I fancy building a budget one stringer

[V4lve]

were to start? Broomstick?

[Ou7shined]

Just use what you've got lying about. Think outside the box too - who says it's got to be made from wood?

[chris_b]

Robbie at RIM made something similar, but if you think right out of the box.... you could just take 3 strings off your current bass!

[Jean-Luc Pickguard]

I built an upright one from a length of 2" x 2" hardwood from the local timber merchant. I used a cheapo piezo element from maplin as the pickup, a keyhole cover as the tailpiece and bits of chopstick for bridge saddle & nut.

[V4lve]

[quote name='Jean-Luc Pickguard' post='837040' date='May 14 2010, 11:52 AM']I built an upright one from a length of 2" x 2" hardwood from the local timber merchant. I used a cheapo piezo element from maplin as the pickup, a keyhole cover as the tailpiece and bits of chopstick for bridge saddle & nut.[/quote]


Ta. Could you give me the link to the right piezo element thingy at Maplin?

[Daquifsta]

All you need are 3 balloons:

[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTPA4woIGkA"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTPA4woIGkA[/url]

[Mr. Foxen]

[quote name='V4lve' post='837055' date='May 14 2010, 12:16 PM']Ta. Could you give me the link to the right piezo element thingy at Maplin? [/quote]

Fairly sure there isn't a right one, just one of the disc ones and stick it under the 'bridge'.

[Duarte]

[url="http://www.otherpower.com/washtub_bass.html"]http://www.otherpower.com/washtub_bass.html[/url]

[Jean-Luc Pickguard]

[quote name='Mr. Foxen' post='837301' date='May 14 2010, 03:32 PM']Fairly sure there isn't a right one, just one of the disc ones and stick it under the 'bridge'.[/quote]
Yep - just use whatever they've got - I think I paid around a quid for mine, but check the wires are soldered properly I had a few where I had to resolder them and as they fell off when I took them out of the bag. It sounds best with a preamp (behringer ADI-21 works well for me) and the shorter the cable the better.

I used one of these little buggers: [url="http://maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=3202"]http://maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=3202[/url]
I think I just went for biggest they had in stock at the time.

[Tait]

pool cue?

[V4lve]

[quote name='Tait' post='837538' date='May 14 2010, 07:33 PM']pool cue?[/quote]

Now that's an idea!

[V4lve]

[quote name='Jean-Luc Pickguard' post='837535' date='May 14 2010, 07:32 PM']Yep - just use whatever they've got - I think I paid around a quid for mine, but check the wires are soldered properly I had a few where I had to resolder them and as they fell off when I took them out of the bag. It sounds best with a preamp (behringer ADI-21 works well for me) and the shorter the cable the better.

I used one of these little buggers: [url="http://maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=3202"]http://maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=3202[/url]
I think I just went for biggest they had in stock at the time.[/quote]

Ta.