Friday, October 2, 2020

Post 23: Making the 12 Strings Bass 2

   Well, I had a (maybe) better idea. I have laying around a couple of long aluminum 2x4's I used in the construction of my house 20 years ago. They are very thick and very rigid, but also very rough from construction use (and abuse). It's OK though, I don't mind a few "scars" left from a hard life after I sand and polish them as best I can. 

    So I cut notches in the neck for the two pickups and bent it. I then cut a piece 20 " or so, and notched it to fit one end of my long neck. It took quite a while to get that properly fitted, as the walls of the 2x4 are 1/4" thick. The neck will be attached with six 4.5" long through 1/4" bolts and brass spacers.

        That chunk of metal is heavy and needs to be tightened while keeping its rigidity. I could drill a bunch of large holes on the side and back, but that would be very time consuming, and I am not sure the result would be satisfactory. So I chose instead to cut most of the backside out leaving just three half-inch wide ties. It can be covered with a lightweight aluminum plate. The top needs a cutout for the pots and jack plate. The sides could still possibly be drilled, but with a bunch of smaller holes. The largest drill I have is 1", and I will just have to try and see if I can drill neat enough holes.

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Post 34: Thinking of a headless and fretless bass

   I would like to use that wonderful piece of canari wood to try my hand at making a more traditional wooden bass. I want it to be special ...