The Guitar Weasel

So we have black stain and a first coat of Tru-Oil on the neck

More coats and lots of flatting required ... but it's really starting to look the part - old but well looked after - rather than utterly borked. 😁

Couple of coats rubbed on ... perhaps ten or more to go ... at least this heat dries the Tru-Oil quickly. 

1 hour ago, itu said:

Kool. That would most likely be good for metal, too! Will the wood be seen through the colour? 

Yep the grain shows through - not easy to see in the pic. 

As an ex metal guitarist I've absolutely no desire to see how my double bass fits into a metal band ... the feedback issues alone would make my hair fall out 😁

The see thru black finish does a good job of hiding all the repairs this old girl has had in her life ... plus makes disguising the new neck a lot easier. 

So I pick another stifling hot day to sand and stain the bass ... hey ho 

So before I attacked it with the 240 grit .... 



A couple of coats and the look is pretty much what I wanted ... old looking. 
Not stained the neck yet ... that will be a next week job. 

Put an experimental rub-on first coat of Birchwood and Casey gun stock oil after I took this pic - and it's starting to look really good. 
I want the end result to be satin - and still retain the look of an old and battle-scarred bass ... just with a brooding aged black patina and no obvious chunks missing   

47 minutes ago, NickA said:

Anyone teach slapping?  Right hand technique ( decent pizz, let alone slap) is a mystery to most classically oriented bass teachers.

 

Being a classical and mainstream jazzer ..It's not something I'd ever wanted to do ( tho I admire the skill of some people who do it) but was in a big band playing Mingus' music this year and the parts were sometimes marked "slapped".  Well I tried but with highish tension strings it didn't work well.  Back in the day there were no amps, strings were gut and most of the players had to slap to be heard ... by the late 50s it was applied ironically or nostalgically, but those guys could do it.  Dying art?

Firstly absolutely not a dying art by any means ... there are many many gigging psychobilly and rockabilly slap players - I went to an all day psychobilly festival a while ago where out of seven bands playing there were six slap players (and one lady with a Rickenbacker).

You have hit the nail on the head with the fact that there are VERY few teachers who have any clue about slap - and worse - a couple I have met regard it as 'not proper double bass playing' and somewhat look down their noses at it. 

Not everyone wants to play jazz or classical and and rockabilly appeared to be the OP's thing. To my mind for a rockabilly player there is infinitely more use in some of the YouTube slap lessons than in six months of learning stuff you have no desire to play from someone who doesn't get the genre you want to learn. Also learning about pickups and amplification (without feedback) is super important if you want to gig - and very few teachers have much of a clue about that.  

And as you said, high tension strings (and low jazz actions) are a sure way to screw up or at least not sound great slap playing.  I love jazz by the way ... just not me playing it 😉

1 hour ago, Burns-bass said:

Completely agree.

 

I assume you were offended by what I had written. If that’s the case hope you can accept an apology. It was all meant in a friendly way. 

 

This is the good part of the forum after all…

Thank you @Burns-Bass.

This thread will be carried on on Fretboard forum here 

Catch you guys around 😁

Do you know I really don't think I'm suited to Basschat - you have convinced me. Shame as folks seemed to be enjoying the bass rebuild thread. Those who want to continue to read about that quest can find it ob Fretboard forum. Take care chaps.  

5 minutes ago, Burns-bass said:

This is a completely different use of the third finger. Plus this guy is acknowledged as one of the world’s greatest classical players and learned the traditional way before developing his own unique approach.

 

People here are trying to help. If you want to play double bass consistently well for a long time it’s a good idea to learn the right technique.

 

If you’re using low tension strings that twang like a washing line, you’re fine to use whatever technique you wish.

It’s all music at the end of the day. But playing bass the wrong way can really hurt.

 

 

 

 'Low tension strings that twang like washing line' your prejudices are showing old chap 😉

And she's fully stripped! That was a truly epic job - which I don't want to repeat again in a hurry! 

The heat didn't help in keeping me sweet tempered while the brown gloop came off but I got there - sweaty and triumphant. 

I picked up a sander from my local B&Q at lunchtime - but the 31+ degrees in the unit's yard made me decide to take the rest of the day off!  

So next jobs: 

I made up some hide glue pellets and water - ready to use later in the week - sawdust and hide glue is a brilliant filler that easily takes wood dye ... so the odd bit of damage etc will get plugged. 

The whole bass will get a sanding - 

Then the dye can be applied ... my favorite bit. 

4 hours ago, NickA said:

I play electric bass one finger one fret as I can reach..though 1 2 4 would be more comfortable in lower positions. 

 

I play the double bass 124 with some back and forth extensions.

 

Really, they are quite different instruments with different techniques.  The only thing in common is the tuning of the strings.

 

Technique does matter if you want to expand what you play.  Lack of technique or a personally derived technique will likely limit you.  It sounds tedious and snobby, I know, and there's a lass in my town who plays in "Americana" bands by just clamping her whole hand around the neck at a root note..then up a string for a 4th, down a string for a 5th.works ok .but she's kind of stuck playing only that style.

 

Nb: that very nice " realist sound clip " pickup whilst excellent for jazz and for classical players wanting occasional amplification....probably not what you want for rockabilly.  Stick it up for sale and put proceeds towards that shadow system probably.

I don't really play electric bass - that's the thing that has 'idiot wires' on it isn't it? Oh sorry 'frets' 😉 

Oh heres a chap using that evil third finger ... 

There's several bits of wisdom I'd give as someone who'd never touched a double bass till late last summer - and seldom ever a bass guitar before - that and now has the bass spot with a 30 year established rockabilly band. 

Do your own thing ... there really is no right or wrong if it sounds good. 

I listened to a certain YouTuber DB player who while great, is a bit of a stickler for technique, and pretty soon decided 'stuff leaving out one of my fingers for a lark'. I'd been using all four fingers since I started in the sixties (just) on guitar so screw changing now just because I was playing a musical wardrobe. 

In chess passed pawns must be pushed ... in double bass playing it's fairly easy to start to sound good but you must keep pushing yourself ... a properly double slapped walking R&R bassline blows punters minds ... but it's not hard once you get the technique down. It's easy to 'phone it in' lines ... I've been guilty of it. I learned the rhumba beat of Twenty flight  Rock ... but now I might start the rhumba phrase with a drag triplet (or end it with) it pushes you and makes you a more interesting bass player.  

Listen to Bill Black till your ears bleed - his timing was always awesome. Listen to new psychobilly players like Djordje Stijepovic of Tiger Army (and brilliant solo stuff) Listen to every doghouse player ... but be yourself!  

Oooooo that's pretty - it's exactly the same pattern as mine shape wise - quite broad in the bum with fairly sharp C bouts ... lovely shape. 

My somewhat crowded music corner ... behind the Les Paul is my Promethean bass amp - and under my guitar amp (the tweed Peavey) is my 2x12 extension bass cab  

1 minute ago, Pea Turgh said:

I love this build!

If it inspires someone then all the 'getting stoned out of my gourd' on acetone fumes will have been worth it 😁

11 minutes ago, ezbass said:

Looking good. Are you going to stain it or leave the colour as it is (you may have covered this earlier and I’ve forgotten/missed it)?

I already have a blonde bass .... so my idea was to copy the aged black burst on this Gewa - so I need to get all the sanding sealer off so that the spirit wood dye can do its thang 

So I simply HAD to pick a 31 degree Centigrade day to strip the front and back of the bass ... doh! I used the shadiest corner of my workshop yard ... but it was still stifling and VERY acetony! 

It was so hot the acetone was evaporating and solidifying with the lacquer almost as soon as it was tipped on ... but I persevered. Compared to the woodworking part this is a hard, unpleasant and gruelling grind.    

Front and back done ... only the sides to do. And stripping the back revealed some past repaired damage down at the end pin block ... it's well enough done to be left alone. 

I gave the front and back a light hand sand - but I think I will have to get an electric sander onto them to take away the last of the sanding sealer and remove the blotchy look prior to staining.

The issue is that I don't have a sander in the workshop (hand is usually good enough for what I do day to day) ... so more tool buying required. 

How much easier it is to work on a bolt on neck bass ... the way forward I think. 

18 hours ago, JazzyJ said:

Thank you. Would you have any suggestions for that style. I get that string choice is personal but any guidance would be gratefully received.

 

Ian

It really is in how tough your hands are and how tough you want to make it on yourself. 

Ideally everybody would be like Lee Rocker - and have a ridiculously high pain threshold and a devil may care attitude to the quantity of minced finger and claret spread all over their  bass. Because if you were like him - then you'd use steel strings and amplification without feedback would be so much easier  - as magnetic pickups (the less feedbacky option) only work on steel and steel core strings. 

For us mere mortals the options are down to some combination of nylon or nylon and a wrap. I have tried Weedwhackers ... which to my ears sound okay on G and D strings - but have too subdued a note on the A and E - They do a Weedwhacker Pro set which have an extra thick Kevlar core - but I haven't tried those. I took a friend's advice and bought a set of Rotosound 4000 strings and aside from bumping the set (A becomes the E string all the syrings move down one and a C for a 5 string is added as the G). To me this combo is ideal. Quiet for at home practise unamplified, and loud and rounded with a beautiful woody slap when amplified (I use a Shadow Rockabilly Pro preamp and pickups bridge mounted. It's an utter game changer. 

I have a set of Superior Bassworks 'Dirty Gut' synthetic gut strings I'm going to try on the bass I'm rebuilding ... I will let you know when I try them - but I suspect I will simply end up taking them off and put a set of bumped Rotosound 4000s on that bass too! 

15 minutes ago, alyctes said:

 

If I read this correctly, the bass was never really a usable instrument before, with the neck being so massively out of alignment. 

Therefore, you have increased the number of playable double basses in the world by exactly one.  Kudos to you

Thank you.

Well by the time it got to me for 49 quid some joker had knocked the scroll/pegbox off so I couldn't say how awful it was prior to me replacing the neck ... but I think it would have been pretty dreadful. If you factor in the lack of 'coupling' of a neck joint not fully pushed home when glued (are you listening to me Gibson) then I think it probably sounded as bad as it played! 

Really the whole idea here was to take an entirely written off bass ... and make it giggable. 

When I strung it up the other week ... I could have put my Rockabilly Pro preamp and pickups on and gigged it ... it would have looked horrible ... and the neck was like a cricket bat (wide end) but I could have done it. 

So yes ... the net double bassage of the world has gone up by one 😁 

I'm ridiculously sentimental about musical instruments - especially as I spend much of my working life making old pickups live again - and I wasn't about to see this old girl turned into a 'sign' as the owner suggested or a wall cupboard.

It needed to make music again - and it will. 

2 minutes ago, TorturedSaints said:

My Evah Pirazzi orchestral mediums have settled down nicely. Bass tutor prefers the tone, more fundamental and easier starting of the note with the bow. (It also helped opening a new pot of Pops🤣). Working on pieces for Grade V exam - nearly there.

 

Repeating to myself - I do not need a new bass nor a new bow. . .

Oh yes ... I was forgetting you could use one of those stringy, saw-like things on em ... wassernhame ... bows 😉

If you intend to slap it and play amplified rockabilly style (I do, and also have a Stentor) the strings are almost as important as the bass. 

4 minutes ago, Stub Mandrel said:

What do you feel about the smell of acetone?

It makes me want to avoid walking past any of the (numerous)'nail bars' on my was home from the workshop for fear I freak out! Because I have five litres of the fecking stuff to get through AND I HATE IT!!!!!! 

So while I assemble the bits and bobs for the re finish - 

another task: 

The somewhat manky rosewood saddle needs to be changed seeing as we are going all ebony. 

I wasn't subtle getting it out ... in with the 3/4 inch chisel and resistance was futile. As you can see some stripping has been started. God I hate the smell of acetone in the morning! 

A saddle cut from some nice ebony ...

I curve-chamfered the ends in a decorative manner  and glued it in ... 

I'm stripping the bass by installments - the f holes are tricky so they get done separately from the rest of the top ... did I mention ...I HATE THE SMELL OF ACETONE. 

Next update will probably see the bass stripped

A few observations - some truisms - some tongue in cheek:

Not all double bass strings are (or at least appear to be) higher tension than electric bass strings. Weedwackers are about the equivalent of trying to make music with four strands of well cooked spaghetti. While my own preferred Rotosound 4000 'bumped' set has the forgiving (and strangely exciting) resistance of old and well used knicker elastic. 

I think my Stentor double bass doesn't realise it's a double bass - because all four strings have been off (at the same time) - in fact the bridge fell over twice - once at rehearsal during a particularly spirited rendering of Baby Let's Play House  (on the descending run bit)- and it has done all this without its sound post moving one fraction of a millimetre! It's against the laws of nature I tell ee! 

I use a string winder on a cordless - but as Roto 4000 strings are for some reason 4/4 only - and about six miles too long - so my peg box looks like four 'beach fisherman's bird's nests' after 'cracking off' a succession of six ounce grip weights! 

This all goes to prove ... there is a council of perfection ... and the way us mere rockabilly/Psychobilly mortals do things 😉

Lovely looking old bit of kit. Well done sir! 

I really like old banjos ... bugger all good on em mind ... can't get my head around 'rolls'. 

So experiments in how easy this finish is to remove. 

I had 500ml of 99% acetone as a tester amount ... and just over 250ml stripped this C bout. 

It was fairly unpleasant ... I used Mirlon grey 'Scotchbrite' style pads to agitate the finish as I soaked it in thinners ... and it came off in lumps like toxic toffee. Be aware if you do this acetone is HUGELY inflammable so don't smoke ... work with gloves, a mask, ideally overalls, and most important OUTSIDE.  I did this test on a hugely hot day - so the bloody lacquer was solidifying as the acetone evaporated in seconds!  I stuck to the bass like a huge fly trap several times! 

Stage one got me down to what I would imagine is a tinted sanding sealer. Like 'Fullerplast' on Fenders 

Stage two ... another light wash with acetone and a light sanding once dry and the wood has arrived! 

Stage 3 .... 5ltrs of acetone on order!