MIMF

A couple of months ago I decided to build myself a bass that embodies everything I want in a bass.

1) Fretted - I've been playing double bass and fretless electric for a number of years (not very well) and it takes effort and thought. No problem if just playing, but when I sing also, it's hard to remember or read words while playing. With frets it's a lot easier.

2) Cheap - use free wood I have on hand.

3) 5 string - I've never had one before. I really want that D note, and the C and B are a bonus. Also a lot easier to play in F or B with that 5th string.

4) Durable finish, and not to worry if it gets dinged and dented anyway. Lacquer is too fragile, and a shame to damage after all the trouble to apply it well.

5) Use the 5 tuners I have on hand that are all of the same configuration (L American=R Chinese.)

6) Zero fret so I don't have to worry about nut slot depth.

7) Light weight. I'm old and decrepit, and I have a hard time standing for 45 minutes even without a bass around my neck.

So I drew up a plan.

Of course, I had to refine the plan. I selected some wood - I think the neck/body/wings are Douglas fir. I found a piece with vertical grain for the neck through portion, figuring it would be almost like laminations. Then I drew out the specs on the wood.

Using a J bass pattern, I cut the wings and some spacers from a more flat-sawn piece of wood. I left the upper horn long to make sure there were no balance problems before I cut it to final shape. I cut the neck and headstock to shape, routed a truss rod slot and drilled through from the headstock for the adjusting nut.
The fretboard is osage orange.
More later.

The control cavity and pickup routes.
Control plate.

That's coming out good! I love projects like that, and that plan is classic...maybe you should donate it to Charlie and he can sell copies from our Plans page!

Mockup and ready to glue up.
Glued and strung. I had to put a shim under the saddles - they only have about 1/8" of vertical travel (cheap Chinese), and the action was too low.

I was going to paint it fluorescent orange, but decided instead to use some old rattle cans I had on the shelf. I googled spray paint art and found some neat stuff some Mexican artists were doing. I tried to copy the technique with moderate success. Practiced on the back.
Then did the front - not much difference.
It's got several coats of rattle can polyurethane, and the neck is Tru-Oil.

A close up of the saddles and pickups/controls. Yes, the knobs are too close together, but the volume is easy to access with my little finger, and I never touch the tone once it is set.

Closeups of the headstock. I prophylactically put a #6 x 1 1/2" screw on each side of the first string tuner, because if it falls, that's where it will break.
.

The bass weighs a little under 7#. Gonna take it to a jam tonight and see how it feels/sounds

I love that set of plans too. Nice job on an interesting build from stuff you have laying around. Hope you report back after the jam.

Now thats cool. you really have a unique take on a 5 string

I played it last night - good news and bad news. The bass plays/sounds fine, but I'm going to need a new amp/speaker to get down to 31Hz without it sounding like a muffled rattle.

A guitar player I jam with said his teen daughter thought this bass looked cool, so wanted me to build him one to learn to play bass on. He wanted a 4 string, and I finally got around to building it. Made from Douglas fir lumber, and extra generic stuff lying around (which explains the tuner arrangement and ultra thin maple fret board) - total cost $65 including strings. This one's a bolt on, as I didn't have a long enough clear piece of wood for a neck through.

Side by side.

More nice work Peter!
I like the paint scheme.

really cool.

Thanks Beate and Bob - I think his daughter will like it.