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Permalink Reply by Paul Craig on March 3, 2016 at 9:01am

I would definitely make it a neck thru with the strings terminated on the same piece to ensure that there wouldn't be any problems with stress. A lot of pressure on those strings. Or a bass guitar neck bolted to a thru piece. Couple of places online that offer bass neck for a good price.

How many strings are you using?  What scale?

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Permalink Reply by JL on March 4, 2016 at 3:54am

Forgive me but that's kinda like saying  you are going to buy him a shirt without saying if its for white-collar office work, casual Friday, bar hopping, or crawling under a house to fix plumbing.

2 string or 4 string, acoustic only or mag pup to play on stage with a band, fretted or fretless?

Or are y'all undecided and trying to glean enough building pitfalls to help steer the design to something you feel comfortable tackling?

Assuming the latter here is what I can offer:

Bass Strings put about 2-3 times the strain on the neck that guitar strings do, and over a longer span/scale.  So the neck has to be stronger or it will bow up like Robin Hood's Recurve.

Bass Strings need Bass tuners.

Beef up the part that goes through the box (through neck or bolt-on substructure), or it will snap in half like Gabriel Iglesias's skateboard.

Acoustic Bass needs a MUCH bigger box to sound half as loud as a git.  Lower frequencies need a bigger soundboard and bigger resonance cavity to achieve any realistic volume, for the same reason a woofer speaker is much bigger than a tweeter speaker. If the box is not at least as big as a silverware chest you should consider a mag pup.

Don't be afraid of frets.  Unless your friend is an accomplished fretless player already and wants a fretless, a fretted bass will be much easier to play.  Also, slides don't work as well on a bass as on a git, you get a lot more zip noise sliding along the round-wound-with-bigger-winding bass strings. (unless that is what you are trying for?)

finally, try to have fun building it.  After all, that's the point, isn't it?

I wish you much luck, enjoyment, and success.

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Permalink Reply by Angry Rooster Guitars on March 4, 2016 at 4:21am

I hear what you're saying JL.I'm not only new to building cbgs, but new to music too. I know how to play nothing and I learned once I started building these that there is much much more to a guitar than a neck, body, and some strings. So now that I'm asked about building a bass, I know there is much more to it than simply building a bass....he only said 3 strings would be cool. That's all I have to work with. I know a lot of bass guitars are fretless as well as fretted. I asked which he preferred....no reply yet. I'm sure there are other things I'd need to know, like does he want electric only, or playable acoustic too. I may just back out on this one and wait until I learn more.

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Permalink Reply by JL on March 4, 2016 at 4:35am

there is no better way to lean than by doing, and picking the brains of your friends here to help you along the way.

Its a qualified "no rules" zone, there is no prohibitions, just a wealth of knowledge on what has/hasn't worked for others.

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Permalink Reply by Angry Rooster Guitars on March 4, 2016 at 4:42am

So true! Just don't want to learn I did it completely wrong with a paying customer. I think I'll get more builds under my belt before steering off with a bass.....unless I build one as an experiment.

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Permalink Reply by Paul Craig on March 4, 2016 at 8:40am

I would think your box would need to be 12" wide x 16" to 18" long x 4" to 6" deep to have a deep and effective acoustic tone. That would most likely mean making your own box. the type of wood doesn't matter for the sides, but the top and back does. I would suggest Spruce, Cedar or Poplar for the top & back. Just remember that the top & back will need to be planed or routed to 1/8th" to 3/16ths" and will require some inner bracing. Plywood would be the easy route, but doesn't offer much tone-wise in my opinion. Placing the bridge closer to the center of the body helps with an acoustic.

Poplar would be a great choice for a solid body bass.

The neck and thru piece needs to be a very strong hardwood like Maple, Hickory or Oak with a trussrod.

Usual bass scale is 34", but you could do a short scale bass like 28" or 30" or 32". Fender made a baritone 6 string guitar 28" scale with heavy gauge strings and called it The Fender Bass VI. Lots of choices out there.

I would start by doing some Google and Youtube searches for ideas and techniques. http://www.guitarfetish.com/Bass-Bodies-and-Necks_c_293.html

http://www.rondomusic.com/partsbodies.html

These places have good deals on bass guitar necks, parts and pickups if you decide to go that route.

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Permalink Reply by Angry Rooster Guitars on March 4, 2016 at 8:51am

Awesome info. Thanks Paul!

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