Flea market Funk machine

[Bastav]

So I have decided to try building a bass with a budget of a 100 euros, but retaining a boutique-ish look. As I live in the northern regions of sweden where the wood supply is very limited I'm usually buying wood from ebay... the shipping charges alone when ordering wood for an entire bass would quickly eat up my budget.
So the wood for this bass will all be from furniture found at flea markets, namely a CD-rack (mahogany or something like it), a chair (also mahogany) and a table (don't know what this wood is but it has an exotic look).

Specs
4strings
fretless
28'' scale
bolt on or set neck. tbd
piezo only

Money spent;
Wood - 19€
Tuners (2nd hand decent quality gotoh type) - 7€
Piezo & pre-amp of ebay - 39€
Bridge from wood scraps - free
Truss rod - 6€

=71€
which leaves 29€ for the strings and whatever else that I've neglected

Here's my basic sketch


and here's a pile of wood. The fretboard is from the table, any ideas about what wood that might be?

Edited September 9, 2016 by Bastav

[Grangur]

This will be great. I'm following!

[lemmywinks]

Just out of interest what preamp did you buy for the piezo?

[Bastav]

[quote name='lemmywinks' timestamp='1473427587' post='3130148']
Just out of interest what preamp did you buy for the piezo?
[/quote]
This one
http://www.ebay.com/itm/TONE-MONSTER-AVT-Acoustic-Preamp-Bass-Guitar-SA4B-UST-Under-Saddle-Pickup-/182273359593?

I have no idea if it's any good but we'll find out

[Bastav]

couldnt resist a quick mockup

[Andyjr1515]

Wonderful. Love this kind of thing.

[lemmywinks]

[quote name='Bastav' timestamp='1473433181' post='3130218']
This one
[url="http://www.ebay.com/itm/TONE-MONSTER-AVT-Acoustic-Preamp-Bass-Guitar-SA4B-UST-Under-Saddle-Pickup-/182273359593?"]http://www.ebay.com/...-/182273359593?[/url]

I have no idea if it's any good but we'll find out
[/quote]

Nice one thanks.

[Maude]

[quote name='Andyjr1515' timestamp='1473439385' post='3130298']
Wonderful. Love this kind of thing.
[/quote]

[Maude]

[quote name='Andyjr1515' timestamp='1473439385' post='3130298']
Wonderful. Love this kind of thing.
[/quote]


Agreed

Obviously appreciate the expensive builds by the pros but I really love the kind of 'make it up as you go along out of bits of scrap' type of builds.
I think it shows real innovation and the instruments have something special about them when finished.

[ezbass]

Ooh, ooh! Another home build thread; goodo!

[Myke]

Love the look of the carving on the body. Are those hatched areas going to be chambers?

[Bastav]

Thanks for the comments! Yes there will be some chambering, The chambering under the bridge will also act as the control cavity and the round thing surrounding the bridge will be a removable bridge plate so there wont be any other hatches or covers. I will also hide away the pots leaving the front clean... hopefully it will look pretty sleek

I had a suggestion regarding the table wood; jacaranda. A quick google search tells me that [i]might[/i] mean jacaranda and it might mean brazil rosewood. Here are som other table planks (the leg on the left still has the old finish on it, the other piece is fresh out the bandsaw).

[Andyjr1515]

No idea what it is, but it's a very pretty piece of wood, Bastav

[Bastav]

Slow progress, but progress none the less. Glued up the neck blank... one piece at a time


Then spent a few minutes planing in the grass


Next up I will attempt a scarf joint, we'll see how that goes. I've also started on the fingerboard but I've yet to start on the position markers and binding. The binding will hide away the screw holes from when this was a table.

[MacDaddy]

just found this thread. Now following

[Bastav]

Here's the fingerboard. It's now partially slotted with veneer strips glued in with some sawdust. I managed to slighly mess up a few of the slots due to lack of proper preparations/slotting jig. This being fretless, I'm not really worried about function so much as form. We'll see what it looks like with the binding in place... If Im not happy with it I'll start over on a new board.

[Andyjr1515]

Any more progress with this, Bastav?

[Bastav]

[quote name='Andyjr1515' timestamp='1477146152' post='3160145']
Any more progress with this, Bastav?
[/quote]
Well, not much. Ive been moving house and this coupled with the fact i dont have a dedicated workspace has led to a forced building hiatus. Also i started another project, so ive now got three builds to distract me from more important things

[Andyjr1515]

[quote name='Bastav' timestamp='1477309026' post='3161224']

Well, not much. Ive been moving house and this coupled with the fact i dont have a dedicated workspace has led to a forced building hiatus. Also i started another project, so ive now got three builds to distract me from more important things
[/quote]
Sounds good...means we can hassle you three times as much

[Bastav]

Started work on this again after a bit of a winter hiatus. Here´s a picture of the jigsaw puzzle that is the body. Left to right, youre looking at the back, middle and top



Clamping it up. Ive got the back and middle sections glued up, awaiting planing. I will piece the top together once I have the rest of the body glued up.


Scarf joint glue up. I think it went okay. Not perfect but I should be able to get an acceptable result in post-production



Thats it, hopefully I'll have this looking a little more bass-like by next week!

[Andyjr1515]

Wow - looking at those body sections, that's quite a construction! Can't wait

[sblueplanet]

Never too many clamps!
Look forward to seeing this progress.

[Norris]

Great to see some progress again. The middle wood looks like you've done the dark strips in a V shape because of the perspective - that's a cool idea that I might steal one day

[Jabba_the_gut]

I'm liking this project! I really like the re-use of wood and what you are doing with this.

[Bastav]

Thanks for the comments, the woods in the middle (and the top) are indeed a little irregular in shape, thats just what i ended up with when i took the chair and table apart. Im as interested to see what it will end up looking like as anyone

Edited March 2, 2017 by Bastav