So I decided on a whim a few months ago to try building a bass guitar, just to keep myself occupied.

[better]

Turns out I'm WAY better at building them than I am at playing them.
AND, I have a friend that can really play to help me put them through their paces!

Built my first one from a kit.
For this second one, however, I did all myself, with the exception of the premade neck.
I'm not mad at it!

Bubinga veneer on solid black walnut body, dyed maple neck.
Series Humbucker / Single Coil / Parallel Humbucker coil splitting, with phase switches for each pup.
3-band active/passive preamp.

[mylightningtoo]

1. Nice! I'm listening to some Phil Lesh about right now

[handmade34]

2. !!

my brother builds guitars and I appreciate the skill

[ProudMNDemocrat]

3. Brian May built his Red Special 50 years ago....

And going strong with it with its iconic sound tbat is Queen.

[LakeArenal]

4. Awesome and beautiful.

Great job. 🎶🎄🎶❣️

[better]

5. I've got a red special of my own, as it happens!

Also have a few other projects in the works...

[pamela]

6. Nice job.

My husband use to work for Paul Reed Smith. Paul started the same way.

[better]

7. Hopefully someday I'll be at least a fraction as successful...

though I suppose that will require that I eventually stop giving them away as gifts.

(I'm a terrible capitalist!)

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

15. You won't make much money giving them to relatives.

Giving some to up-and-coming bassists, maybe a smart move.

[better]

16. Oh I have been!

The two guitars I've got in process are the only ones destined for family members.

[safeinOhio]

8. Been getting parts for mine.

Got the wash tub and broom handle.

[mopinko]

9. oh my. that is truly lovely.

my ex-bil, a genius who could never quite handle success, worked in a music store instrument repair shop.
he has a natural gift for that shit, and immediately wanted to take it to the next level.
he started building banjos around salvaged 20's tone rings, mostly gibson, iirc.

besides having perfect sound, they were intricate works of art. pearl inlay to make porter and wagner drool.
personalized once the word started getting out. i believe steven stills has one.

he only made a couple dozen, then moved on to making miniatures. one of the other guys in the shop was making musical instruments, and he was doing furniture, but also large instruments.
he was starting to get famous at it when he walked into his workshop one day and packed it all up and put it in the trash.

his name is george becker, btw. i have picked up a small collection of his pieces on ebay.

i will now pass on the most useful bit of advice that i received in my 2 years at "the art school of the ivy league"
i showed a stack of dwgs to my life drg teacher and he said-
these are great. do more.


do more. as much more as you can stand. and afford.

[better]

12. I suspect selling a couple will help with how much I can afford!

In all honesty, though, what I really want to do is offer these as a non-profit, because I care a great deal more about enjoying the work, and bringing high-quality instruments into the reach of musicians of modest means than I do about making money.

I've a very deep and special place in my heart for music and musicians, and for bass and bassists in particular, and one of my favorite songs is Victor Wooten's "Bass Tribute", at the end of which he says, "And to all the other masters of the low end, thanks for doing what you do. We love you, and we haven't forgotten."

And thus, the origin of the name of my planned NPO...

[yonder]

21. "...because I care a great deal more about enjoying the work,..."

I like that philosophy AND your design ideas. Good luck to you.

Question: One of those photos shows a neck and a clear headstock with holes for 7 tuning machines. Will that be intended for a 7-string guitar (my guess) or a bass?

[better]

37. It's going to me a 7 string bass

Getting paired with this body...

[yonder]

41. Wow. Can't say I've ever seen one.

I can't imagine how you can cram 7 ships hoses onto a playable neck. What will the tuning be?

This calls for some detective work.

[better]

42. No idea, yet what the tuning will be.

I suppose first I will need to figure out who's getting it, and see what they want!

[NightWatcher]

10. I've got to put my Ibanez in the shop but I want a Fender Jazz too.

My Ibanez just wouldn't work when I plugged it in last. I cracked it open and couldn't see any loose wires, it's probably the jack or something.

[better]

13. Three guesses what one of my other upcoming projects is...

Your Ibanez, active/passive?

[NightWatcher]

22. Active, I believe. I even changed the 9v batt to see if that was the prob.

Alas it was not.

[Heartstrings]

11. Love the walnut body!

You captured the essence of the grain magnificently! The 2 pearl topped knobs are a nice touch....

Beautiful!

[better]

14. Thanks!

I've really fallen in love with black walnut, but I'm also excited to see what I can do with some Maple. I've got 5 rather large ones on my property that need to come down rather soon, one that already has, and a fairly large below-ground cold room with a freezer door that I'm going to convert into a kiln in the near future. And I suspect that a band sawmill is in my not-too-distant future!

[Heartstrings]

20. Well, keep on making those beautiful guitars!

And putting photos on here for us to enjoy!

[better]

33. Well, here are a few more on which I made some progress yesterday!

The beginnings of my modernized Peavey T-40 build...


A PRS-style guitar for my cousin...


The back turned out pretty nice...


Top, I'm not quite satisfied with. I might sand it back and try again.

[Heartstrings]

35. Love the Liberal blue!

[better]

36. This morning's progress...

[louis-t]

17. I remember a kid in junior high tried to build a bass

in wood shop. He carried the unfinished body around with him for months. Then he got to the neck. Apparently, intonation wasn't important to him, as the slots for the frets were way off. He must have seen the horror on my face when he showed me his work.

[better]

18. Thankfully, I am smart enough to know where I am ignorant.

aaaand that's why I still presently find myself waiting what feels like eons for necks made by someone who possesses the knowledge, experience, and expertise that I do not yet have!

Frankly, I'm impressed that I've done as well as I have with the bodies, considering I'm still working with just a tiny bandsaw, drill press, and an orbital sander!

[louis-t]

19. and a micrometer!

[angrychair]

23. Beautiful

Very well done.

[The Mouth]

24. Nice build

I've got 8 or 9 basses.

It's very pretty, good choice of components.

And never give up on improving your playing, a bit of practice everyday and remarkable things WILL happen

[better]

38. Well for me, it's a product of two things...

One, I try to play ridiculously complicated stuff and get frustrated, and two, I tend to put more practice into building things than playing them.

[JDC]

25. That grain really pops. Very nice work

[BadGimp]

26. Awesome - I'd like to feature it on BassGuitar.com

which I run (right now it leads to a FaceBook page)

[better]

29. Feel free!

And while I'm thinking about it, you might be interested in this other thing I made because I was bored and love bassists...

http://bassbook.org

[OneBlueDotBama]

27. Looks like a Warwick thumb

very sweet...

[panader0]

28. Very impressive! Is it heavy?

My bassist has a mesquite bass, and it will hurt you after a coupla hours.
My lead player built a beautiful lap steel out of some big chunks of maple
I had. Stole pick-ups and knobs from old guitars. The "fret" board, which
of course the strings never touch, has silver and copper inlaid. It sounded
so good he gave me his old Silvertone lap steel.
My old Martin 0017 (1939) is still my fave.
Keep up the good work!

[better]

30. I suppose whether it's heavy is a matter of perspective?

It weighs in at 9 lbs, though, which google tells me is just under half a pound lighter than a Fender Jazz 5.

[panader0]

31. That's tolerable for sure.

Although at age 69, I find myself sitting more and more.

[better]

32. My inspiration for all the switching I have going on in this bass was the trusty old Peavey T-40.

Great tonal flexibility, but it had quite the reputation for being overweight...

[ProfessorGAC]

34. Looks Great!

Custom bass is a smart idea, too. Bassists are more prone to buy a custom ask, because guitar players lean toward variety and modifying what they already have.
I've known 30 or so bass players, and 8 or 9 had custom instruments.
At same time, I've known at least 120 guitar players and 3(!) had custom built stuff.
I know it's still a somewhat small sample size, but I'm talking about serious players who did gig (mostly part time, though) and it's 30% of bass players and 2.5% of guitar players.

[better]

40. Well I've certainly got bass player contacts.

Roughly 1000 of my 1100 or so friends on Facebook!

[better]

39. Another WIP... 5 string jazz bass custom