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Permalink Reply by Brian Tubb on April 30, 2014 at 5:56am

Here's some pic's.... always love pic's!  You can see the alignment of my penciled in strings.

Attachments:

• photo 1.JPG, 1.3 MB
• photo 2.JPG, 1.5 MB

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Permalink Reply by Brian Tubb on April 30, 2014 at 12:19pm

Additional question while I'm thinking about it... I have some medium fret wire (from Gitty). Do I need to use heavier wire for a bass? I'm also trying to figure out a truss rod as we'll. I've got plenty of tools to work with, but don't want to order a ready made adjustible truss rod. I think I have some of the u shaped channel used for book shelves. Will epoxying a length of that under the fretboard work?

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Permalink Reply by Brian Tubb on May 6, 2014 at 11:27am

Any takers on answers to the other questions? I need to know if I need to order new parts... Namely fret wire (is medium/medium "meaty" enough? Also will this 4 pole mag pickup work for a 3 string? I still haven't decided about a truss rod - May just laminate a strip of maple down the center of the neck.

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Permalink Reply by The Phrygian Kid on May 6, 2014 at 9:04pm

The medium wire will be fine.
So will the 4 pole pup, just try to stagger the strings neatly between the poles. This is how they're actually deployed on fender basses anyhow :)

I think you should be ok without a rod if you laminate a few pieces together. Flooring and decking is real good for this.. Because you're only doing three strings you can make the neck narrower but thicker in the other (depth or thickness) dimension, so the neck is more square in section than usual but you can still comfortably get your hand around it. This is how I do my eight strings etc, and they're all rock solid, even the ones with one piece necks..

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Permalink Reply by robert jones on May 6, 2014 at 11:06pm

I built this one: Full scale CBG bass  2 1/2 years ago using maple with an oak center strip and oak fretboard without a truss rod at 34" scale. The neck is a deep D profile.

I talked to the owner last night and he says there is no noticeable bending of the neck so I would tend to think you will be okay at 30" and 3 string. Get good wood and do a proper glue up.

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Permalink Reply by Brian Tubb on May 7, 2014 at 3:23am

Thanks for those ideas.  I'll have to figure out if I can use the same neck as it already has the headstock glued on at the scarf joint.  Another question:  Will a 1.5 inch wide fretboard be enough room for 3 bass strings?

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Permalink Reply by robert jones on May 7, 2014 at 6:38am

Should be enough width, even if you space the outside strings 1/4" off the edges you'll still have 1/2" string spacing.

I don't know about the neck you've already built that's something you'll have to decide.

Using silicon strings might be another option but I think they require special tuners.

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Permalink Reply by ChickenboneJohn on April 30, 2014 at 6:22am

With the cigar box basses I've built I've used two-way acting truss rods...it's a heck of a long neck, even at 30" scale it's a good 20% longer than a regular guitar, and the neck's increased tendency to bend will be greatly increased...so you do need to make sure the neck has got enough meat in it to counteract the string tension.

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Permalink Reply by Johnnywilliams on April 30, 2014 at 10:43am

Hi guys, at last some none else who wants to build a bass CbG,I've been thinking of it too but concerned about obvious tension probs.I really would appreciate any help and advise.

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Permalink Reply by David McQueen on April 30, 2014 at 3:11pm

I haven't tried it on a bass, but I put together and experimental 12 string. I was able to find 1/8" x 1/2" steel flat bar which I mounted in a saw kerf. The box pulled itself apart but the neck never bent.

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Permalink Reply by ChickenboneJohn on April 30, 2014 at 6:27pm

My advice is to use a ready made truss rod. They are cheap and they work well. A solid steel bar will give you some additional strength: they can help as long as they are deep enough, but wont give you any adjustability. A solid steel bar will still bend and will be pretty heavy compared to an adjustable rod. Using a piece of shelf support channel doesn't sound too clever...they are usually full of slots which could take away the strength...plus you'll have to route out a substantial amount of timber to install it. Use a proper truss rod.

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Permalink Reply by The Phrygian Kid on April 30, 2014 at 8:36pm

My suggestion is use the biggest box you can find, a cutlery chest or similar might give the sound a lot more room to bloom.
Also consider using real fat strings and shortening the neck even more than 30"....
A regular bass string can do low e on 30" basses, although it's a little flabby. But if you had a low b from a five string set you can get to low e at even guitar scale length ;)

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