TEACH ME HOW TO MAKE A BASS!!!!1

[jayblaze]

im relly interested in making my own bass. i cant seem to find anyone or anywhere that could help in this area. im looking for someone to show me everything i need to know right from the start. im in sudbury in suffolk. can anyone help?

[AndyTravis]

There used to be a few books on how to make guitars/basses...

I really fancy a go at it. Might be the only way i'll be able to get a new bass in the next few months!

Now, where's that antique Mahogany bookcase and Oak sideboard?

[jayblaze]

id love to make my own. i know you can get nice wood from the shuker site. i need to hang out with someone thats willing to teach me the way of the bass building master!

[Mr Fudge]

"fetch me a bible" (sic)


..... (shouts from garden)

[Colledge]

i made a bass for my a-level, but did it pretty much all off the bat, came out pretty well, except for the neck being much more 50's p than i'm used to.

i didnt become a member on the forums until i was pretty much finished ..... I wish i had before i started because its a massive source of knowledge.

the best place i can think of to be honest to start is to start reading through lots of build threads.... there are hundreds over at talkbass that serve pretty much as a step by step tutorial.

and of course completely plan and design ever aspect of the bass before you start. i made the mistake of starting before i had all of my hardware in hand, which meant i had a lot of holdups while i waited for things like nuts, bridges and pickups to arrive so that i could build the bass according to them.

[Mr Fudge]

[quote name='Colledge' post='981020' date='Oct 7 2010, 10:22 PM']i made a bass for my a-level,[/quote]


Bloody hell ... I had to do English, Geography and Economics ....

[jayblaze]

So please tell me that it is rewarding and fun to make your own plank right? You never need to pay silly money for a nice bass again. What basic tools do I need?

[EdwardHimself]

[quote name='Mr Fudge' post='981027' date='Oct 7 2010, 10:29 PM']Bloody hell ... I had to do English, Geography and Economics .... [/quote]

I would have made a bass too, only I couldn't do the second year since i got a U

[xilddx]

According to the Basschatters that have gone on one of these, it is great value for money and you learn all the core skills you need on the right equipment, from Jon himself. [url="http://www.shukerguitars.co.uk/course.htm"]http://www.shukerguitars.co.uk/course.htm[/url]

Edited October 8, 2010 by silddx

[paul h]

It's easy. Took me about ten minutes.



[url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=98784"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=98784[/url]

[Dom in Dorset]

Get a copy of this book: [url="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Make-Your-Own-Electric-Guitar/dp/0953104907/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1286654194&sr=8-3"]http://www.amazon.co.uk/Make-Your-Own-Elec...4194&sr=8-3[/url]

[bartelby]

[quote name='Colledge' post='981020' date='Oct 7 2010, 10:22 PM']i made a bass for my a-level,[/quote]


I wanted to make a bass but my teachers wouldn't allow me to do it, They said it was way too common and more gcse level!
It really f'ed me off as 1/2 the class were making chairs or tables!

I then switched to designing a bass amp with some built in effects, but I ended up basically dropping the class as I had absolutely no support from the teachers.

I think both ideas were way beyond their knowledge. It still winds me 20 years later...

Edited October 10, 2010 by bartelby

[Kiwi]

[quote name='jayblaze' post='981031' date='Oct 7 2010, 10:29 PM']What basic tools do I need?[/quote]
Thats where it gets a little expensive...although you can get parts in varying degrees of pre-fabrication from places like [url="http://www.stewmac.com/"]Stewmac[/url].

[daz]

[url="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Guitar-Player-Repair-Dan-Erlewine/dp/0879309210/ref=pd_sim_b_1"]this is a great book [/url]to have if you are guitar making/repairing. It gives methods on allsorts of things and what tools to do it. (i have no comercial interest in this book, just a friendly recomendation)

I would also go to the stewmac page (as linked on a post above) and sign up fot the newsletter and free catalogue. This has many tools/parts in it and at the very least gives you an idea of what tools and methods are used in mant repairs and builds. Some of the tools are expensive, but it at least gives you ideas on how to go about it, possibly cheaper.

Edited October 10, 2010 by daz

[Dom in Dorset]

this place is great for cheap generic parts : [url="http://stores.ebay.co.uk/CH-GUITARS"]http://stores.ebay.co.uk/CH-GUITARS[/url]

[henry norton]

[quote name='Dom in Somerset' post='982898' date='Oct 9 2010, 09:57 PM']Get a copy of this book: [url="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Make-Your-Own-Electric-Guitar/dp/0953104907/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1286654194&sr=8-3"]http://www.amazon.co.uk/Make-Your-Own-Elec...4194&sr=8-3[/url][/quote]

+1000000 on that one - 'Build your own electric guitar' is the absolute bible when it comes to building a solid bodied guitar or bass. It'll be the best money you'll ever spend if you're thinking of building your own.

Materials wise, it can be a bit expensive buying wood from luthiers so it's often better to go where they but their wood;

[url="http://www.luthierssupplies.co.uk/"]David Dyke[/url]
[url="http://www.touchstonetonewoods.co.uk/"]Touchstone[/url]

They're also very friendly and full of useful advice. If you've got at least a bit of an aptitude with woodwork and you take it slowly there's no reason you can't build a decent bass. You don't need too many tools either. Oh, and ask lots of questions on the forum here.

[pablyth]

Try reading the tutorials here, some very useful information for anyone wanting to build guitars/basses.

[url="http://www.projectguitar.com/"]http://www.projectguitar.com/[/url]

[Mikey R]

[quote name='jayblaze' post='981031' date='Oct 7 2010, 10:29 PM']So please tell me that it is rewarding and fun to make your own plank right? You never need to pay silly money for a nice bass again. What basic tools do I need?[/quote]

You will need to spend a little money on tools. You'll also need somewhere to work.

Bear in mind your first instrument will probably not be as good as you want it to be - design it to be simple, then build another more complicated. And accept that it certainly wont stop there, this stuff is addictive. So, no, in the long run it certainly doesnt save money!

Lastly, dont build a bass to save money, build a bass because its something you want to do.

[Dom in Dorset]

"Lastly, dont build a bass to save money, build a bass because its something you want to do."
So true, I could have bought a fairly serious bass for the money I've spent on my last build (not including time it's taken) . Nobody else has anything quite like it.

Edited October 19, 2010 by Dom in Somerset

[EdwardHimself]

[quote name='Dom in Somerset' post='994226' date='Oct 19 2010, 11:01 PM']"Lastly, dont build a bass to save money, build a bass because its something you want to do."
So true, I could have bought a fairly serious bass for the money I've spent on my last build (not including time it's taken) . Nobody else has anything quite like it.[/quote]

Same here, only not for the right reasons should have just bought a musicman really...