This is a continuation of part 1. The remainder of the body is being cut out. Below: Continuing to cut around the lower horn. Below: Beginning to cut the neck area. The cut distance from the pencil line has been purposely increased from a 1/16″ distance to 1/8″; this keeps the standing rib from breaking … Read more
The feature bass player for this week is Don Lauder from San Diego, California! Don is a metal bass player that captures great tones (heard in the video below). We interviewed Don and this is what he had to say. Is the Spector bass seen in your video stock, or has it been modified? (If … Read more
See the business listing for this bass builder here Maurice’s basses have graced our pages before and does so again with this gorgeous 5-string fretless. Maurice writes: This is a bass that was commissioned by Sandeep Rassaily from Nepal. He is a well known bassist who plays in local bands in Pokhara and Kathmandu. Sandeep … Read more
In this build step, the band saw is put to use to cut more wood excess away from the body to get it closer to its finalized shape. Below: Showing the body before cutting starts. The larger wood excess has been cut away previously, and in this step we’re slimming it down even further. No … Read more
The feature bass this week is a unique standup cutaway. Here is the story of the build: This is an old plywood top bass that was restored by Scotty Jackson of Scotty Jackson Violins in Gainesville, FL. He called me one day and said that he had something he’d never seen in all his 35 … Read more
You would be surprised at how many bassists – even for ones that build basses – don’t always install strings correctly. It is common that many new bass players aren’t aware that on a slotted tuner (which accounts for most bass tuners,) you’re supposed to insert string straight down the center hole for use as … Read more
In this build step we will be drilling out the remainder of the pick guard holes and finishing the pick guard neck cutout. Below: The pick guard is laying on body, and the tools we will be using are shown, that being a centerpunch (top), a chamfer/countersink bit, and 1/16″ bit w/tape on it. There … Read more
Ordinarily we don’t start bassist of the week articles with videos, but this is an exception and you’ll understand why right now. Rohan, who is from Melbourne, Australia, has played bass at the lake: …and on the beach (several times): …and in the rainforest: …and on a wind farm: …and on the bus: So yeah, … Read more
See the business listing for this bass builder here This feature bass is a minimalist build where just one piece of wood makes up the entire body and neck. (Video is after the photos so you can hear a demo!) Builder Steve Jackson writes: I had a fascination to put knobs on the side. It … Read more
In this build step, the pick guard edge is beveled, and a few options are shown of how to go about doing this. Below: The tools needed here are a half-round file and a razor blade (optional, shown in a moment.) Below: Beginning of the filing process. Instead of placing the pick guard in a … Read more
