Making a simple bass guitar....

[Michael Donahue]

Hey folks. I wanted to throw together a relatively simple bass guitar for my brother who writes and records his own music. I'm hoping to get this done in time for his birthday in the beginning of December, so I'm using a neck I bought on ebay and I'm building the body. It's ash and it will be a solid blue color with no grainfilling so you can get the woodgrain through the paint.

I started working on it today by creating the design and templates, and got the body 95% shaped. This gave me a great excuse to buy the Ridgid oscillating spindle/edge sander!! :D

Hope you like it and I'll try to get pics up when it's painted.

[John Thompson]

I know absolutely nothing about building musical instruments but... would love to see the final pictures as a very interesting build IMO..

[Patrick Doody]

Looks like a great start so far, what pickup configuration are you going to go with.

[Michael Donahue]

Looks like a great start so far, what pickup configuration are you going to go with.

It's going to have a single Musicman-style humbucker and simple volume and tone controls. I wanted to keep it simple so I could get it done quickly, and it'll only be used in my brother's home studio.

I'm drawing up some plans for a curly-walnut topped telecaster when I'm done with this though!:D

[scott spencer]

Great project, and your progress looks super so far!

[Patrick Doody]

It's going to have a single Musicman-style humbucker and simple volume and tone controls. I wanted to keep it simple so I could get it done quickly, and it'll only be used in my brother's home studio.

I'm drawing up some plans for a curly-walnut topped telecaster when I'm done with this though!:D

if you're going to go with a single pickup that's probably the best pickup to go with, if you wanted to add a little extra versatility you could at a add a coilsplitter using a push pull volume pot. not sure if the pickup you have has the ability to split the coils but if you don't have a pickup yet I'm sure it doesn't cost any extra.

I also plan on building a tele sometime in the future, there's a ton of ash available around here due to the emerald ash borer. I've built a few amps and pedals but never a instrument, your brother is gonna love that thing.

What kind of paint are you going to go with? lacquer? a friend of mine has had some good luck with the re-ranch stuff, even using grain filler you can see some grain through the finish.

[Doug Shepard]

Very cool project. Keep us posted. Back in the 80's I had a Peavy bass that had a pretty unique single PU setup that produced a pretty wide choice of sound. They had the PU mounted on a phenolic piece that slid over a long cavity on the top. So you could slide it down real tight to the bridge or up to the neck position in about 1 second. In hindsight I wish I hadn't sold that bass as it really sounded pretty good.

[Michael Donahue]

What kind of paint are you going to go with? lacquer? a friend of mine has had some good luck with the re-ranch stuff, even using grain filler you can see some grain through the finish.

I have to see if I can split that pickup...I'm not sure how to check.

As far as paint, I'm using Duplicolor lacquers (the kind you can get at auto parts stores). I'm going that route to match the blue of my brother's car!:D They're great to work with for small projects.

[Patrick Doody]

I have to see if I can split that pickup...I'm not sure how to check.

As far as paint, I'm using Duplicolor lacquers (the kind you can get at auto parts stores). I'm going that route to match the blue of my brother's car!:D They're great to work with for small projects.


well i think any 'bucker can be coil tapped, but if it has 3 wires it's waaay easier, if it only has 2 wires you'd probably be better off sticking with the stock configuration(though it can be done). Can't wait to see the finished product, you should take the finished pictures next to your brother's car.

Do you plan on painting the headstock?
any decals planned?

[Don Jarvie]

Mike,

There is a forum called Talk Bass that has a luthiers sections that is very good. You may of already heard of it.

[Michael Donahue]

well i think any 'bucker can be coil tapped, but if it has 3 wires it's waaay easier, if it only has 2 wires you'd probably be better off sticking with the stock configuration(though it can be done). Can't wait to see the finished product, you should take the finished pictures next to your brother's car.

Do you plan on painting the headstock?
any decals planned?

I was thinking about painting the headstock to match. I'm still on the fence about a decal though, but I've seen some tutorial on how to make them. On the other hand I think a blank headstock will just look funny :confused:

Thanks for all the input folks!

[Paul Steiner]

Very nice! I am jealous, I can woodwork, but I wish I could play guitar.

[Dan Manning]

http://i618.photobucket.com/albums/tt267/Dancamera1/Guitar011.jpg

My first guitar project for a friend. Mahogany and a lot of time.

[Michael Donahue]

http://i618.photobucket.com/albums/tt267/Dancamera1/Guitar011.jpg

My first guitar project for a friend. Mahogany and a lot of time.

Very cool! :cool: What did you use for a finish?

[Dan Manning]

A lot of routering for the electronics and body, a lot of sanding, and about 10 coats of Minwax Gloss Poly, applied with a HF 1qt sprayer sanded in between coats. Due to the fact it is my first time spraying a finish, I want to practice with the gun before I advance to the laquer and other finishes.
The guitar's owner supplied all of the gear as payment for my time, and it all went into the shop inventory. He called later after taking it home and said it sounds great.

[billy trailor]

http://i618.photobucket.com/albums/tt267/Dancamera1/Guitar011.jpg

My first guitar project for a friend. Mahogany and a lot of time.

OMG HOW DID YOU KNOW MY BIRTHDAY IS TODAY!?!?!?!?!?!

i better give you my address so you can ship it on over here... haha

both of you are making some very nice instruments.. i always wanted to try to make a acoustic guitar... but i dont know the first thing about bending wood... so for now, i think my next project will be a nice elec. guitar for my dad.

[Tim Mahoney]

Nice start to a guitar build. I built my first the past few months. I didn't know how much work it would be and how technical everything has to be to work. I took my time, spent hours on the net at guitar forums and the library. I used cherry for the body, bloodwood for the fretboard and maple for the neck. It's a telecaster style with a stratocaster carved body. I'm a woodworker not a guitar player so had to keep going to guitar center to check the specs. Good luck with your build. I am planning on giving this guitar to my son for xmas.

[Michael Donahue]

Hey folks! I never made the deadline for my brother's birthday but that wasn't a it wasn't a big deal because he couldn't come visit till just a few days ago. I decided on a natural wood body with the bit of extra time I had, so I rebuilt the body out of curly maple and sapele. It's got General Arm-r-seal for a finish so it feels pretty natural when you're playing it. The neck was bought on ebay, but I built the rest and put it together. Hope you like it!

[John Thompson]

Looking good... time to rock and roll! :)

[Jim Becker]

Michael, that's a fine looking instrument. The lamination you did in the body is reminiscent of my Kramer DMZ-6000 guitar. I really like that effect!

[Rob Stanhope]

mike, i saw your pictures on facebook.....and........Damn!....awesome job.

[Joe Cunningham]

Wow awesome job. How does it sound? I really like the lamination and 'racing stripe' look. I love the natural look on guitars, but the ones finished that way are usually the *most* expensive ones on the rack.

I hope my local ww'ing school offers the 'Build a Telecaster' class again soon, as I can see that becoming a lot of fun, both building, then playing.