The feature bass this week is a cool 7-string!
Owner and builder Billy writes:
I wanted a seven string fanned fretted bass. This way you can have a whole 5 string and piccolo bass in one. Custom prices were high, so I decided to try to build one.
I haven’t built an instrument before, but I have done other wood working projects. The neck is a lamination of maple, black walnut, padauk and carbon fibre between each layer of wood. The body halves are wenge, maple and padauk. The fretboard is wenge.
The pickups are custom Delano soapbar, similar to the 8 string production version, but it wasn’t long enough with the fanned fret angle.
The fanned frets are really the way to go with a large range of strings. The pre-amp is John East, bridges are Hipshot triple lock down, tuners are Hipshot ultra lights.
When I drew the bass, I drew the tuners backwards, and I left them this way as they fit the headstock better. But, they tune backwards, which I later learned is how the first Fenders worked, so it’s retro. I also had an issue with the bridge height and had to add a bridge lift piece of black walnut. I wanted a bone nut, but couldn’t find one long enough, so I made one out of a soup bone, following some instructions I found on the internet.
Finish is french polish, which lets the wood ring more. The natural sustain is crazy. One other thing I do to all my instruments is use Neutrik Speakon 4 conductor locking connectors and put the batteries in a box on the floor. She sounds great. Wenge makes it growl. Bit of beast to play, but you can play chords and bass. I am starting to think it’s not really a bass anymore.
Well done!
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Muito bacana seu trabalho, seu baixo ficou lindo..
I play in a band with this guy. The sound is simply amazing. Layers of playing, with chords that ring while the bass-line goes on. And on. You couldn’t hold your breath that long. A dream for any bass-player. Here’s the recipe for Zeven-layer bass: No mixing required. Just add a great bass-player. Chill. And enjoy.
Nice piece of work! I have a Conklin Groove tools seven and really like the seven string setup. What is your scale length on the low B and the high F? I also have one of the Ibanez multi-scale 6 strings with the fan frets. What would you charge if you were to build one again?
Scale lengths are 37 on the B and 32.5 on the high F. I am not ready to go into production, just yet. I have an unresolved issue with out of tune harmonics on the lower strings and higher frets. I think I need a few more hours (years) as a luthier before the quality would be marketable. The raw materials alone cost a much as a nice off the shelf instrument and the number of hours I put into it either make the cost high or my time really cheap.
” carbon fibre between each layer of wood” I’ve not noticed that one before, wonder how that compares (for stability) to the inlay-ed carbon rods that is more typical?
Seems to be more awareness that wood that “breathes” vs the heavy poly finishes that dominated for a while, is a tone upgrade. Nice job.
I like this bass and really like the idea he states at the end. It’s not really a bass anymore. I strongly feel that we should create a new term for basses with 6 or more strings… A five string is almost always still played like a bass. When the 6th string gets added it turns into a whole different animal. The players approach shifts to using alot more chords and taping notes. Mainly because they are available I imagine. I’ve noticed hand position, body posture, and stance all change noticeably for players of 6+ strings.
P.s. I really like the stepped headstock design. I don’t think I would have ever built one like that, but after seeing this I really kinda like it! Kudos!
Beautiful worksmanship on a first build! On the design side, I wonder if the headstock would be better off if it were wider, to better align (especially) the B and F strings. It seems they may be raking across the nut pretty hard. Congratulations, and enjoy!
Amazing work dude and if thats your first build I would love to see what you produce in the future.