Homemade Bass Builders

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Comment by Richard Sanabia on January 31, 2011 at 10:10pm

Very cool! I like the sound..

Comment by Richard Sanabia on January 11, 2011 at 3:40pm

Hey Bob, I used a big dresser drawer for a bass.  Worked pretty good. Use some quarter round to reinforce the the joints, otherwise big buzzes. The drawer bottoms are usually set in a routed groove, and is pretty loose to allow for expansion. I eventually added a piezo for more volume. I found the drawers in a dresser that was getting thrown out.  Richard in Tennessee.

Comment by Randy S. Bretz on January 11, 2011 at 3:37pm

Hey Bob that sound like a great idea...that 1 string bass that I made is just 1x6 pine sides with 1/4" cabinet plywood top and bottom. No pickup...but at last years gathering Dewy had one of those spring loaded pickups...we attached it to that bass...Wow was that cool. So I have some flat piezo ribbon that I got just to stick under the bridge feet...it will sound great at this years gathering.

Comment by Bob Holland on January 11, 2011 at 3:10pm

I'm not much of a builder but  what I see is most cbg basses have to have some kind of pickup to get any volume.  I am a bass player. Fender Bass & I used to have an Old Kay upright. It was big & had volume. So I guess what I'm saying, bigger box = more volume. Now what I saw today was an old chest of drawers. The outside was badly torn up but the drawers were in pretty good shape. Has anyone used a drawer for a box? Just make a neck & cover one side, cut some sound holes. It's too cold here for me to do anything with this idea. So anyone feel free to use this idea & show us all what you came up with.

Comment by Adam on January 5, 2011 at 4:27pm

yeah, that all makes sense.  thanks very much.  I'm gonna try, pretty much all of that.

Comment by Richard Sanabia on January 5, 2011 at 4:23pm

Hi Adam, I got some from Mouser Electronics, and I got some from Gritty here. Simple two wire hook up to jack. I stick them under the bridge, and use some of that white two sided tape. If you stick them directly with hard glue, they become too hard sounding for a bass. The thick tape lets the lows through nicely. If you use a through the body neck, then use a Forstner bit to sink a hole big enough to drop the piezo into. You need to have the piezo near the bridge. If you have a thick top or stick it to a thick neck, it will work, but you have to use so much gain to get any sound, it will pick up everything you touch on the instrument, not have any good musical sound. You want the piezo to be near the bridge so it can pickup the string vibes, without going through a lot of thick wood. The partial hole won't weaken the through neck as long as you don't use to wide a hole. If this isn't clear, phone me. Rich in Tennessee.

Comment by Adam on January 5, 2011 at 1:42pm

Richard, what kind of piezo pick up do you use?  is it stuck to the inside of the body?

Comment by Richard Sanabia on January 5, 2011 at 12:52pm

We play with a dulcimer group, and they are always in D. They could retune easily to G, but that seems hard for them.  I like to use a piezo because of the wider frequency range.   Richard in Tennessee.

Comment by Richard Sanabia on January 5, 2011 at 12:43pm

Hi Alan. The fretting is diatonic, i.e., no half steps, keys of D, G.  The scale is 30" short bass.  The neck is reinforced with 3/8 steel square.  I just finished a fretless version. The slots were cut, but I inserted white plastic in the slots to mark where the frets would have been. Makes hitting the right note a lot easier, and keeps the fretless "sound".

Comment by Adam on January 5, 2011 at 12:40pm

p.s.  I play with a guy that play slide in open D, so I;m pretty much in D all the time too!

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