Want to try building a barnwood bass...

Smitty · Post by **Smitty** » Sun Jun 03, 2012 11:04 am

The rural property I live on came complete with a timber-frame barn from about the 1880's. Some long-untended roof damage and the resultant rotting means the thing had to come down last year, unfortunately (the original build quality was breathtaking).

I've scavenged some really neat pieces of wood from it that have managed to avoid wet rot and barn beetles over the years. In fact, once you get through the outermost 1/16th inch, it looks like brand new wood (despite being 130+ years old).

As a fun and semi-sentimental project, I was going to try to put together a rudimentary one-piece fretless bass with some of it. Think "pre-radiused fretboard glued to a one-piece carved-neck and body with hardware and electronics added" so that it looks like a rustic Steinberg kinda thing. Maybe even have it be a longer scale and be able to play it upright?

Inspired by some of the videos I've seen on YouTube of guys playing 2x4's with strings and it sounds like a proper upright bass.

Anybody made instruments out of scrap/non-traditional wood? Any pointers? Is this a silly idea?

The Scum · Post by **The Scum** » Sun Jun 03, 2012 12:46 pm

Have you ever seen a Wish Bass? They sound like you're describing. Alembic-ish sandwich wood at McDonalds prices.

A friend of mine has built some basses under the name "Bare Bones Bass." Little octagonal violin-like bodies...maybe walnut?

Both worth looking at for inspiration.

dave watkins · Post by **dave watkins** » Sun Jun 03, 2012 4:42 pm

i'd say go for it! folks get so crazy about the types of wood used in instruments, but in an electric instrument while the wood definitely plays a part in the tone, i always feel like it's more up to the build quality and the electronics. old crazy wood can produce good results. i just recently built a prototype electric dulcitar with a neck thru maple neck and scrap pine body sides and it's rough around the edges but it totally rips. (you can see progress photos here if you want: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set ... 3478dbb055 ) the only thing other than the i didn't make from scratch was the fret board which i modified from a "build your own dulcimer" kit so it's a bit similar to what you are trying to do.

i think the only thing you should worry about is the strength of the wood, and whether or not it will bow a lot (or break) under the tension of the strings. you may need to figure out a way to reinforce the neck before you glue on the fret board (truss rod, carbon fiber rods) if you don't want to do it with reinforcement you may want to build a mockup first and see how well the wood will withstand the tension before you spend hours carving the final piece. other than that, get crazy, it'll probably turn out better than you expect..

Smitty · Post by **Smitty** » Sun Jun 03, 2012 5:44 pm

dave watkins wrote:i think the only thing you should worry about is the strength of the wood, and whether or not it will bow a lot (or break) under the tension of the strings. you may need to figure out a way to reinforce the neck before you glue on the fret board (truss rod, carbon fiber rods) if you don't want to do it with reinforcement you may want to build a mockup first and see how well the wood will withstand the tension before you spend hours carving the final piece. other than that, get crazy, it'll probably turn out better than you expect..

this is my primary concern, actually... and I don't know if being 130 years old and super-dry will make the wood more or less problematic in this regard.

i also have no idea what kind of wood it is. it was used for the roof trusses originally, beneath the horizontal slats onto which the slate was nailed. i know that they used different types of wood for each part of the barn based on the qualities each section needed to possess. They also used what they had available locally.

I don't think I can do a super-skinny modern J-bass kinda neck without installing a truss rod of some kind, and doing so is likely well outside my luthier skill-set (at least at this point). I am comfy having a somewhat thicker, more clunky neck if it means I can be sure it won't snap when I string it up...

BTW... I've heard your electric dulcimer in a previous thread, and it screams. While I'm sure you have things you'd redo if you made it over, you certainly can't hear any of them in the recording as it sounds quite neato.

dave watkins · Post by **dave watkins** » Sun Jun 03, 2012 6:02 pm

thanks man, i am indeed really happy with how it turned out! even though i did install a truss rod in this thing i still kept the neck as fat as i could, especially since it's so narrow. i may just be telling myself this, but i swear a thicker neck sounds better anyway.

good luck with your build, it's definitely a bit of trial and error at first but it's so worth it. i'm pretty sure most upright basses don't have reinforcement, so if your neck is thick enough and you do go more that route with it you'll probably be able to get away with it.

Snarl 12/8 · Post by **Snarl 12/8** » Sun Jun 03, 2012 7:22 pm

Isn't it true that the longer the string, the tighter it'll have to be to reach a certain pitch? So, you might want to go shorter, rather than longer scale. If you're worried about snappage.

Smitty · Post by **Smitty** » Sun Jun 03, 2012 7:42 pm

Snarl 12/8 wrote:Isn't it true that the longer the string, the tighter it'll have to be to reach a certain pitch? So, you might want to go shorter, rather than longer scale. If you're worried about snappage.

I have no knowledge of that, but it sounds correct.

I already have a regular, full-scale bass, so I'd be fine with a shorter scale.

I do know that I don't have the tools/ability to radius a fretboard, so I'm stuck using a pre-radiused one (ostensibly from Stew-Mac or some similar site). If I can't find a short-scale pre-radiused fingerboard, I may have no choice.

vvv · Post by **vvv** » Mon Jun 04, 2012 10:04 am

Snarl 12/8 wrote: If you're worried about snappage.

casey campbell · Post by **casey campbell** » Mon Jun 04, 2012 12:09 pm

hey dude,

check out creston guitars. he's done the exact same thing you speak of (using old barn timbers to build instruments).

Smitty · Post by **Smitty** » Mon Jun 04, 2012 12:18 pm

Scum and Casey, thanks for the links! Inspirational stuff, all.

Smitty · Post by **Smitty** » Mon Jun 04, 2012 12:23 pm

casey campbell wrote:hey dude,

check out creston guitars. he's done the exact same thing you speak of (using old barn timbers to build instruments).

Holy sh*t, they built Will Johnson's guitar! He's one of my all-time favorites. I've seen him play that thing live on several occasions. Neato!

vvv · Post by **vvv** » Mon Jun 04, 2012 3:31 pm

Didn't The Right Rev. Billie Gibbons have a guitar made outta a plank from Muddy Water's birth-place cabin?

ubertar · Post by **ubertar** » Mon Jun 04, 2012 5:21 pm

http://www.ubertar.com/kids.html

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