Saw Time!

Finally managed to get a jigsaw. I sawed a piece of the washtub to fit in the support beam. Trying to figure out a way to hold everything together. Sawing metal is pretty loud. The cut goes about 4' down.

I placed a few pieces of scrap wood in order to fill the gap. 

The body shouldn't be all the way at the top.

I also sawed the oval for the soundboard to fit over the washtub.

The soundboard isn't glued on yet, but it'll look like this soon.

Maybe I should paint it?

Mail!

Tuning machines and bottom bridge came in the mail today! More to come...

Step 3: Support Beam

The main support beam is pretty easy to make:

Materials:
Pine board 1" x 4" x 6'
Wood Glue

This is pretty similar to Step 1. Saw the board into two pieces each 3' long.

The boards should be about the same length. Glue the boards together. One of my boards has about an inch sticking out because my board was 37".
That end will go inside the body. In this case, the 1" difference might be better because the tub is on a slant, making the connection easier.

Clamp the two boards together. The support beam will be holding the body and the neck/fingerboard so it's important that this part is even.

Step 2: Body

I started making the body the other day:

Materials:
Oblong washtub - 22" x 12"
Scrap pine wood
Wood Glue

I sawed four small wood blocks, about 2" x 2" each. Because they won't be seen outside, the blocks don't have to be perfect- they will be connecting to the soundboard.

I used wood glue and a C-clamp to connect the first block to the inner wall of the washtub. The picture on the right shows how I initially did it the wrong way. The blocks should not stick out higher than the rim of the tub.


Do not follow the picture on the right. ------>

This took a lot of trial and error. I was finally able to clamp all four pieces onto the wall of the tub. One of the blocks points parallel to the ground.

The blocks should look like this. Most of them point up at an angle. The blocks do not reach higher than the rim of the tub because the soundboard will be there.

Step 1: Neck and Fingerboard

Time to make the fingerboard and neck...

Materials:

Pine board- 1" x 4" x 6'

Wood Glue

Saw the pine board into two pieces 35" and 37" long. I chose pine because it's super sturdy- it will have to handle constant pressure from the strings. 

Place the top board (fingerboard) on the bottom board (neck). Leave 6" of the bottom board open and 8" of the top board open.

Mark off the open spaces. There should be 6" of the neck sticking out and 8" of the fingerboard sticking out on the opposite end.

Use wood glue to secure the neck and fingerboard. I used way too much glue and had to deal with a lot of drippage. Extra glue can be sanded off later. Most wood glues are okay (e.g. Elmer's) but stay away from Gorilla Glue, which is too complicated.

Use clamps to hold down the neck and fingerboard together. Frequently check that the boards are not sliding. I only had three clamps at the time, but more would be ideal. I kept them on for 20 minutes.

Introduction

Hello there!

I've decided to chronicle my attempts at creating a homemade bass. My goal at the end of this project will be to have a fully functional acoustic/electric upright string bass. All materials are made by hand (except some small parts, e.g. tuning machines). 

There are a lot of ways to make homemade basses: 

 

My design is going to use a washtub for the body- this seems like the most feasible option. It's more or less taken from this site created by Dennis Havlena in 2001.

Between six classes and two jobs, it's been hard to find time to spend on this project. However, I'll try to keep this site as updated as possible. 

Hope this works out.

-Sean