Six string to four ~ bass conversion?

flyingv

So I’ve been looking for a fun project? and fancy converting  a standard six string guitar into  to a ‘shorty’ four string bass?
 

Donor guitar would probably be an Epiphone 67 Flying V  ( what else )

And In keeping with the 24.75 scale, this would definitely be a ‘super’ short scale bass?

New Tusq nut  ~  Schaller 3D bridge ~  Lightweight tuners ~ Not sure what pickups as yet ?? Either a pair of Thunderbird type, or a couple of hot rail humbuckery things

Dowel the original bridge / tuner holes and a nice refin? Thinking Olive Green with a Black scratchplate.

My only concern, is that due to scale length etc, and lightweight body’  tonally would it sound   and could it work?

Winny_Pooh

Even 30" is a stretch and a bit too short. If you want a project buy a squier mustang bass neck and a blank tele body with no bridge holes drilled and have at it.

stickyfiddle

There's a reason baritones are usually 27-29" and basses are usually 30-35"...

Sporky

Aren't there funny string for this? You can swap strings on a viola to drop it to cello range and stay playable. 

flyingv

Winny_Pooh said:

Even 30" is a stretch and a bit too short. If you want a project buy a squier mustang bass neck and a blank tele body with no bridge holes drilled and have at it.

stickyfiddle said:

There's a reason baritones are usually 27-29" and basses are usually 30-35"...

Sporky said:

Aren't there funny string for this? You can swap strings on a viola to drop it to cello range and stay playable. 

Hmm? So not really doable then? As I say’ wasn’t to sure with regards to scale and string tensions wether it would work or not??

Sporky

I thought my post suggested that it might be doable. 

flyingv

Sporky said:

I thought my post suggested that it might be doable. 

Sorry @Sporky -  I was jumping the gun there - I’ll have a search for said strings? Thanks  

Sporky

For viola they're called octave strings.

Might be worth seeing what the Pignose bass used. 

Funkfingers

Why not sell the Epi V *as is* and squander the proceeds on a short scale bass guitar and any necessary upgrade parts?

flyingv

Funkfingers said:

Why not sell the Epi V *as is* and squander the proceeds on a short scale bass guitar and any necessary upgrade parts?

@Funkfingers I haven’t even got the Epi yet, that’s just what I had in mind for a donor ~ As you know I’m rather partial to that particular guitar shape But not that keen on the size/ look of an actual Flying V bass, so to scale it all down to ‘ guitar’ size was / is more appealing? 

flyingv

Winny_Pooh said:

Even 30" is a stretch and a bit too short. If you want a project buy a squier mustang bass neck and a blank tele body with no bridge holes drilled and have at it.

I already have something similar’ https://i.imgur.com/JJi6LmI.jpg

flyingv

Sporky said:

For viola they're called octave strings.

Might be worth seeing what the Pignose bass used. 

 

DartmoorHedgehog

The rubber strings on a U-Bass are pretty impressive, getting proper bass guitar pitch from a really short scale. Wouldn't work with magnetic pickups though of course, and they feel pretty weird.

ICBM

It will work if you use the bottom four strings from a 5-string set - it’s the same as if you capo’d a 5-string bass at the 5th fret.

I did exactly this with a cheap 70s 24”-scale bass when I’d broken my arm and couldn’t play a normal bass for a couple of months. I did a few band practices with it - it was fine, it sounded good enough and the intonation was acceptable, if not quite perfect. Not sure I would have gigged it, but my arm was OK enough to swap to a Mustang Bass by the time it mattered.

What you want to do will be a huge amount of work to both the headstock and bridge end though. Strangely, guitar pickups will work without any issues - Rickenbacker ‘toaster’ and Fender Musicmaster/Bronco Bass pickups have six polepieces, identical to the guitar ones .

Funkfingers

ICBM said:

a cheap 70s 24”-scale bass

The original bassist from my first band had a Kay/Satellite bass. We laughed because its scale length was shorter than our guitars. It may even appear in an embarrassing "Ummagumma" style photograph of the band's gear, circa 1980.

ICBM

Funkfingers said:

The original bassist from my first band had a Kay/Satellite bass. We laughed because its scale length was shorter than our guitars. It may even appear in an embarrassing "Ummagumma" style photograph of the band's gear, circa 1980.

Mine was a Satellite.

I forgot to mention - although it's probably obvious if you think about it - that I had to cut the strings down, by first shortening them to the right length and then removing the outer windings back to just beyond the nut, as strings properly made for that scale length would be. Otherwise, the very thick outer wraps would not have a hope of fitting into the tuner posts! They didn't actually show any tendency to unwind themselves once nipped back around the core with pliers - perhaps surprisingly. I did start with a scrap set I'd taken off my actual 5-string...

prowla

Base it on one of these?

 

flyingv

prowla said:

Base it on one of these?

 

  wow! 

ICBM

prowla said:

Base it on one of these?

 

A friend of mine had one of those in the 90s. They were really far ahead of their time - I’ve just bought an acoustic ‘travel bass’ which is essentially the same thing - fretless, plastic strings - but with a mini acoustic guitar/large ukelele type body, 21” scale.

(Edit - it's even shorter than I thought, only 21".)

prowla

ICBM said:

prowla said:

Base it on one of these?

A friend of mine had one of those in the 90s. They were really far ahead of their time - I’m just about to buy an acoustic ‘travel bass’ which is essentially the same thing - fretless, plastic strings - but with a mini acoustic guitar/large ukelele type body, 22-3/4” scale.

It is a rather decent instrument.

prowla

On a slightly more serious note, I have a Vox CLubman 202 project; I bought it for a few quid at a car boot and had some "creative" overpainting done, which I've stripped off (back to bare wood) pending re-painting.

It's guitar-sized; I haven't got measurements, but this is a guitar project on the same sofa.

The bass bridge can be sited further back along the body, which is dead space on a guitar.