duffer1 Posted June 21, 2016 Posted June 21, 2016 (edited) Recently discovered a guy selling diy uke bass kits. Didn't buy one - but did buy a bass banjolele that he made. Acoustically it's louder than the usual uke bass because it uses a drum skin as a resonator. It started me wondering about resonator bass construction and after a bit of research I ordered some dobro type guitar bits. Over the weekend I produced a prototype 21inch scale (Ubass size) resonator bass using standard parts and costing less than £100. It's early days but it shows promise as an acoustic instrument. Volume and tone is better than I've had before. Anyone else tried this? Or have I just invented a resonator uke bass? Edited June 21, 2016 by duffer1 Quote
Grangur Posted June 21, 2016 Posted June 21, 2016 Sounds really interesting. Any chance of some pictures and other information? Video or sound clips would be great too. Please Quote
duffer1 Posted June 21, 2016 Author Posted June 21, 2016 Will try to post some pics but not sure how........ Quote
duffer1 Posted June 21, 2016 Author Posted June 21, 2016 Best I can do using my ancient Android tablet...... Will try again later with something a bit better - the video sound is terrible. Quote
Grangur Posted June 21, 2016 Posted June 21, 2016 Ohhh... tempting! You might do well to load pics to Photobucket and then paste the links to the thread using the "image" button in the editor window (not available on the mobile version of the interface) Quote
Grahambythesea Posted June 21, 2016 Posted June 21, 2016 I remember Crafter making a reasonable full scale resonator bass. Saw Ashley Hitchings with theAlbion Band playing one at a gig. Sounded ok. I'm not convinced that Uke bass strings give enough resonance (presumably Aqilla "gut" type). I wonder if any maker is still producing a resonator bass? Quote
Grahambythesea Posted June 21, 2016 Posted June 21, 2016 Answered my own question. Ozark make a metal bodied version and Dean and Gold Tone make wooden bodied types. Ozark a day Dean both available for under £500, Gold Tone is a lot more expensive. Quote
uk_lefty Posted June 21, 2016 Posted June 21, 2016 There was a Harley Benton resonator bass for a while, not sure if it's still available Quote
Grangur Posted June 21, 2016 Posted June 21, 2016 [quote name='uk_lefty' timestamp='1466509655' post='3076316'] There was a Harley Benton resonator bass for a while, not sure if it's still available [/quote] http://www.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_custom_line_clr_resobass.htm?ref=search_rslt_resonator+bass_338383_18 Quote
duffer1 Posted June 21, 2016 Author Posted June 21, 2016 " I'm not convinced that Uke bass strings give enough resonance (presumably Aqilla "gut" type)." I wasn't sure either and was surprised when it worked. There's plenty of scope for tweaking but I'll list an audio file soon. Quote
duffer1 Posted June 21, 2016 Author Posted June 21, 2016 (edited) three mp3 files - the resonator bass, excelsior bass (Ubass type), banjolele bass. All recorded acoustically at the same gain from two feet. The Excelsior bass has a much lighter action (strung with Aquila Red strings for 24inch bass) and sounds great through an amp. The banjolele bass has Aquila Thundergut strings (I think) and the resonator bass has D'Addario EJ88UB strings (developed with Aquila but cheaper)[attachment=221994:banjobass.mp3][attachment=221995:resonator.mp3][attachment=221996:excelsior.mp3] Edited June 21, 2016 by duffer1 Quote
duffer1 Posted June 21, 2016 Author Posted June 21, 2016 not sure how the attachments have changed names but the resonator bass is 297kb, excelsior bass is 450kb, and the banjolele bass is 447kb Quote
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.