Contrabass build

[James Carter]

I'm thinking of building an electric "contrabass" or "subbass". I'm thinking of the following specs:

Three strings tuned A0-D1-G1 OR E0-A0-D1.
Somewhere around a 38" or 40" scale.
Likely fretless.

Should I do a forth string?
Will I have trouble finding pups that'll work at the lower frequence?
Scale length too much?

I welcome any advice.

Thanks,
Jimmy

 

[Beej]

@Alex Xander has built more than a handful near the regions of the nethertones that you're wandering into.

 

[T_Bone_TL]

Find your strings first. Then you know what the actual limits on usable length for the ones you select are, or if you're going to wander off into the expensive realm of custom-wound (or the other expensive realm of upright strings that have sufficient steel to get picked up by magnetic pickups) to get what you want. Upright strings offer all sorts of length but tend to be flatwound so they can be bowed. Which isn't a bad thing IMHO, but YHO may vary. Some lack adequate steel for magnetic pickups as well.

Magnetic pickups should have no issues if the strings have sufficient steel to be picked up.

Piezo pickups will work with or without steel in the strings.

Alex's builds are well worth reviewing. As is @reverendrally 's similarly long bass. https://www.talkbass.com/threads/re...cade-of-luthiery-horror.1363762/post-22537616

 

[Alex Xander]

Don’t stress about strings. I can get a complete custom set of strings from Newtone in two weeks for about 50% more than the cost of factory strings. Kalium Strings are a similar story, and they might have what you need in stock. Newtone are simply excellent. Octave4plus are will do custom flatwounds (and rounds), but you will need to be patient and have deep pockets for flatwounds.

I almost exclusively play 39” scale basses now, regardless of the gig. I’ve made some slight adaptations to my playing style, but I’m fairly comfortable with it. 39” is not (IMHO) too much.

Here’s a video I did of a recent build. You’ll see my left hand isn’t doing gymnastics, although I’m not playing anything especially challenging.



If you’re considering ADG tuning, I would suggest a 4 string, and ordering strings that will work with ADGC tuning or BEAD. It might make it a bass that you use a lot more with that option.

E0 is diving into the realm of being unusable, and my four strings are usually tuned F#BEA. With that said, I am about to embark on a E0-G tuned fretless, but I’m building on the experience from maybe a dozen other builds to make this one work, and it will have a 42” scale.