Tinozza Acoustic Bass Demo
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- Опубліковано 21 сер 2024
- Built by Douglas Guitars. Here is a simple demo of the Tinozza bass guitar I built and designed by the venerable R.M. Mottola. Forgive my sub-par abilities playing on a fretless bass but I think the video will, nonetheless, give you an idea of the unique sound this instrument produces. The audio from the video is pure, that is, it did not run through the K&K pick-up that is resident on the bass nor was it manipulated in any way while editing. Audio was collected from external microphones. Special thanks to my brother, Michael Haslett of Global National News, who did all the recording and editing for this video demo.
Doug, amazing! We share an interest. I’m so impressed with what you’ve built it sounds fantastic. Congratulations!
Thanks buddy! Great to hear from you.
Hey douglas,
I finally started this tinozza bass project, looking forward,should be a great experience, i'm going to a high school now in belgium who teaches building classical and steelstring guitars, it takes five years in total and i'm building the bass there,so result shouldn't be around the corner yet,but if i have i will sure share some video of it!
Used wood:
European spruce top
Flamed maple back/sides and headstock veneer
South African sapeli for the neck
Ebony for the fretboard
Walnut bindings
Rosewood string blocks and back strip
Cheers
1frxns1 Great to hear from you and I'm so glad you are pursuing this build! Feel free to connect with me on any question you may have during the build. Additionally, I found RM Mottola to be very responsive and helpful to questions that I had along the way. One piece of advice: be sure you purchase your strings ahead of time. Being classically wound strings you cannot just cut off the excess as one does with steel strings. Each end is silk-wound and you need to establish the ball-anchor points according to this length early in the build process. Any silk winding between the nut and bridge is acoustically fatal.Best of luck!
Douglas Guitars thanks for the advice, i'll keep it in mind... if there is any difficulty or question I will ask for sure,
thanks
With these instruments, the strings are crucial to obtaining a semblance of ‘upright’ tone. (As is the playing method.) The Spirocores are a great choice. Another great choice is the Helicore orchestral set by D’addario.
Sounds great. And Yes ! Here is an acoustic bass which sound's towards an upright ! I think a lot of upright bass players don't even klick on 'promises' like that anymore…...
Hey Doug, thanks for the (quality) video. You built a very nice sounding bass! RM has a link on his site - that's how I found your video. I don't have any demand for acoustic basses but am giving some thought for building a Tinozza...
- Steve
Could you do a rockabilly slap demo please? That's a beautiful bass. Congrats.
Nice work man, say you should check out Corelli strings.
My daughter plays upright and has had a lot of different
experiences (mostly bad) finding the right sounding but
playable strings. The Corelli's were a god send, they brought
old crappy basses to life and evened out the wolf tones on
her new carved bass. I believe they are 130.00 a set and
we like them better than the spirocores for sound and playability.
Goliher music has them. cheers
Thanks 2drsdan. I did consider Corelli's however they don't work with this design. The distance between the silk ends is about 1" off from what is needed and unlike common steel string they cannot be trimmed at the ball end.
Lensvoodoo. The volume of the Tinozza would not compete with that of an upright base. Tone is comparable but not volume. I think the sweet spot of this instrument in a jam/gig setting would be to have it amplified. Even a small amp would be all that is required. It is a good option for a bass player who wants this kind of tone but is not interested in learning how to play an upright bass. I have found the switch from playing a fretted bass to a fretless bass was much easier than I anticipated.
It would sound much closer if your right hand technique was more similar to how a double bass is played, rather than how a bass guitar is played, and if you played further way from the bridge.
Your comment shows you don't know what you are talking about.
Real smooth tone you have there. How does it hold up volume wise to a guitar and mandolin/fiddle and such in a full on jam?
I really like it,where can I buy it ?
that is one killer bass with a damn killer sound/tone... great work man...
been looking for a bass like that to build myself because i don't have the building expercience to build an upright one...
what are your thoughts on that? Is it do-able for a non experieced builder to build this one? it would be great do...
anyway great work on the build...really
Thanks 1frxns. It is a lot of fun to play for sure. It's hard to say whether or not it is doable as I do not know your woodworking background. I had built custom furniture as a side thing for 20 years prior to building guitars. If a person has never built a guitar there are some elements to this build that would be more challenging than a simple acoustic guitar. RM Mottola provides some good background to building a Tinozza. On the other hand, what's the worst that could happen? You might destroy some wood. Big deal. Life is too short to not try some new things from time to time.
Doug, you should experiment by closing off the soundhole, varying its size -- that soundhole looks to be even bigger than on a 6-string guitar (lowest note on 6-string is 82 Hz [ c/s ] -- lowest note on a standard acoustic bass guitar is 41 Hz ) -- a smaller soundhole gives more BASS............any good luthier knows this.
I should? The instrument was designed by RM Mottola (editor of American Lutherie Journal and arguably one of the foremost instrument designers alive on the planet right now). Are you suggesting he is not a good luthier? I'm happy to give him the benefit of the doubt.
No, I didn't imply that he's not a good luthier, I'm just surprised that the soundhole is so big -- anyone who has studied acoustics (the science of sound) knows that a smaller soundhole gives more bass.
If you've ever seen Maccaferri gypsy jazz guitars you'll know that they have 2 sizes of soundhole, one is a small oval and the other is a D-shaped larger hole -- the larger gives more mid and bright treble but less bass, the smaller gives less mid and treble and more bass.
I have 4 acoustic 4-string bass guitars, all of which I converted to Low-B (31 Hz), I either play them with a large, hard but flexible plec or by plucking 'aggressively' with my fingers as a DoubleBassist does -- otherwise I don't get loud DEEP bass notes.
That Tinozza is a great bass, big deep body -- you should pluck it harder, make it SING out those rich bass notes -- you did a great job in building it, Doug, good luck!
it's great but how could I simmulation of the Tonewood amp for bass acoustic wich is more deep low sounds and louder
That looks like a port orford cedar top
It's just a shame you can't hear it. There is reason d-basses are the size they are.
my acoustic bass you will definitely hear:
ua-cam.com/video/D4Vl6tE1Mck/v-deo.htmlsi=s8TdB-YBOdYh-fOe
Nice, so this is like a 1/4 size double bass.
Exactly. An upright bass without the minivan.
Hi douglas,
The build is getting on very well,
I've come to a point where i'm making the neck and back blocks and i have to buy the strings now for the ball anchors to match the holes i have to drill, can you give me any advice in which strings are the best choice to buy? I've checked thomastiks website but can't seem to decide which ones should be best, like the spirocores or the super flexible for instance,
Cheers
+1frxns1 Hey, I'm in Belgium as well and I was wondering where you bought all of your wood. Is there a specialized store for luthiers? I would love to see your progress
+Stephane Van Der Merwe hey Stephane, i bought my wood partialy online, like on madinter.com you can buy nice wood,but because of the Large body of the bass it was though to find...if you give me your email on pm i can send you some pics of the progress, i'm also on twitter @frxxns i will upload some pics soon, cheers
Like it! What's it sound like plugged in?
I'm having trouble sourcing large enough sound boards, everything I have found is undersized for this design
Try contacting www.bowriverwoods.com. They can fill a custom order and size.
Hi Doug, I found this video looking for acoustic bass references. I'm about to build one, and I wanted to ask you, in your experience, do you think the volume of this bass is the same as that of an acoustic guitar with nylon strings? could they touch both at the same time? thanks, great job.
PS: I would like to do mine with frets and round strings, adapting the design, of course.
Franco, the volume would not be the sam was an acoustic guitar. High frequencies travel better. Think violin vs upright bass guitar. This instrument is best used with a pickup. Additionally, to add frets and steel strings would change this instrument to such an extent, I would not even be able to comment on it. I'd suggest you find a ABG model that has bracing for a fixed bridge rather than a floating bridge.
Doug Balzer thanks!
A good acoustic bass needs a BIG (and deep) body -- 1:08 -- otherwise it won't have a DEEP BASS sound.
Do you guys sell these?
Shouldn't music, all music be heard? Not just this video, but very many bass videos seem like a listeners waste of time.
Such a nice bass here...
Would've been such a nice bass to hear.
I just want to HEAR that work of art you've made.
It's not just this video...
Watch 5 or 6 Bass videos, see fingers move...thats it.
Meant zero harm.
Not sure why you can't hear it. I know it isn't loud but if I turn up my volume I can hear it quite well.
The whole point is an bass guitar with enough volume to be played like at an bluegrass jam without having to lug and upright. This is just not that and I wish it was.
The isn't the "whole point" of these style basses is not just to have enough volume for bluegrass jams. I don't give a rat's ass about bluegrass jams. I just want a unique upright sound, in a portable stable package. If I can get that sound to tape, then it's a success.
Making string noise.
Other electric regular bass sounds better
There is no sound