Self made 5-string bass(neck-thru)

[Progbass]

Ok folks, my time in arts/crafts school at luthier department is soon finished and this is my final work there, here's some specs and pics.

Alder body with bubinga top
5 piece neck of maple and mahogany
Ebony fingerboard
Kent Armstrong bass soapbars with passive electronics(volume, blend, tone)
34'' scale and 24 frets

 

[schenkadere]

Beautiful...nice work.

 

[razoredge]

Nice !

 

[ABQShredHead]

I can't play the pictures, but the pictures show BRILLIANT! work. Awesome! I love the knobs and other details.

Not that I've gone through luthiery school, but I'm itching to make my own as well. I've been saying that for two years now... but I'll scratch that itch one of these days.

 

[Progbass]

I can't play the pictures, but the pictures show BRILLIANT! work. Awesome! I love the knobs and other details.

Not that I've gone through luthiery school, but I'm itching to make my own as well. I've been saying that for two years now... but I'll scratch that itch one of these days.

While the school teached me alot about using machines and handtools etc. One could make as good work as self learned guitar maker. I think more important thing is to get good tools needed for that job(bandsaw, plane, router and some kind of sanding machine etc) and you will already get far with those. And since u can read alot about it from net too, it wouldn't be a problem. So yea I recommend...it's just a good feeling when u test your own instrument and if it plays and sounds good u know u were succesfull.

Thanks for your comments all!

 

[Krondor]

Looks nice! I bet it sounds nice too

So it stays in tune and all?

 

[Emanuele]

Fantastic work!

 

[Progbass]

Looks nice! I bet it sounds nice too

So it stays in tune and all?

Yea stays in tune, has gotoh tuners and they are pretty good.

 

[Lucius Octavion]

Wow cool, I've always wanted to do this kind of a thing myself and I've always been interested in lutherie in different types of instruments. Which school did you attend?

 

[Kenneth R.]

Two words for those inspired to get results that look as good as this:

Hand scraper.

Essentially a flat rectangle of sharpened metal, this tool will outdo any machine if used properly, and that's how violins were made hundreds of years ago.

 

[Lucius Octavion]

And that's still how they make the real violins today.

 

[razoredge]

Two words for those inspired to get results that look as good as this:

Hand scraper.

Essentially a flat rectangle of sharpened metal, this tool will outdo any machine if used properly, and that's how violins were made hundreds of years ago.

^Yes, the one I have my grandfather made out of a planer blade because its higher grade steel. I used it for finish shaping of my neck and smoothing the finish of the wood. Around the parameter/edge/sides of the body I used a wood rasp to smooth out the lumps caused by the band saw followed by an poor uneven sanding. I was told to use the rasp by a luthier when I took the guitar to him for further advise. Orbital sanders are better speed today but they still can put high and low spots in wood, makeing it wavy, they also leave fine hooked scratches. That scraper blade darn near makes the surface of the wood like glass. Its just a free form way of planeing actually. I just used the very same blade a few weeks ago to dress the surface of my "nylon" sled runners, so it still gets occasional use some 32 years later.

 

[Progbass]

Wow cool, I've always wanted to do this kind of a thing myself and I've always been interested in lutherie in different types of instruments. Which school did you attend?

It's the only school in finland where you can learn making instrument, it's called shortly just IKATA and has many different "lines" among the luthier line.