Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Tony Brown on October 22, 2013 at 6:43am

Just made my first 3 string Bass. The main aim before I started was to use a strong, solid wood Box.

This I have done. A strong wood box even if it is proper Cigar Box

Tulip wood Neck, with Oak Fingerboard and a 34" Scale.

Attachments:

• SAM_0182.JPG, 54 KB

Permalink Reply by Jim Dickison on October 22, 2013 at 11:07am

So... here's why you don't see many CB basses made from commercial bass guitar necks:

You're going to need a cigar box at least this long. Not impossible to find... but not that easy, either!

If you look at the picture that Tony Brown attached, you'll see that where his neck meets the body is probably much further down the neck, meaning he could use a smaller box...

Permalink Reply by eK on October 22, 2013 at 4:01pm

Not necessarily.

You can technically attach the neck at any fret position as long as the distance between the bridge and the nut is correct for the scale of the installed frets. Commercial necks either use a 34" or 30" scale.

For example, the old Danelectro Longhorn Bass kept the entire fretboard clear of the body on that instrument:

It would probably be easiest to glue up a "through the body" neck blank (where the wood is extended for the full length of the neck scale) and go from there. With a "through body" neck, you could fit a box of virtually any dimension around it with no worries. Carvin sells them although they're not cheap. Info here.

Looks like this:

You could always glue up your own and save some money. A quick Google search will point you towards info and suggestions on how to do it yourself. Here's one to get you started: link here.

Permalink Reply by Jim Dickison on October 22, 2013 at 4:51pm

True, you could extend some kind of neck attachment device out from the box. 

Even on that Danelectro, the body extends out to about the 18th fret. or so, on the back.

Permalink Reply by eK on October 23, 2013 at 2:15pm

Exactly right. You can see what they did here:

Permalink Reply by Jim Dickison on October 24, 2013 at 7:27am

Love the Danelectro Longhorn short scale bass! I've never touched one, but I have the plans and many of the parts to build one... It's on my extended future projects list! 

Permalink Reply by Brian Revels on October 23, 2013 at 1:06am

So, really the bracing of the box is the least of my concern from what you guys are saying?  That's my biggest concern thinking about it.  I am just trying to think of ways to keep the box from buckling from the tension.  The box I have is a decent size and I think I can bolt the neck on far enough into the box that the frets and intonation will be true.  I just don't know how some of these folks are getting away using a paper covered box like mine.

Permalink Reply by Jim Dickison on October 23, 2013 at 1:21am

One possibility is to completely fill the box with a solid block of wood. Then you can just treat it as a solid body guitar. 

Or, you could have a central block that extends through the body from the neck attachment to the bridge. 

What you don't want to do is just bolt the neck to one end of the box and the bridge to the other... that would just be asking for trouble!

Permalink Reply by Brian Revels on October 23, 2013 at 2:31am

That's exactly what I am thinking...  I am thinking of using Oak to basically go through the box with in the middle.  Then bolt the neck on through the back of the box, through the center piece.  Then bolt the bridge through the top of the box into that same piece of wood in the center.  

I am thinking I will need two additional pieces of oak at the front and back of the box to fasten the lid down to at the corners.  I am thinking it would look like a big capital "I" (eye) inside the box.  I may need to figure out some sort of access door on the back, in case anyone ever needs to get in to rework/fix the electronics.

I guess I need to just make it, and stop worrying about it.  I just wasn't sure if there were any tried and true words of wisdom, or ways to do it.   Thanks for the replies eK and Jim.

Permalink Reply by eK on October 23, 2013 at 5:46am

Another possibility is to construct a sufficiently strong and braced box from scratch - and then attach a real cigarbox top of the same dimensions to it. I've seen that done before. Looks like the real thing without the worries. Especially since most cigarboxes use thin and mostly lightweight wood. Not something that plays too nicely with the pressure and tension of bass strings.

But I still think the solid block inside or a neck through design would be your safest bet. Last thing you want is your bass buckling when you're playing it. It's hard to convey why. But anybody who ever had a bass string unexpectedly let go on them while they were playing can tell you it's not too pleasant an experience. :-))

Luck with your build.

Permalink Reply by Jim Dickison on October 23, 2013 at 10:58am

Good luck! Looking forward to seeing what you come up with!