this is my first instructable.
this is an unconventional way of building an electric or bass guitar. i have built a total of 14 including this one.
one of the electric guitar that i have built has lived for 4 years now, but still plays that good.
my building construction has a downside, and i'll talk about that during the build process.
the advantage of this instructable is that it is cheap.
since i have have 7 guitars i decided to build a bass.
i dont know why, but this bass design from rickenbacker is so captivating to the eye.
this is an unconventional way of building an electric or bass guitar. i have built a total of 14 including this one.
one of the electric guitar that i have built has lived for 4 years now, but still plays that good.
my building construction has a downside, and i'll talk about that during the build process.
the advantage of this instructable is that it is cheap.
since i have have 7 guitars i decided to build a bass.
i dont know why, but this bass design from rickenbacker is so captivating to the eye.
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Signing UpStep 1: Prepare materials
-guitar hardware
machine head, pick ups, female jack, potentiometer, string
-wood
any hard type of wood, since the goal is to minimize the cost, salvaging wood is the best solution..
the only wood i bought is for the neck which cost about $8..
-tools
main tools -->hand saw, chisel, hammer, ruler(a T-square is much better), isometric triangle 30x60(it'll come in handy), sandpaper.
electronics-->soldering iron, soldering lead.
other tools -->scissors, screwdriver.
-marine epoxy
i dont know in some countries if this is available, but i think any industrial glue can be used.
-paint
to keep the budget low i used enamel paint
-other materials
big sized paper, pencil, shoe laces/clamps(is much better), G.I. wire,
and pure muscle =) (for those with less muscles)..
machine head, pick ups, female jack, potentiometer, string
-wood
any hard type of wood, since the goal is to minimize the cost, salvaging wood is the best solution..
the only wood i bought is for the neck which cost about $8..
-tools
main tools -->hand saw, chisel, hammer, ruler(a T-square is much better), isometric triangle 30x60(it'll come in handy), sandpaper.
electronics-->soldering iron, soldering lead.
other tools -->scissors, screwdriver.
-marine epoxy
i dont know in some countries if this is available, but i think any industrial glue can be used.
-paint
to keep the budget low i used enamel paint
-other materials
big sized paper, pencil, shoe laces/clamps(is much better), G.I. wire,
and pure muscle =) (for those with less muscles)..
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Yeah, I've seen those Vigiers some time ago but hadn't a chance to hold and to play play. They look great (sound too, but it's all about amplifying), but I don't get what is used on the fretboard? Looks like it's some kind of copper alloy - brass or something? I just don't wanna know how it could be worked out without CNC at home. :-D Also I wonder how the fb is attached to the neck?
It seems like there is an ebony that's almost as hard as steel, I have some oldies more then 40 years old now and fterboards are still in great condition and their fbs are not made from the hardest kind of black wood, one fb was made from European ebony substitute! By the way, that's an endless theme - substitutes, pretty interersting and allows to build an instrument that's pretty cheap and sounds like angel song (of course, the wood should be selected). Ebony FB works for ages when is made from properly selected wood (when dried in wrong way cracks it early), so Vigier perhaps made just some kind of marketing trick, then engineering breakthrough, so be on alert.
Good luck with your fretless and more to come!
"Your love for me has just... it's got to be real" Nice choice. It sounds suitable for this song, I guess! And yes, that's what I was talking about - the concept of this bass is very character by it's own and will affect sound too much, still it can be used for something piercing. For me BG should be able to provide nuances. Incidentally, I have some very special bass guitars, for example, one has short scale and cavity in the neck hill, thats why that bass sounds like contrabass and, what I like most, it has a block of frequency filters, damn... :D Still can sound in different ways (with me dripping with sweat).
It looks for me that the goal is to make ideal join with PVA alike glue (Titebond and stuff like Moment "Joiner", seems like scrapings glues are the best, cause they provide seam retraction after drying up, but PVA provides stable results and is being used by manufactures). Epoxy seems "unmusical" for me, 'cause it provides brittle seam that becomes a barrier for sound transmission - refracting medium. It's still cool for, well, using with filler, when you need to glue in inlays on your fretboard.
That's why you had "no problems" - epoxy fills gaps and do not have shrinkage and could glue "over the abyss". When you use pva you need an excellent edges and high pressure. I duno for sure how many kilograms they have, but I use five "uberclamps" for the neck, and it seems, that they are many more then 100kg each. For fixing an old bass, that became headless I used two clamps, that provided excellent seam. Judging by my friend's happy face, that work like a charm. I saw many home-fixed guitars glued with epoxy and never saw a nice seam, that might be not so important, but they were also played out of tune, cause fragments were usually shifted. The thing is they couldn't be fixed properly after that, you can heat seam and unglue parts, but you'll never be able to glue it "obey the rules", 'cause it's nearly unreal to rub epoxy off and all you can - apply epoxy again and it's tone killing...
Finger joints will become a problem in real conditions, even solid necks break down easily sometimes (when have no volute)...
Those are looking very promissing! What about fretless - does it have a mahogany fretboard? Strings (if not "half" or flat wounded) will destroy fretboard soon, neck can use an ebony veneer sheet on top!
Well I haven't got the time to work on my fretless due to my work. I wish I could find the material used in those Vigier Fretless guitars for my fretboard.
1)do all preparations before you start and think over every operation, make some tools (it's still could be very cheap and work as "adult" ones). Right, you don't have clamps at home and what is on market makes you shiver (overpriced or poorly done, I have some clamps at home that costed me much and make me amaze at how they work from time to time, that's why I use some primitive substitutes I made by myself now). But you NEED them - ropes won't give enough pressure when used like this. It causes weak seams and gaps. When guitar will face temperature and humidity differences or just fall from strap (it happened fairly often to me, when I didn't know about straplocks) and it will fall to pieces or crack. You can use rope layup (just a rope with twisting stick-lever, witch you just tie to what you're gluing together when it's "winded up"). Or you can make clamps by yourself, I use just two pieces of wood attached to each other with plain M10 rods, washers and nuts. Not so user friendly as "real clamps", but still better: a)you can make a clamp for your own needs - king-size, you know (very helpful when you're building something big) . b)it can give you more pressure, then "real clamp". с)costs nearly nothing.
Next, if clamps are already made you need a grinding table (I'm not sure if it's called like this...). Edges must be perfectly flat, so you'll need a sheet of thick glass (it's nearly perfectly flat) an some sanding paper attached to it...
2)physical laws are common for every guitar-shaped object on Earth, so you have to keep in mind your scale and choose a place for your pickups "under harmonics". Of course if you put PU near the bridge you'll get sharp sound and output will be weaker (what is important, when you use a cheap PU) then in neck or middle position. By the way, for me it seems that split-coil PU in the middle position is the most universal solution. It will give you a chance to hear the difference in picking, it's extremely important for bass! And will be helpful for bass-newbies - you're not going to play with mediator through compressor-limiter all the time, it's а defiant behavior!
When you gluing together a neck or body of guitar, keep in mind that acoustic waves run in parallel of center line of guitar (roughly). It's still ok to laminate wood stripes from side to side when you're making central block on neck-through or regular bolted neck and body, but never ever think of gluing wood planks perpendicularly (not parallel, all right) to a center line. It will influence deeply on result - you'll get parasitic overtones, if you're unlucky. Basically, "dead note" appearance (it's when guitar sound wrong or weak in some position(s)) results from just using a plank with knots or defects... Well, using something with finger joint like VAustin did is a deadly sin, I think... :) And it's really dangerous, because string tension is pretty high - neck can crack and your (and guitar's) heads will meet. I hope, they however won't.
It's time to stop, 'cause that's a way to much for a comment... Still there are so many things to mention like fretting and painting (I suggest to take guitar to workshop for this) and so on... Hope it helps in spite of my ultimate brain-cracking English. :D
and the guitar I used was still something I built.
Finger joints are not a problem, I always make sure to find wood that have that "hard-wood" characteristics, I am not worried on that tension since I use wood that are typically used for house-buiding.
Well after a month finishing this I made another bass and this was the result http://sphotos-c.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/309131_296372273802946_1378884706_n.jpg
a new bass the other is a fretless which I haven't found a body at that time. Well this build is different since I made "wing" for the body and pain-stakingly carved it down to its form (a lame attempt of a music man. haha).
Entry level Ibanez guitars, fender squires, are the only available entry guitars that I have seen so far. Most stores here would sell higher end guitars, like Ibanez RG premiums(I believe this are the ones indonesian made), PRS SE's, some Dean guitars, MIJ and MIM Fenders, Hamer, Fernandes, Godin and other well known brands. This would range around 30,00 to 50,000 Peso around 600$ -1000$ so this guitars are really toys for rich boys here.
As for wood you can use any hardwood you can find will hold, just don't buy expensive hardwares to save.
The guy that run klangbox.at uses old bicycle spokes.
as a musician having my own unique tone is important. having a guitar built with different materials can have a unique tone.
when i choose the wood that i will use for building this is what i do,
- i always knock on the wood, if the sound is not that faint i am sure that the wood is good for the job,
- when i knock on it and my knuckles hurt then it qualifies.
-look at the grain of the wood, if the grain is solid then thats good if the grain is kinda "cottony" then its not good, it would not compensate the strings pressure.
-in my observations, a dark shaded wood is always a good choice, but i dont jump in to it quickly i still use my testing methods.
-dont use wood that has been stacked outside, weather can deteriorate wood.
i can assure you, that my guitars dont use mahogany, basswood or any type of wood that is typically used in guitar manufacturing.
Thanks for posting this. Keep up the great work.