was Woody, an early '90's Washburn XB-920. Great bass. Great sound. When the neck warped (my lack of maintenance/care), it went to the attic.

Later in life, I started tinkering with my basses...making and replacing parts on them. I realized that Woody could live on in another bass, so I started picking him clean. Tuners, bridge and pickups went to Fred (an early '70's fretless Aria jazz bass), his truss rod went to Freewood, my latest MusicMan build. I lost his nut...ironic.

That left a nice swamp ash body in a hard case. Hard cases are expensive, so I figured I'd build around that body so that in the end, I'd have a hard case for this bass. Lame reason to build, but remember: hard cases are expensive.

Instead of building a new neck to bolt onto this body, I wanted to experiment with building a neck-through. So here's the theme...a maple neck-through a swamp ash body 5 string fretted strung up EADGC. That was the plan...

Anyhoo, here I am gluing up a long piece of 3/4" maple (main part of the neck), a 1/4" slice of purple heart and a 3/4" piece of maple to the bottom to get my 1 3/4" body thickness.

View attachment 1022820

I then added the purpleheart and maple to the headstock area...

View attachment 1022833

Here I am adding wings to the already angled headstock. I would go into more detail on how I angled it, but it was stupid and dangerous. I survived...or did I?!?!

View attachment 1022832

I like it.

You are brutally honest, maybe too much so.

What happened with the truss rod routing? Would have used a table saw and finished the ends by hand if I wasn't sure of the router.

Like the design, I think IF it bothers you, to cut out the neck and a do-over works.

Where is this example in your number of builds? If it's #37, drink less, if it's #2, it's a learning experience.

 

[J. Wes]

I will not... and I repeat... I will not lick a banjo...

Back up!!! I got this...

 

[J. Wes]

My favorite are the mismatched tuners; please tell me one of them is reversed.

Unfortunately no...that's actually 2 bass and 2 treble tuners. I did lose the cover to the top bass tuner and had to grind away the corner to get it to fit.

 

[Beej]

I wish I had pictures of my first guitar. It was, shall we say, problematic? I love this one, looks great actually...

 

[KJMO]

Awesome thread. I think everyone who hasn't done a build has a worse build!

 

[MIMike]

J. If your interested in putting a proper 4 string bridge on it, I will send you a black and gold Winkinson bridge like the one in this pic (not my bass or pic BTW).
It just might fit with your multi-material hardware combo, plus get that E string better aligned over the bridge pickup pole pieces.

 

[Dean N]

There's one one thing that'll improve this bass.

Spoiler