Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Bryan Putnam on August 2, 2016 at 3:33pm

34" scale was used for this one. It's a pretty good reach, nut to front of the box is 27", with the other 7" coming from there back to the bridges.

Permalink Reply by J.D. on August 2, 2016 at 4:03pm

Cool ,What's the overall scale length? I just notice the piece of wood on the lid covering the coffee infused "Tobacco" print?

Permalink Reply by Bryan Putnam on August 2, 2016 at 6:39pm

Just a J-Bass style finger rest. Not sure why I added it, but it does help.

Permalink Reply by J.D. on August 5, 2016 at 4:03am

Cool ,turned out nice. Those "Tabak" boxes are some tuff/well made boxes. I have several of them ,just haven't used one yet.

Permalink Reply by J.D. on August 2, 2016 at 5:10pm

Nice!

Permalink Reply by Euraquilo on August 3, 2016 at 2:40am

Very nicely done. First build, eh? Obviously you're no stranger to woodworking.

Permalink Reply by Bryan Putnam on August 3, 2016 at 3:58am

I've done a few things in the past, but my hot rodding hobby usually wins most of my free time. Love to tinker on my cars.

Permalink Reply by Ron Doran on September 13, 2016 at 4:39am

I am also looking to make a bass as my first build.  Can we get a picture of inside the box?  What size is the block of wood that you used for the neck?  Does the neck go through so that the bridges are attached to the neck?  Is the fingerboard required, or could you play it with high action or with a slide.  Sorry for so many questions!

Permalink Reply by Bryan Putnam on September 15, 2016 at 10:50am

Hey Ron! Here's a couple of pics of the inside of the box. The braces to mount the neck are just short pieces of 1x3 red oak stock cut to fit the box and notched to fit the neck. The neck is then set with Titebond glue and I add a screw on each end just to help clamp it while it dries.

The bridges on mine are not attached to the neck, but are secured to the box top itself with short machine screws and locking nuts. There really isn't a lot of tension on the strings, a lot less than I thought there would be actually, so it seems this method will work fine, and I like to be able to have easy access to the inside of the box in case I need in there. I do add a small wood screw in the lower rear corner of the top, to secure it to the box.

The fingerboard is certainly not required, I just think it gives a more finished look to the neck. Plus, it makes the neck a little bit thicker and easier to hold on to while playing. Even without the fretboard, the action wouldn't be that high. You'd simply adjust the size of the opening in the box where the neck goes through it so that the top surface of the neck would end up flush with the top of the box.

As far as playing it with a slide, that is honestly something that never even occurred to me. I don't see why you couldn't though, and now I'm going to have to go try it!

Let me know if you need anything else, glad to help!

Bryan 

Permalink Reply by Ron Doran on September 15, 2016 at 2:29pm

Bryan, thank you for the pics! I can understand the notch in the neck for the pickup, but why the notch where the bridge mounts? Wouldn't it have been better to screw the bridges directly to the neck?

Permalink Reply by Bryan Putnam on September 15, 2016 at 2:34pm

It would definitely be stronger screwed directly into the neck. I was originally planning a different bridge and a 2nd pickup, so that's why there's a big cutout under there. Just too lazy to build a new neck for it!

Permalink Reply by Bryan Putnam on September 15, 2016 at 2:37pm

Also, on this build, I used a Tabak box and they are built like mini bank vaults. The wood is much thicker than a standard box, so the bridge is very secure like this.

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