spikydavid Posted January 10, 2016 Share Posted January 10, 2016 (edited) Having received a bow for Christmas from my girlfriend (Kate), I started to practice playing arco - however, I quickly found a problem... Due to the nature of the Stagg electric upright bass, I couldn't bow properly, without the bow hitting my legs. This was because the eub isn't as deep as a proper acoustic double bass, so the strings are closer to the player's body (um, me), so, physics and geometry being what they are, the bowing didn't work so well. As it was over Christmas, and I had some time, I hatched a cunning plan - build a body for the eub, that was the size and shape of an acoustic db! Here's the steps that I went through... Step 1 - Work out what size an acoustic db actually is Strangely harder than it seems, but the internet is your friend, and through a combination of searches, particularly for cases, I got all the relevant sizes, and started making plans. I also looked at the different body shapes, and decided that the viola was a bit fussy (i.e. difficult), so went with the less fussy Gamba Step 2 - Make the template I then drew the template at one quarter size (so that it fitted onto a sheet of A4) and inked it. Hardest part was getting the symmetry, which I did through the simple expedient of drawing one side, then folding the paper in half, and tracing the other side. I then scanned it, and printed it at full size. I then stuck together all the A4 pages to make the full-size template Step 3 - Cut out the template Not that complicated - cut out the template. At this point, it's still paper, so scissors worked (this is more relevant later on...) Step 4 - Transfer the template to wood Now that I knew the full size of the template, I could get wood to make the case. Following a quick trip to Wickes, I got a large sheet of 6mm MDF. I then taped the paper template to the wood, traced round with a sharpie, to get the shape onto the wood Step 5 - Cut out the template (again) Okay, having a template drawn out on wood, I then cut this out. This was a lot easier said than done, as I didn't have any power tools, so all by hand. Mostly a hand saw, though I did try a chisel briefly. This didn't work at all, as it turns out MDF just splinters when you use a chisel on it. The convex curves were fine, but the concave curves couldn't be cut with the saw. After faffing with a hacksaw (didn't work), Kate helped me by cutting out with a steak knife. This took about three days... Step 6 - Attach to the eub So, having got a template of the body, I needed to attach it to the eub. I didn't want to do anything permanent to the eub, but there is a small shelf at the top of the body, where the neck attaches. I decided to 'hang' the template from this, with the appropriate depth (you may recall, at the beginning of the post, that the depth was the problem we're trying to fix...). This was done with a large piece of 18mm MDF (something a bit more solid), with small pegs. Rather than trying to cut these out (learning my lesson from the convex curves...), I decided to cut the pegs separately, and glue these (learning point - I managed to snap one off after gluing - if they snap again, I will put dowels in to make them stronger). The lower grip was at around bridge level - key thing here was just to make sure that it was above the jack! Step 7 - Refining It's hard to see on the pictures, but the attachments are lined with door insulation, so that the case doesn't mark the eub. After making the attachments, this first version worked okay, but had a tendency to slip backwards from the bass. With all the pressure on the top peg, I was also concerned about the pressure on it. So, I decided to put some more wood in to make sure the two attachments didn't get forced apart. Step 8 - More refining Having reinforced the structure, I then decided to see if I could get it to hang a little more securely. There is a strap nut on the back of the neck, so I decided to try to make something to attach to this. This turned out to be simpler than expected, but the biggest issue was that this would be bearing a lot of the load, so how to attach it to the rest of the case. After all this work, it works brilliantly! I'm able to play the eub standing (which wasn't possible without the case, as it wouldn't balance), and can bow without hitting my legs, both standing and sitting. Last couple of pictures of the case with the bass in place... It's taken ten days, so I'm very pleased with it. Next steps will be to paint it, so it looks a little more polished. I'm also intending to make a second template, and create a front as well as back - though this will be a little more tricky, as I will need to cut out the space for the neck, strings & bridge On the whole, very pleased with the project... Edited January 10, 2016 by spikydavid Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Jack Posted January 10, 2016 Share Posted January 10, 2016 The word gob-smacked hardly begins to describe how I feel right now. I think I'd better go to bed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EssentialTension Posted January 10, 2016 Share Posted January 10, 2016 Doesn't the Stagg come with a hip (and an arm) support to move it away from your body? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alyctes Posted January 11, 2016 Share Posted January 11, 2016 Nice Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spikydavid Posted January 11, 2016 Author Share Posted January 11, 2016 [quote name='EssentialTension' timestamp='1452465232' post='2950254'] Doesn't the Stagg come with a hip (and an arm) support to move it away from your body? [/quote] Yes, but I couldn't get it to balance while I was standing, as it's only a single point of contact. When I was sitting, the hip support wasn't deep enough to create the space Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul S Posted January 11, 2016 Share Posted January 11, 2016 How about playing it on a stand? That would keep it steady. It is what i do. Stagg make one especially for their EUB that is a bit clumsy IMO but I adapted something to make one that looks far more elegant. [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/6749-stagg/page__view__findpost__p__2727377"]http://basschat.co.uk/topic/6749-stagg/page__view__findpost__p__2727377[/url] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
randythoades Posted January 11, 2016 Share Posted January 11, 2016 Great Thread. This is something I have considered for my Bassix EUB. Glad to know that I am not alone. I shall be stealing some of these ideas. I am all motivated again... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spikydavid Posted January 11, 2016 Author Share Posted January 11, 2016 [quote name='Paul S' timestamp='1452502975' post='2950433'] How about playing it on a stand? That would keep it steady. It is what i do. Stagg make one especially for their EUB that is a bit clumsy IMO but I adapted something to make one that looks far more elegant. [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/6749-stagg/page__view__findpost__p__2727377"]http://basschat.co.u...ost__p__2727377[/url] [/quote] This was something I considered - I saw your thread, plus a couple of others, which were an inspiration in what was possible I tried out another eub on a stand, though, and found it a bit flimsy feeling - I felt like I was using my thumb as leverage a lot on the neck, rather than being able to just pull against the neck without the thumb being engaged. Also, as a first pass, the stands I looked at all seemed to involve drilling/screwing into the eub body - so I thought I'd try something non-impacting first, and if it didn't work, I'd have that as a fallback - however, it's working well so far... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EssentialTension Posted January 11, 2016 Share Posted January 11, 2016 [quote name='spikydavid' timestamp='1452502306' post='2950425'] Yes, but I couldn't get it to balance while I was standing, as it's only a single point of contact. When I was sitting, the hip support wasn't deep enough to create the space [/quote] Ah, anyway, nicely done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bornagainbass65 Posted January 11, 2016 Share Posted January 11, 2016 Half the fun of having a cheap EUB is bodging it about to make it easier/better to play. If it works for you then go with it. Think I'd go one step further and paint f holes on it... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sarah thomas Posted January 11, 2016 Share Posted January 11, 2016 I am full of admiration for you and the wonderful Kate with her steak knife. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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