Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Brian Revels on March 31, 2014 at 3:19am

Wow, took the words right out of my mouth (except resophonic, had to look that one up).  But I too have a Bass laying around that I want to swap out the body for a cigar box (or two).  I tried asking around and researching, but not found any sound advice (just seen some Cigar Box Basses like what I want). 

Permalink Reply by Jim Quinlan on March 31, 2014 at 3:22am

Hi Colin,

I just finished a bass with a tin can body recently. I reused an old Italian EKO Cadet bass neck that I found online. Its a very thin neck so fitting it was pretty much a simple matter of accuracy for the  position and alignment. It had some cracks around the original fixing holes so I drilled new holes and added a new neck plate to cover over the old holes. Surprisingly it stays in tune well and is stable to play. I did take the precaution of using a lighter gauge string set ( discard the fattest string use the rest and add a low E from a heavy gauge guitar set) as I was concerned about the neck distorting. Its connected to a through support which is bolted at the back of the tin with cross bracing for the top bottom and sides of the tin. I reused a spare hardtail guitar bridge as I had it to hand (PRS type). Hardest job was getting that positioned and aligned. You can see in the photo that the tailpiece is slightly misaligned so the strings are at a slight angle. Does not seem to have any effect on the tuning though thankfully. I just bought a locally made artisan bass here in Peru to try for my next bass project. 

Good Luck.

Jim

Permalink Reply by colin mcgrath on March 31, 2014 at 3:48am

jim,

I was thinking on a through the box support. however, my box is around 2 feet long. I was worried about bowing. I was also testing ideas on installing a good thick block near the top of the box and reshaping that area. Good looking build there btw.

brian,

maybe we can both get good ideas then.

Permalink Reply by Jim Quinlan on March 31, 2014 at 5:20am

Cheers Colin,

I think the bracing is probably the most important aspect. I would not like to rely on the body to transfer the forces. It might also help with sustain by having the through support.  - basically a long plank for the bass. There was not really another option for the tin can as its so thin  there's nothing to attach anything to.I forgot to mention that I put a wooden plate inside the back of the body cut to size which is covered in fabric. I thought this would help deaden the vibrations of back of the tin. Seems to work.

J

Permalink Reply by Wichita Sam on March 31, 2014 at 4:13am

besides the hard attach point for the neck, I would suggest that your use 1/4" hardwood to brace the box sides all the way around.  I do this on my bolton neck CBGs and have had no problem.

Permalink Reply by colin mcgrath on March 31, 2014 at 4:46am

good to know. thanks.

Permalink Reply by jen harrison on March 31, 2014 at 8:22am

I've seen people bolt a 2x4 to the end of the neck, then use that as the long brace through the box. I think there's even some interesting instructions on this site on how to make a bass out of a 2x4.

Permalink Reply by jen harrison on March 31, 2014 at 8:23am

Yeah, here it is: http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/306270002?profil...

Permalink Reply by colin mcgrath on April 1, 2014 at 3:42am

okay. I have an idea, I will post info later.

so I am thinking on simply cutting the solid body in half. I can bolt the body to a solid brace then. considering I do not need the box lid for a soundboard it should not be an issue. I will need to figure it out by sight once I get home.