First bass build - piezo fretless

[JLW]

So a quick intro. I'm an industrial designer by trade. It's my job to make physical products function well and look good...everything from cars to cell phones, faucets to sunglasses. I've been playing bass on and off for about ten years now, and I've decided to try my hand at building one of my very own.

The good news is that I'm proficient with building and working with my hands. I build prototypes all the time. It's a big part of my profession. I also am well-versed in CAD, and I will probably CNC the more complicated parts of the build.

The challenge will be the very steep learning curve of building a bass. I'm sure that there's a lot that goes into it. I don't even know what I don't know yet. But it should be fun.

The first build will be a hollow body four string fretless. Maybe one pickup by the bridge as well as a piezo pickup to imitate that woody acoustic upright sound. I was inspired by the Rob Allen fretless basses as well as the Godin A4 fretless.

I want to do a mahogany body with a walnut top. I probably will buy a stock warmoth neck for this go-around just to keep things a bit simpler. I also think it would be cool to do some kind of laser-etching on the top. Kind of like pictured here:

Please note, that is not my work. Just an example of what I'm talking about when I say laser etching.

Like the beginning of any project, I have begun to experiment with body shapes, and ended up with a couple very slight variations on a more rounded design.

 

[JLW]

I found a 3D model of a jazz bass and imported it into my rendering software. Obviously I would apply these patterns to the body shape that I designed. I just haven't build the 3D model of my design yet, so I thought I'd start with the jazz bass. I started messing around with potential etching patterns:

Once again, IMPORTANT NOTE. This is not the bass I'm designing. This is just a 3D model I found online so I could apply laser etched patterns to them to see how they might look on my build.

 

[Leiria]

This sounds like a promising thread. Sub'd

 

[ctmullins]

For your body shapes, I like the top rendering the most. They're all very similar, but aesthetically that's the one that appeals to me.

Be aware that Warmoth necks can be heavy. I built something similar a number of years back, but used a Carvin bolt-on neck. The Carvin is a very nice piece, check them out.

 

[JLW]

Be aware that Warmoth necks can be heavy. I built something similar a number of years back, but used a Carvin bolt-on neck. The Carvin is a very nice piece, check them out.

Hey CT, thanks for the note on the Carvin neck. How does the neck profile compare to let's say a standard P bass neck? Is it smaller, bigger, or about the same? I prefer something on the smaller side, personally. Maybe not as thin as a jazz necessarily, but a P is sometimes a little chunky for my tastes.

Also, quick update. I don't think the renderings that I presented earlier are giving me enough of a visual to work off of to make a decision. So I'm going to get a small slab of cheap walnut and laser etch a bunch of these patterns at 1/3 or 1/4 scale on little bass bodies (they can function as drink coasters or something once I'm done with them). This is a more cost effective method compared to going straight to full size and it will give me a much better idea of what the final product will look like. Based on these renderings I'm still very much on the fence of doing such a big laser etch, so we'll see what the scaled down pieces look like.

 

[ctmullins]

Hey CT, thanks for the note on the Carvin neck. How does the neck profile compare to let's say a standard P bass neck? Is it smaller, bigger, or about the same? I prefer something on the smaller side, personally. Maybe not as thin as a jazz necessarily, but a P is sometimes a little chunky for my tastes.

Um,

Mine is kinda medium. Not super-chunky, but not super-thin. I can't play super-thin necks anyway, so it works for me.

But it looks like they're a little different now. They don't list the exact neck that I bought (last decade), but the ones they do list say they have a width of 1.53" at the nut, which is a little smaller than mine, which is 1.65". So it may not work for you either.

 

[Beej]

I like all of your designs above, but I would recommend ensuring you have the 12th fret and the saddle witness points located on any drawings you have. This will help with designs that balance nicely. With a bridge pretty close to the end of the body, and the top horn extending past the 12th fret, the likelihood of a good balance with an easy reach to the first fret is improved. Good luck and ask lots of questions, this forum is an amazing resource...

 

[Will_White]

Hey CT, thanks for the note on the Carvin neck. How does the neck profile compare to let's say a standard P bass neck? Is it smaller, bigger, or about the same? I prefer something on the smaller side, personally. Maybe not as thin as a jazz necessarily, but a P is sometimes a little chunky for my tastes.

Also, quick update. I don't think the renderings that I presented earlier are giving me enough of a visual to work off of to make a decision. So I'm going to get a small slab of cheap walnut and laser etch a bunch of these patterns at 1/3 or 1/4 scale on little bass bodies (they can function as drink coasters or something once I'm done with them). This is a more cost effective method compared to going straight to full size and it will give me a much better idea of what the final product will look like. Based on these renderings I'm still very much on the fence of doing such a big laser etch, so we'll see what the scaled down pieces look like.

i'm not sure how these stack up against a P or a J bass but the carvin 22 fret neck is .81" thick at the first fret and .93" thick at the twelfth fret for the basic maple rosewood/ maple maple its only 50$ more for a neck through 24 fret blank they are thinner though at .78" and .87" first and twelfth fret respectively.

Also I'm not a big fan of the full laser etched body, at least not a "radiating" design IMO it looks kind of over the top, something like the uke you pictured, small and localized not neccessarily flowers, would be really cool though.

 

[JLW]

Also I'm not a big fan of the full laser etched body, at least not a "radiating" design IMO it looks kind of over the top, something like the uke you pictured, small and localized not neccessarily flowers, would be really cool though.

Yeah I agree. I want to see what it looks like on the actual slab of wood. I think the reason why it looks too over the top in the renderings is because the giant radiating laser etch is conflicting with the intricate wood grain pattern. There needs to be more contrast. Below are the 1/3 scale patterns I sent to the laser cutter to see what the etch looks like on a real piece of walnut.

Another idea is to lay up alternating radiating wood pieces, but I'm a novice woodworker and this might be way beyond my abilities. Anyone know if this is difficult to do? See image below for what I'm talking about, particularly the piece on the left.

Lastly, I could always add a small sound hole or F hole on one side of the body and have some kind of laser etched pattern around that. Kind of like what is commonly done with acoustic guitar rosettes (the border around the sound holes) I just thought of this now and I think it's the way to go. Will report back.

 

[JLW]

Prototypes arrived. These are 1/3 scale. They're each only a couple inches long.

What do you guys think? I'm not totally in love with any of them, but they look a lot cooler than I thought.

Still on the fence on whether I should pull the trigger on this kind of pattern.

 

[ctmullins]

I really like the two on the left!

 

[JLW]

I just did one more pattern. I think this one might be the winner, but the curved lines will probably make it WAY more expensive to etch (curved lines take longer for the machine to process. straight lines are faster and therefore cheaper). I'll get a quote from a laser etcher for each one and that will help me make my decision.

 

[JLW]

My black walnut top came in.

I also did a quick rendered mockup of what the thing might look like with an etched top.

I did a couple quick renders to visualize this whole thing a bit better.

I think the overall shape is looking a bit bulbous, so I'll try to figure something out. I think that adding a soundhole at the bottom left corner of the bass could be cool. Of course the sound hole(s) would have to follow the contour of the etched pattern. Still not sure where to go yet. Open to your suggestions.

 

[JLW]

Okay. I think we're finally getting somewhere here. I adjusted the outline and it's a lot better looking. Way less chunky and bulbous.

 

[Leiria]

My black walnut top came in.

View attachment 947177

I also did a quick rendered mockup of what the thing might look like with an etched top.

I did a couple quick renders to visualize this whole thing a bit better.

I think the overall shape is looking a bit bulbous, so I'll try to figure something out. I think that adding a soundhole at the bottom left corner of the bass could be cool. Of course the sound hole(s) would have to follow the contour of the etched pattern. Still not sure where to go yet. Open to your suggestions. View attachment 947179 View attachment 947180

After seeing these renders Id say the first one. Actually looks even better than what I expected from just the prototypes on their own. The second one kind of reminds me of a watermelon

 

[JLW]

My walnut top is cupping. The cup is about 1/16" high, roughly the height of a nickel coin (as you can see pictured). Anyone have advice for how to deal with this? Or should I just leave it alone?

 

[jmorbita]

subscribing!

 

[ctmullins]

My walnut top is cupping. The cup is about 1/16" high, roughly the height of a nickel coin (as you can see pictured). Anyone have advice for how to deal with this? Or should I just leave it alone? View attachment 948216

What does your chambering pattern look like? Will it be completely hollowed out in the interior, or will you have "islands" here and there? If you want it flat, and if you have islands, the glue should hold it. Or, you could use the cup to your advantage, forming a natural gentle arch to the top.

 

[thebassbuilder]

So a quick intro. I'm an industrial designer by trade. It's my job to make physical products function well and look good...everything from cars to cell phones, faucets to sunglasses. I've been playing bass on and off for about ten years now, and I've decided to try my hand at building one of my very own.

The good news is that I'm proficient with building and working with my hands. I build prototypes all the time. It's a big part of my profession. I also am well-versed in CAD, and I will probably CNC the more complicated parts of the build.

The challenge will be the very steep learning curve of building a bass. I'm sure that there's a lot that goes into it. I don't even know what I don't know yet. But it should be fun.

The first build will be a hollow body four string fretless. Maybe one pickup by the bridge as well as a piezo pickup to imitate that woody acoustic upright sound. I was inspired by the Rob Allen fretless basses as well as the Godin A4 fretless.

I want to do a mahogany body with a walnut top. I probably will buy a stock warmoth neck for this go-around just to keep things a bit simpler. I also think it would be cool to do some kind of laser-etching on the top. Kind of like pictured here:

Please note, that is not my work. Just an example of what I'm talking about when I say laser etching.

Like the beginning of any project, I have begun to experiment with body shapes, and ended up with a couple very slight variations on a more rounded design. View attachment 937430

I like the upper horn on the 3rd shape and the lower horn on the 1st shape. Looks killer and unique.

 

[thebassbuilder]

Sub