thinking about building a bass

[Jay J.]

I am considering building a bass. I have a lot of expiearence with basic woodworking (cabinet making ect..) and I am going to school for mechanical engineering so I know how to build stuff. but I'm wounding if there is a good book out there about constructing an electric bass or something that could get me pointed in the right direction. I'm still in the research phase to see if this is something that I want to try. mainly looking for a information resource.

[cornbread_medhotmail.com]

Check www.stewmac.com for some info and books. I did a Google search for bass building and got some good results that may give you some info. I know that instrument building requires some unique tools, but, if you are deft in woodworking, you may be able to improvise. Just make sure and use some good, dry wood.

[Marcus Johnson]

Go to mimf.com; tons of info there, including plans for bolt-on and neck-through basses. If you register, you have access to an extensive archival library covering every aspect of construction. The standard reference book for electric instruments is probably Melvin Hiscock's excellent book on solid body guitar construction.

[The Fonz]

melvyn hiscock's "build your own electric guitar." you can get it through stewart macdonald and it's pretty informative. it assumes you know how to work in a shop so he gets into the nuts and bolts of building rather than tons of explanation as to what tools are and what they do. he also lays out methods of work, which as someone witha woodworking background you may know can be most of the time spent on a new project. i started building without the book on hand and i had to go right back to square one because i got the m.o.w. all ass-backwards.

 

one thing he recommends that i would agree with is to get into a real working woodshop for the groundwork stuff. this is pretty important. if you have acess to a well equiped shop you can cut your lumber cost by 2/3 at least by buying rough lumber. then you can do your shaping on bandsaws which is obviously a lot easier than a jigsaw. you won't be in the shop terribly long, a few hours at the most, but it wil save you DAYS of labor.

 

good luck and let us know how it turns out.

[patrick_dont_fret]

Dood, while you're at it, build me one, too. I'll pay you $50 up front, and if I like it, I'll give you the other half upon reciept. Thanks, man, I knew you'd be a sport.