Bass build.

TTony

For some reason that I don't really remember, I decided that I needed a bass in my life.

Rather than doing the easy thing (buying one) or the hard thing (making one from scratch), I thought I'd do the sensible thing and have a chat with our forum friend @GSPBasses.

And so this turned up earlier this week ...




So I've just got to glue it together and put some sort of finish on it.

The neck has got a nice bit of flame in it, which will hopefully be enhanced by a bit of oil.


The big question is whether you still put 10s on a bass, or whether I should go up a gauge or two.

normula1

TTony said:

The big question is whether you still put 10s on a bass, or whether I should go up a gauge or two.

I've got a cheap Tanglewood bass that I've never changed the strings on as a) I don't play it too often and b) I've no idea what type to go for and it's an expensive mistake if I get it wrong.

Bridgehouse

45-105 Chromes.

Dont listen to all this rubbish about Rotosound, TI, Labella etc etc. Just stick Chromes on it and be done with it - you'll end up there anyway

Bridgehouse

Just noticed the offset dots... nice!

TTony

Bridgehouse said:

45-105 Chromes.

£50 for a single set?? 

I saw the price and assumed that it was for a 3-pack!

Bridgehouse

TTony said:

Bridgehouse said:

45-105 Chromes.

£50 for a single set?? 

I saw the price and assumed that it was for a 3-pack!

Welcome to playing bass.

However - you'll only need to change them in about 10 years time. (Honestly!)

normula1

phew, I've got six months left then

Bridgehouse

normula1 said:

phew, I've got six months left then

Nah, they'll just dull to that desirable Motown tone, and you'll be ok for another 10 years

Sporky

TTony said:

Bridgehouse said:

45-105 Chromes.

£50 for a single set?? 

I saw the price and assumed that it was for a 3-pack!

Pah.

That much per string for cello.

rpr

I found 105s - 45s ideal, any lower the sound didn't have any weight, any higher and they seemed kinda slow fo respond. Prefer really old roundwounds to flatwounds myself. I bought my current bass used, in 1999 and the strings weren't exactly fresh then, No idea what make they, but sound perfect. I've taken to sticking a piece of foam at the bridge and using a thumbpick

TTony

Right then, time for some progress pics.

This is some offcut that Mr GSP helpfully included, so that I could experiment on scrap rather than the actual body.

A couple  of pieces of scrap. Crimson-stained black, single coat



Now with one of the pieces rubbed back wtih 180grit paper



That same rubbed-back piece, wtih a little bit of colour added over the top



And the above piece, compared to another piece that didn't have the black undercoat first




I think I might try  rubbing down a little less before adding the colour over the top.

TTony

Tried rubbing back the black about half-way  ...

But when I stained it, it just looked mucky red (see left, below).

So then I added a second coat of colour to the first attempt (on the  right) ...


So, I think I'm going to go with the red-over-black staining.      It  enhances the grain pattern just a bit more and should work well with the black p'ups and chrome hardware.

And, once again, Crimson stain is shown to be incredibly easy to use.

Bridgehouse

I'm liking the Crimson stain... if someone would make me a semi-acoustic bass body, I could see myself applying some of that to it..

TTony

I did consider making a body for this build, but all the wood that I have is cut down to guitar sized blanks, rather than bass sized. 

You might get lucky with GSP  ... I've got a thinline Tele that he made and that's - naturally - wonderful.

Winny_Pooh

Nice, if anything I'd highly recommend the lightweight Gotoh tuners (gb640?)

Andyjr1515

Another bass builder

Great stuff

TTony

Mines more of a bass putter-togetherer.

Andyjr1515

TTony said:

Mines more of a bass putter-togetherer.

Nothing wrong with that, @Ttony

TTony

Bit of body staining work this morning.

Crimson black stain on (10 mins), then gradually rub off (an hour) to get to this ..


I was aiming for something midway between the two test pieces - darker than the  light one but lighter than the dark one!

Then a bit of Crimson red over the top (another 10mins) to get this ...


Now left to dry  - which won't take long - then I'l gently rub down and put another coat of red on and get it more consistently coloured.

The back is currently untreated.  I'm going to see how the front works out before deciding what to do on the back.

Once I'm done with colouring, I'm going to Wez tru-oil-wet-sand over the top.


First coat of tru-oil on the neck

Bridgehouse

Looking good @TTony ;

TTony

Second coated.