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Short Scale Resonator Bass Build

I got a large cookie tin from my mother in law(4" x 12" x 9") and decided to do a resonator bass without frets.

Thinking about using a Uke type strip Piezo, P Bass Pickups, 3-way switch, 250k volume and tone pots with a .047uf cap. Was thinking of using regular Bass strings for 4 string bass.

Using some square table legs(2 & 1/4" x 1 & 3/4" x 21") for the neck - bolted to a through the tin piece. The through the tin piece will have a hollowed out area at the end for side mounted tuners of some kind, may get actual tuners - may make something. The string ends will mount at the nut end of the neck like a Steinberger Bass.

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by KOOL DOG HOOCH on June 5, 2019 at 10:33pm

I was wondering about the tuners, what was holding them from creeping out of tune. Do you have room to replace the eye bolts with tuners? The thumb screws could stand straight up. Love the crazy lay-out! Nice build, I was offered a tin about that size and turned it down, that was before the "bug" bite got me! LOL I already in the middle of three builds, my main one and two for the foster kids camp. I may expand that to include a couple canjoes and a 5gal bottle bass freebies. I've got to ask, what is that head/tail piece made from? Its wicked looking IMO!

Permalink Reply by Paul Craig on June 6, 2019 at 8:39am

It's been awhile since I've done anything to this one. To answer your question, the neck was a leg off of a broken table and the metal mounting bracket is what I used as the string mount and nut on the end of the neck.

The tuners had screw inserts in the tail assembly, but they wouldn't hold the tuner bolts in place. I had to add some nuts on those bolts that I could tighten against the tail piece to hold the strings in tune. Tuning it is a lot of work and it very sensitive. It's 28" scale and I think I tuned it to open Drop C.

I used a 500k pot for the rod piezo. I have a single coil pickup to put near the neck that I haven't installed yet. I need a 3-way switch.

The 2 pickups that I originally put in under the tin's top turned the entire metal box into a pickup and it was just too much. So I took them out to use for other projects.

My best "Canjo" type build was my 1 gallon Gas Can Guitar. It sounds awesome, I wish I had put a 6 string neck on it now. Metal gas cans or oil cans are hard to find these days, but you can find the same size cans of Mineral Spirits, Thinner or Paint Stripper at hardware stores.

Permalink Reply by KOOL DOG HOOCH on June 6, 2019 at 11:20am

I have a 1gal stainless steel safety can( the kind with a squeeze handle inside the carry handle that opens a flapper lid on the pour spout) and I can't quit figure out what I want to do with it; A.. make a slide steel out of it or B..mount an amp and speaker in it!

Permalink Reply by Paul Craig on June 7, 2019 at 8:32pm

Maybe this will help.Amp's belong in boxes.Haha