I did boost the audio by +5db, it's actually very quiet in real life but the tone is there, I just have to figure out how to extract it without ruining it.
Very, very cool so far. This is looking very nice. I dare you to get the drill and rasp out and get creative with that bridge ;) ...that instrument needs a nicely sculped bridge for sure. This is looking great though. Love your work. Can't wait to see this finished.
It's so funny thinking about what trees grow where. I live in Oregon (US) and literally have maple sprouting up in my yard. I've had to pull seedlings from my flower bed. The maple I used for my violin neck and bridge (along with several other bridge blanks) came from my in-laws' firewood pile 😁 and the bigleaf maple I made a flying V body out of was growing in somebody's yard about 2 hour drive from my house. Watching this video really reminds me I need to work on my own electric upright 🤣💜
Indeed, we don't get a lot of maple in NZ, it's not native and no one's growing it commercially so it's all imported and the best cuts cost quite a lot more than in other countries. What we do have here is a lot of native species like Kauri and Rimu, but even those are getting expensive, and Rimu is famously unreliable. Rimu heartwood is great but the rest of the tree is very changeable and unstable, not suitable instrument material. I settled on Kwila because it's sustainably grown and imported in bulk which keeps costs down, it's strong, rigid, reliable, easy to work and carve, glues and finishes beautifully, The downside is that it no two planks are ever the same color and grafting them together can look patchy, but we do our best. Thanks
@@fanbladeinstruments yeah I’ve never even seen Kwila here for sale, but seeing what you’ve made with it I really want to try some 😁. What I’ve tried to do a bit is source as many local and domestic woods as I can. But we really don’t have anything similar to mahogany. Alder is decent, big leaf maple is softer and lighter than any other maple, so it works fairly well for bodies. Oh, and suitable material for fretboards is quite limited too. Plenty of Sitka spruce, Douglas fir, and western red cedar though.
Remember though, the audio of that playing was boosted +5db, it's actually quite quiet in reality, my job is now to make it louder without interfering with that tone if I can.
You've got the Double Bass sound this time, hoping the pickup doesn't give it the same (electric bass) sound as V1 ended up with. Lovin' your content here in Belfast❤
Interestingly I made another one of the same pickup for my big double bass and even as a fully potted magnetic pickup it still has a lot of the acoustic vibe coming through, I really do believe the acoustic chambering makes a lot of the difference. Cheers
Looking fantastic! Speaking of a case, I'm probably going to be revisiting your custom case fitting video for a case I got with a guitar I bought for my niece.
No one out there in the world suggested a “string thru bridge design”? Come on, it couldn’t be more obvious. Leo Fender is up there laughing his ass off!?
Yes they did suggest it while I didn't make it clear in the video there wasn't enough string length to do it. At $240 for a new set of strings it wasn't going to happen. That's more than I make off youtube in 6 months. This is not a high budget channel.
RE Pickups - an interesting idea that isn't a mag or piezo assembly would be two little condenser microphones in a tube similar to the old Soloette instruments (and the Aria Sinsonido that licensed that design), none of the piezo scratchiness and still sounds like an acoustic instruments. There's a guy on the UK Basschat forum that redesigned the preamp for the Sinsonido and made the schematic available which might be handy.
Now you're talking! That's a completely new idea on me, I've found the thread with all the schematics and it looks very promising, I'll have to dive in later and have a good think about how to do that but it doesn't look like it'll be much more complicated than building the preamp and then futzing with a couple of microphones until it sounds nice. Thank you sir😁
@@fanbladeinstruments Check out some sound clips of the Sinsonido, particularly the fretless ones. They definitely have an upright like quality to them which would be ideal for an EUB.
So, let me get this straight, you're saying superglue isn't necessarily the most labour-saving finish for an instrument? Huh. But expert luthiers and giant guitar manufacturing companies the world over use it for their products... no... wait. I'm only messing. Loving the build. The bass looks and sounds amazing. Great job so far.
I did the math, I'm literally covering twice the surface area of a normal bass guitar, hence it took twice as long and cost twice as much. With a normal bass it's 2 - 3 days and about $40 in cheap glue and I consider that an acceptable level of time and expense for one instrument. Doubling those figures puts it firmly in the non-viable column, and so I look to other solutions, gonna have to get the UV resin out and see how it works on a large scale.
Given the overhang of the fingerboard, would it be just about possible to hide the pickup under the fingerboard? That is assuming it wouldn't get in the way of resting your thumb under it, of course.
I've had a couple of ideas like that, I'm kinda intending to mount a magnetic pickup at the end of the fingerboard but there would need to be a mounting bracket which would also include a small volume pot and the output jack in one simple unit, leaving space on one edge for the thumb and one thin wire running down to ground the strings. Haven't designed any of that yet, but now I'm up to the part where I know exactly how much room I have to play with. It'll be a fun design challenger for sure. Thanks
Don't know to be honest, it's pretty hard but I've not tested it's compressive strength. my big fear would be that it might splinter or even break along the grain lines. it would look pretty though.
Did you consider string thru? I think that might've looked sleeker. Can you not get more industrial sized super glue where you are? Don't take this as criticism...I know super glue gives a durable finish...it's more an observation , but it seems a little counter intuitive for a wood worker. Like nitro or lacquer would seem to be more pleasing on a tactile level.
I did consider the string thru option, in fact I cut out a long pointless speech about why I wasn't going to do it. in essence, I'd already cut the strings to length for the first eub, and as this one had more space behind the bridge there wasn't enough length to do it unless I pulled them down at such a sharp break angle behind the bridge they would just push the bridge over. The expensive option: buy a new set of upright bass strings, but I might need to sell my other kidney for that, the cheap option: hack some scrap metal together and polish it up good. I am planning to get some domed nuts to make it look a little nicer, I went to the hardware store but they were out of the M6 size.
nah dont build a neck out of English oak. Once that starts twisting theres no stoping it. I imagine it would it snap carbon rods over enough time and bend truss rods. it shakes it bends it twists but it will do so and last forever. the oldest wooden church in europe is made of oak made in 1060
Funny story, during the height of the pandemic I caught the virus and had to spend a week in isolation, I didn't realize how sick I was and decided to attempt a neck thru bass with a hard oak neck. I got fairly far with it too, I actually filmed and edited 3 episodes before I realized that the neck was curved sideways and there was no bringing it back. I decided to press on anyway, put the control cavity in the wrong place and broke through to the pickup cavity, at that point I declared my winter break and just walked away and slept for 3 days. I didn't re-enter the garage for about a month and there it was on the sawdust bench, right where I abandoned it. I turned it into a test bass for developing my pickup designs so it wasn't a total loss, but under the circumstances it was one of the most misguided projects I've ever tackled.
@@fanbladeinstruments yep thats oak for you. i built a neck out of hickory once. it turnd into a great neck but the amount of tools i went through trying to shape it its just great for blunting everything that touches it. its like working steel . but damn it made a good neck
I'm loving the new season of "What Would Leo Do (If he had superglue)?"!
Unplugged, that sounds *so* much better than it has any right to! Eagerly anticipating the final chapter of this saga
I did boost the audio by +5db, it's actually very quiet in real life but the tone is there, I just have to figure out how to extract it without ruining it.
Very, very cool so far. This is looking very nice. I dare you to get the drill and rasp out and get creative with that bridge ;) ...that instrument needs a nicely sculped bridge for sure. This is looking great though. Love your work. Can't wait to see this finished.
I'm a little reluctant to screw with a good thing but as I have to shave it down I could do something subtle. I'll have a think about it, thanks
It's so funny thinking about what trees grow where. I live in Oregon (US) and literally have maple sprouting up in my yard. I've had to pull seedlings from my flower bed. The maple I used for my violin neck and bridge (along with several other bridge blanks) came from my in-laws' firewood pile 😁 and the bigleaf maple I made a flying V body out of was growing in somebody's yard about 2 hour drive from my house. Watching this video really reminds me I need to work on my own electric upright 🤣💜
Indeed, we don't get a lot of maple in NZ, it's not native and no one's growing it commercially so it's all imported and the best cuts cost quite a lot more than in other countries. What we do have here is a lot of native species like Kauri and Rimu, but even those are getting expensive, and Rimu is famously unreliable. Rimu heartwood is great but the rest of the tree is very changeable and unstable, not suitable instrument material. I settled on Kwila because it's sustainably grown and imported in bulk which keeps costs down, it's strong, rigid, reliable, easy to work and carve, glues and finishes beautifully, The downside is that it no two planks are ever the same color and grafting them together can look patchy, but we do our best. Thanks
@@fanbladeinstruments yeah I’ve never even seen Kwila here for sale, but seeing what you’ve made with it I really want to try some 😁. What I’ve tried to do a bit is source as many local and domestic woods as I can. But we really don’t have anything similar to mahogany. Alder is decent, big leaf maple is softer and lighter than any other maple, so it works fairly well for bodies. Oh, and suitable material for fretboards is quite limited too. Plenty of Sitka spruce, Douglas fir, and western red cedar though.
I really enjoy your build videos. Calming and educational, as well as inspiring.
The superb acoustic tone really lays down a marker for what you do in the way of a pickup!
- Paul
Remember though, the audio of that playing was boosted +5db, it's actually quite quiet in reality, my job is now to make it louder without interfering with that tone if I can.
You've got the Double Bass sound this time, hoping the pickup doesn't give it the same (electric bass) sound as V1 ended up with. Lovin' your content here in Belfast❤
Interestingly I made another one of the same pickup for my big double bass and even as a fully potted magnetic pickup it still has a lot of the acoustic vibe coming through, I really do believe the acoustic chambering makes a lot of the difference. Cheers
Looking fantastic! Speaking of a case, I'm probably going to be revisiting your custom case fitting video for a case I got with a guitar I bought for my niece.
Woohoo! That’s my Sunday afternoon’s viewing sorted!
Really enjoyable series of videos. The bass looks great, can't wait to hear it with a pickup.
No one out there in the world suggested a “string thru bridge design”? Come on, it couldn’t be more obvious. Leo Fender is up there laughing his ass off!?
Yes they did suggest it while I didn't make it clear in the video there wasn't enough string length to do it. At $240 for a new set of strings it wasn't going to happen. That's more than I make off youtube in 6 months. This is not a high budget channel.
bloody brilliant mate
Getting there mate x
RE Pickups - an interesting idea that isn't a mag or piezo assembly would be two little condenser microphones in a tube similar to the old Soloette instruments (and the Aria Sinsonido that licensed that design), none of the piezo scratchiness and still sounds like an acoustic instruments. There's a guy on the UK Basschat forum that redesigned the preamp for the Sinsonido and made the schematic available which might be handy.
Now you're talking! That's a completely new idea on me, I've found the thread with all the schematics and it looks very promising, I'll have to dive in later and have a good think about how to do that but it doesn't look like it'll be much more complicated than building the preamp and then futzing with a couple of microphones until it sounds nice. Thank you sir😁
@@fanbladeinstruments Check out some sound clips of the Sinsonido, particularly the fretless ones. They definitely have an upright like quality to them which would be ideal for an EUB.
So, let me get this straight, you're saying superglue isn't necessarily the most labour-saving finish for an instrument? Huh. But expert luthiers and giant guitar manufacturing companies the world over use it for their products... no... wait. I'm only messing. Loving the build. The bass looks and sounds amazing. Great job so far.
I did the math, I'm literally covering twice the surface area of a normal bass guitar, hence it took twice as long and cost twice as much. With a normal bass it's 2 - 3 days and about $40 in cheap glue and I consider that an acceptable level of time and expense for one instrument. Doubling those figures puts it firmly in the non-viable column, and so I look to other solutions, gonna have to get the UV resin out and see how it works on a large scale.
Can you get Starbond CA glue in NZ? I buy it in 16oz (~470ml) bottles across the Tasman in Aus for about $80
Given the overhang of the fingerboard, would it be just about possible to hide the pickup under the fingerboard? That is assuming it wouldn't get in the way of resting your thumb under it, of course.
I've had a couple of ideas like that, I'm kinda intending to mount a magnetic pickup at the end of the fingerboard but there would need to be a mounting bracket which would also include a small volume pot and the output jack in one simple unit, leaving space on one edge for the thumb and one thin wire running down to ground the strings. Haven't designed any of that yet, but now I'm up to the part where I know exactly how much room I have to play with. It'll be a fun design challenger for sure. Thanks
Could the bridge wood be elm?
Don't know to be honest, it's pretty hard but I've not tested it's compressive strength. my big fear would be that it might splinter or even break along the grain lines. it would look pretty though.
Did you consider string thru? I think that might've looked sleeker.
Can you not get more industrial sized super glue where you are?
Don't take this as criticism...I know super glue gives a durable finish...it's more an observation , but it seems a little counter intuitive for a wood worker. Like nitro or lacquer would seem to be more pleasing on a tactile level.
I did consider the string thru option, in fact I cut out a long pointless speech about why I wasn't going to do it. in essence, I'd already cut the strings to length for the first eub, and as this one had more space behind the bridge there wasn't enough length to do it unless I pulled them down at such a sharp break angle behind the bridge they would just push the bridge over. The expensive option: buy a new set of upright bass strings, but I might need to sell my other kidney for that, the cheap option: hack some scrap metal together and polish it up good. I am planning to get some domed nuts to make it look a little nicer, I went to the hardware store but they were out of the M6 size.
nah dont build a neck out of English oak. Once that starts twisting theres no stoping it. I imagine it would it snap carbon rods over enough time and bend truss rods. it shakes it bends it twists but it will do so and last forever. the oldest wooden church in europe is made of oak made in 1060
Funny story, during the height of the pandemic I caught the virus and had to spend a week in isolation, I didn't realize how sick I was and decided to attempt a neck thru bass with a hard oak neck. I got fairly far with it too, I actually filmed and edited 3 episodes before I realized that the neck was curved sideways and there was no bringing it back. I decided to press on anyway, put the control cavity in the wrong place and broke through to the pickup cavity, at that point I declared my winter break and just walked away and slept for 3 days. I didn't re-enter the garage for about a month and there it was on the sawdust bench, right where I abandoned it. I turned it into a test bass for developing my pickup designs so it wasn't a total loss, but under the circumstances it was one of the most misguided projects I've ever tackled.
@@fanbladeinstruments yep thats oak for you. i built a neck out of hickory once. it turnd into a great neck but the amount of tools i went through trying to shape it its just great for blunting everything that touches it. its like working steel . but damn it made a good neck