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Scrap Heap - My Junk bass

Not a CBG by definition, but a bass built from trash with the Cigar Box Spirit.

Hello fellow builders!
I'm Nick, the bass player from "SAVAGE SUNDAY". I think a little background story will help here...

I've been playing bass guitar since 2000, I played a Fender P and now an Ibanez P&J. A few months ago I walked into the dive bar near my house, but something was different. The walls were lined with CBG's and I was intrigued. Needless to say, my attempt at buying a 6pack turned into an hour filled with inspiration and wonder. The bartender asked me, "Do you play"?

That was the start of a beautiful relationship. The bar was "Speal's Tavern" and that bartender was Dan Speal, Shane Speal's father. My new band started playing the open mic there every week, and that was all good and well, but the whole time I had the raw plans for a bass guitar in my head.

Now, I'm a broke musician. I didn't have any of the resources to build ANYTHING! And I knew that no Cigar Box could contain the power of a bass player! So, I went into my dad's garage with the intention of finding something, anything, that I could start building off of.
I found a few pieces of plywood, some "shims", and some metal-stud scraps. Well, GOOD ENOUGH FOR ME!!! I started planing, sanding, shaping on the fly. I just went at it balls to the wall. Needless to say, I've encountered quite a few problems along the way. I had no hardware. I had no electronics. Hell, I had no headstock!

Fast forward a few months and about 7 open mics; I think I have everything to where it COULD work. I'm ordering a piezo, tuners, and strings. I have my tuning keys below the bridge. I'm planning on placing two strings, a bass G and a guitar low-E. I am ready to finish this thing, but I figured I'd post the pics on here and see if ANYONE CAN ANTICIPATE ANY MORE PROBLEMS I WILL HAVE?!?

Thanks, Nick

All the pics are here:

http://www.cigarboxnation.com/photo/albums/scrap-heap-junk-bass

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Permalink Reply by Jason W. on May 28, 2011 at 2:43pm

Looks like you've been inspired. Music doesn't come from a wallet or a fancy instrument. I really like the idea of the spatula for a headstock. Simple and effective.

Altogether, looks like you're 90% of the way there. Having the jar lid half on the body seems like it would reduce the amount of reverberation you have going into the body itself. Unless you're thinking of putting the piezo directly on the bottom of the lid itself (which would probably give a really tinny sound, since the lid would essentially be a faux resonator). Not really a "problem" per se, but it will determine what sound you ultimately get.

The only thing I'm a little concerned about is the neck's connection to the body. If you're going to put big, chunky strings on it, that may really stress out that neck joint. That may be a snafu you run into later on, so keep an eye on it when you string it up to see if the neck is pulling up away from the body. My solution would be to get some simple corner brackets from a hardware store, junkyard, dumpster diving or your neighbor's house (try not to get shot =P ) and use them like makeshift neck heel.

Those are my two cents. I'll wait and see if any more experienced builders can see any fatal issues with it. When you finish it up, let us know if it worked (or exploded). ...Oh yeah, I don't advocate larceny.