Re: Building your own bass


PatK wrote:
Just wondering how many people here have done that. I've been looking
at websites with different bodies and necks..etc. and they look really
nice. I though it might be fun to have something really unique.

I Haven't done a whole bass yet, but I'd like too. My problem is one
of ideas. The story goes like this: one day I hear this chainsaw
buzzing away outside and I wander out to find a city truck and guys
sawing down this old black walnut tree. Hey, sez I, what are you guys
gonna do with that wood? "Haul it to the city dump" is the reply! So I
say, how about you just cut that trunk up into 3 or 4 ft sections and
leave it here? OK, they say. Then for half the wood, I talked my
brother-in-law into coming over and cutting the logs into slabs about
3" thick with his chainsaw. . Bottom line: I've got about 4-5 walnut
slabs in my basement and have had for many years. Totally aged and
very nice now!

I've done a number of building projects like drumsets and the like and
I used cheap basses and guitars for build-it projects, but never a
whole bass. For example I took the bandsaw and fixed the "canoe
paddle" headstock on my SX. Took some skill to get that thick poly
coating looking right! :-) What I'm looking for is some HUGE
inspiration of something so new and oddball that it needs to be built
from scratch. I've seen 10 string basses and they don't do it for me,
I've seen lots of nifty ideas like that "assault rifle bass" that was
posted here a while back. I've been eyeing parts like the Carvin necks
and other stuff, but really I've just haven't been inspired yet. Even
a standard 5 or 6 string might be OK if I came up with a truly unique
body shape that would be like my "signature".

So far I just haven't found it, so the wood sits in the basement.

Benj

.

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