Electric Upright Bass - Episode 1: Design and figuring stuff out as I go.
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- Опубліковано 11 лют 2023
- In a bid to do something completely different without being totally random I'm building an electric upright for reasons that I explain in the video.
So glad I found this!!! You are a master!!!
This is heaven! I'm learning totally from scratch on this one. I've always wanted an electric upright. I've built a few electric basses but this is uncharted territory.
I'm going to let you do all the hard work. So apologies for that and thank you! peace and love brother ✌️ ❤️🤗
Can't wait to see how this project turns out!
That headstock must have met your expectations. Its elegant and practical. Now I want to make one.
Btw, 6061 or 6063 flat stock aluminum (on it's edge) makes amazing neck stiffeners. You just have to span the flex area in the neck.
Great work. Can t wait for the pickup.
I'm so excited for this series!
Enjoy your classes! What a great decision! I am looking forward to seeing how this project progresses.
My university was originally called the Polytechnic of Wales, although it became The University of Glamorgan in the early 90s before I went there. My dad went there when it was known as the Glamorganshire School of Mines! It’s now known as The University of South Wales
This video couldn't have come at a better time! I'm considering building one myself, so looking forward to seeing how you get on!
Fascinating. I'm looking forward to this build just as I'm about to return to upright playing. I'm buying though.
Love the project! I'll be watching closely :)
Looking great already :-) I'm excited for the end result now.
"I thought it was going to be complicated..." - Famous Last Words
Preach brother! One thing I've learned over the years is that it's never too late to screw something up and have to scrap a project. If I've done my design properly (no guarantees that I did btw), then it "should" go together without issue, but who knows? The neck might bend up like a banana, I might struggle with the pickup system I'm thinking of, or I might just strike it unlucky and have a giant dead spot. As mythbusters used to say: Failure is always an option. Cheers.
@@fanbladeinstruments It's always the easy ones that'll sneak up on ya. You'll think, "Hey, this went smoothly.", let your guard down, and that's when they get you.
It's happened to me a lot of times with my own projects. Typically I'll realize I forgot something very important at step 1 that is not-repairable at step 30. 😂
"I thought it would be straightforward..." - Even more famous last words
This should be a fun ride! 🤣
Hopefully you get it done before class starts!
I like the look of the NS WAV4 basses .. and the stand screws into the back of the body ( height adjustment via the stand ( and be prepared to loose lots of skin off your fingers playing it 😳😉🎶🎵😎
first!
great work mann love your vids
What a cool project 👍🏼. Be very interesting to hear what it sounds like. Whether a fretless bass, or something a bit different...
Had you considered using a couple of CF stiffening rods in the neck?? Or perhaps a regular bass trussrod would work, if you put it in the middle of the area between the neckjoint and the headstock...after all, thats where any stresses are mostly going to be located. Not so much at the extremities..
Oh hang on, just watched you stand on it...maybe not needed lol
Great project! Although I never played an electric upright bass, I do play an acoustic 3/4. I use steel strings, and mostly slap and pull the strings.
The idea of using those small tuning pegs kind of worries me, as the ones on my acoustic one are a lot thicker, and they span across to the other side of the peg box, getting support from that side as well.
I have no idea about the tensions involved in an electric one though, so maybe it'll be fine, but to me it seems like they would be too thin, and cause a kind of lever-effect downwards on the peg when the strings are on.
I hope I make sense :p Anyway great project! Just wanted to share my thoughts :)
I did wonder about that but both the Ibanez and NS Design ones both use the smaller style. Then again they both use truss rods too... As I said, if this one fails then I'll wear that as a learning experience and make a better one, I still have the large tuners to use for that if I need to. We will have to wait and see what happens. Cheers.
Let’s go
@11:48.... what happened to that hammer, did it fall or did you catch it??
Not done with part one yet, but so excited to see this video! ALSO, hope you and everyone are safe, sir. I know things have gotten kinda crazy with the cyclone!!
I'm good with the cyclone, I'm in Christchurch which is a lot further south, we've had a bit of rain but nothing close to what's happening up north. As for the mallet, I stopped sanding before it did anything. In real time it moves so slow I didn't even notice it moving around until I sped the video up🤣
i love this beautyful art. umm sorry sir. but. where i can find a measurement. i mean like, lenght from nut to the bridge. and other else.
Fantastic as always. Thank you for going through the trouble of filming, editing and posting! What's the scale length for this one?
I measured my friends bass at 1044mm, I looked up online and a 3/4 bass is standard at 1060 but my tame expert says there's usually a little variation. Accounting for intonation etc my one's probably going to be around the 1040-1045 mark. Thanks.
Any chance the fundamental starting dimensions could be made available?
What about the fingerboard/bridge arch foe Arco playing?
How would you make a pickup to match that arc?
Hint. A precision bass domino pair set at angles will work.
Maybe a big sponge under the strings will tame through excess sustain that will occur.
Arco playing...good grief, I'd never even considered that, that'll be a fun tangent, I might need to consult you on getting a suitable bow. My initial thoughts on the pickup were kind of along those lines, split coil to set at different angles, epoxy potted in a housing with a curved top, the outward appearance being something like a rounded over soapbar. I've done a short test with those little piezo disks, I didn't hate it but I can see the value in actually building something specifically for basses. Haven't drawn up a proper design yet but it's only a matter of getting on with it. Cheers.
Interesting. I suspect that the "tone" of a double bass (or more precisely a 3/4 size) used by jazz bassists, doesn't so much come from the wooden bridge, as the resonant top, but also the resonant cavity behind it as well. I have a Dean 5 string electric double bass, and it plays and sounds really nice....but....it sounds like a fretless bass guitar.
I suspect that a wooden bridge with an acoustic pickup transducer may go some way to sounding more like a double bass, but i can;t help wondering whether a cavity behind the bridge area, with a relatively thin top at that point, might really be required.
Just a thought, but really looking forward to see how this build turns out. Good luck!
been thinkin about this. Had an idea, that if one made a bigger body but hollowed out, or a frame style, it might be interesting to use a sheet of carbon fibre supported round the edges, as a 'sounding board" design. That way you could get the stiffness of the CF, but it would have resonant properties more like an acoustic bass. Maybe with a CF stiffening bar glued to the back to fulfill the same function as the bass bar in an acoustic instrument. Dunno, will go and make a few drawings...!
You're absolutely right about all of that, the tone is a function of all those factors. I've thought about chambering the body to give it some acoustic properties but I'm not sure how much difference it would make on such a small body, and time really isn't on my side on this one.
I've no doubt that it's going to sound more like a fretless bass guitar than a double bass, but the purpose of it is to learn (or re-learn) upright technique and then see what improvements can be made after that. Thanks.
@@fanbladeinstruments Hi there... yes, i suspect a small bodied bass will probably not give you enough room for an acoustic chamber, or at lest one that would make a noticeable change in the sound. But horses for courses, as they say. At least the end product won't be as unmanageable as a 3/4 size double bass. At least it will fit in a small car!
interested to see how this turns out. Will be watching the rest of the series. and hopefully picking up a few tips!
Yes Tim. What you said about the bass belly and enclosed air cavity is good information.
These solid upright electrics sound okay for Latin music and such but nothing like the kick drum like forward momentum of a contract bass. Geoff will discover.☺
Contra bass
....bloody spellchecker. ...