Maude

It's just for noodling at home so will probably be played seated at 45 degrees rather than either extreme. I'm in an acoustic band and when we do The Pretender by Foo Fighters I quite often lay the doublebass over and play it like a bass guitar, it's cheesey as hell but with the mandolin player on his knees beside me both 'rocking out' it's a crowd pleaser. Anyway it's actually very comfortable to play like that. You physically can't play a doublebass like a bass guitar, or a bass guitar like a doublebass, I want a bass guitar that you can play like a doublebass. For silly things like sitting in the garden playing, sure I could lug a doublebass out there but they're cumbersome and then I can't just lay back in a chair and play. It's just as much for the challenge of doing it as anything else. In my original post I said, "Is it worth trying? Probably not." I also said I might be an idiot. 😁

No I probably won't get as wide string spacing as I'd like, but the point I'm trying get across (not very clearly 😁) is that I don't want to take a doublebass board and make it fit a bass guitar, rather take a bass guitar and make it fit a doublebass board. I want the long overhang of fingerboard raised off the soundboard so that I can play it like a doublebass. If I shave the neck down so that it sits flat on the neck and soundboard and use the existing bridge then I may as well just use my existing fretless acoustic. See the length of fingerboard in this picture compared to a bass guitar. The red area is just as important as the neck radius in making it play like a doublebass. Something even the TB-10 doesn't achieve. I'm not sure how I'll do this until I've got the parts and do some good old British eccentric in shed engineering. A doublebass nut isn't as wide as you might think (about 42mm) so the compromise will be starting the board at neck width at the nut and getting possibly wider than the neck at the body end. The bottom of the nut end can be sanded down (as in your explanation) which will narrow it and lower it's profile while keeping the radius the same, but leave the body end wider and taller. This will act to increase the neck angle, hopefully allowing the overhang of the fingerboard over the soundboard to be raised enough to allow for it to be played like a doublebass. This in turn will mean the bridge will need to be a lot taller, meaning a tailpiece will be needed. If the strings were anchored to a taller bridge the levering action would tear it off the soundboard. The edge of the fingerboard that will protrude over the neck edges will need to be addressed, but again, until I can see and feel it I won't know the best course of action. This is all just a mad plan in my head and might not work at all, but nothing ventured and all that. 🙂

No one cares about how you look after the finish, let's see some pictures man. 😁 The only thing I know you have to be careful with is the type of stand/rack that has foam protection. The foam can react with the paint and mark it. Nitro never fully cures so certain chemicals can soften it again. Also I've found some polishes tend to do more harm than good, again because the finish is soft compared to poly.

I'm guessing that the process of roasting mimics the process of sap crystallising in very old wood. This acts like resin bonding the wood fibres together making a harder, but more brittle wood.

Sun Arise - Erm, well it's err, oh yeah let's go with Alice Cooper.

Good Morning Britain - Aztec Camera

While I agree with you, my wife and I do fall into that cliché of me liking basses and her liking shoes. Once when yet another pair of shoes arrived I commented in jest, "How many pairs of shoes can you possibly wear with one pair of feet?" To which she replied, "How many basses can you possibly play with one pair of hands?" I don't question the shoes anymore. 😉 In reality we share the bills and buy what we want with the surplus. We trust each other to not buy something stupid and jeopardise our finances so it's all good.

@SpondonBassed, were you looking for a stand/rack? Maybe knock up something similar to this if you've any spare wood around.

Reasons To Be Cheerful - IJ&TB

People Are Strange - The Doors

How did he use a standard P bridge with a much tighter radiused board, surely he wouldn't get enough height adjustment to match the board? I actually want the physicality of a doublebass, string spacing, radius, etc. I want the end of the board higher than the body so I can put my thumb under it as I do on doublebass. One of the biggest problems I think will be the weight of a bigger board, but the added tailpiece and bridge might counter that.

I may have just put the wheels in motion to something really cool, or I'm an idiot. Time will tell. 😁 I've had a longtime love affair with the Takamine TB-10 but they are too expensive for something to noodle on. One of the main attractions is that it has a radiused board like a doublebass so forces your right hand to play it like a doublebass. I had thoughts of converting a cello or something into a 34" bass but then noticed a damaged Aria FEB on ebay. It's one of Gear4Musics casualties so is brand new but damaged. The damaged listed is cosmetic damage to the headstock, and the board lifted slightly from the body. My first thought was that the head has been whacked and bent the neck back, breaking it away from the body causing the board to lift slightly. The listing does not mention the neck having moved and the headstock damage is very minimal so it might just be the board coming unglued and the little nick in the head, as per listing. I've taken a gamble as the listing says it's returnable but not for the damage listed, a broken neck is not listed. Anyway I'll find out on Tuesday when it arrives 🙈. My plan is to remove the board and somehow fit a doublebass one from a 1/4 size or something, I'll know more when I can take some measurements and do some research. I'll probably want a longer board so I can play over the end of it like a doublebass. I'll need to add a tailpiece and a wider, higher bridge to accommodate the increased angle a tighter radiused board will give. Will it work? Who knows. Is it worth trying? Probably not. Am I going to? Hell yeah! 😃

I've just had to do a similar thing with my old Hohner Arbor fretless. The board had shrunk slightly leaving a tiny lip that could be felt. I drowned it in lemon oil to try and get it to swell back to its original size, but while messing with it noticed that the board had very slightly come away from the neck in the middle. Over the next few days of the board being soaked in oil it separated even more, and it actually popped it off completely using a thin steel rule slid in a the centre and worked either way. The shrinkage and expansion basically broke the glue bond. I glued the board back on after a clean up but I have a fraction of neck protruding either side like you've shown above. Likewise I've scrapped it back flush with a razor but couldn't help take a smudge of the neck lacquer off with it, which is really annoying as it's aged beautifully. I've feathered the lacquer edge with wet'n'dry so you can't feel it, but now I have two tiny stripes of lighter wood between the aged lacquer and the rosewood board. Do you think oil would colour the wood but not take to the lacquer if wiped on carefully and then the lacquered part wiped clean? It's really not too bad but I'd like to disguise it if possible. Sorry for a slight derail. 🙂

A Thousand Hours - The Cure Give it time and will have posted their entire back catalogue. 😁

Swords of a Thousand Men - Tenpole Tudor

It didn't sell. No bids. So he's relisted it as Buy It Now priced a tenner higher than no one offered the first time. 🤔

Vicky's Box - Throwing Muses

To me it's two hobbies linked by a common theme. One hobby is playing bass in a band and when gigging I tend to settle on one bass and stick with it. The second hobby is tinkering with basses. Buying quirky or old instruments and reviving them. Setting them up to play their best, restoring or refinishing and modifying them. I have quite a few basses (and guitars, shhh) and while they are not an investment as such, they have a monetary value, if I need that money one day I can sell some or all. It's much more fun owning basses than it is owning money. A money collection is the dullest thing I can think of. Money is just an IOU, much like my instrument collection. Both can be traded for other stuff when the need arises. If I had to own only one of mine though it would be my modified Variax. They don't get much love but it has everything, playability, looks and versatility.

No, Cake. I won't put a link up and disrupt the Dolly covers though.

Please Mr. Postman - The Marvelettes Sean Connery playing a postie. 😉

Planet Earth - Duran Duran

Son Of A Preacher Man - Dusty Springfield I had to stop anyone suggesting 'Mustang *****'.

I've just missed out on a Squier Mini P. It popped up on Facebook next to where my daughter works, but my daughter can't use her phone at work. By the time I'd got hold of her to ask her to grab it it had sold. It was only £60 and looked like new. Nevermind.

Looking For Linda - Hue & Cry

More skillful though. 😁