Official Luthiers Forum!

Doug, it took me a bit to find the guy's name who is also building a Tinozza, but it was Sandham Guitars: http://sandhamguitars.ca/?page_id=12

The guy was friendly. I got the impression that he's built about 4 guitars and was using this show to get a bit of attention to possibly start selling guitars as a "professional luthier". I'm sure he wouldn't mind chatting if you wanted to contact him.

Steven

Hi guys,
Just got signed on here. Thanks for the mention Steven! Bass looks fantastic, Doug. I'd love to hear it. The one I'm building has frets, a rosewood back and sides with maple insert, no cutaway, and an access port in the back. Mine's not a full 6" deep; the widest rw sides I could find were only 5 5/8; with top and back glued on finished depth will be just under 5 7/8.

Cool Luke. Drop by sometime to give it a spin! I played it in a amplified band setting this morning at church and it is crazy responsive in that environment! Tends to suck up all the sound in the room...but a great characteristic for an unplugged session.

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Doug

Don't let fear or common sense stop you from trying to build something

Hey Doug,
Did you have trouble with feedback?
I saw earlier in your posts that you put a K & K pickup in it - how did you mount it? I'm planning to use one too. I thought I'd put it in just beside the bass-side tailblock, thinking that in playing position it might be a little easier to reach. Did you put it in before you glued the back?

Right now I'm trying to engineer how to make that access port close without using screws or other visible fasteners.

I'll email you and we can set up a time to meet. Looking forward to it.

Cheers,
Luke

Luke, no trouble with feedback but this beast must be kept out of direct influence from stage monitors and/or bass amp. I just need to hear myself enough to keep my intonation correct with it being fretless. I did install the K&K prior to installing the back but didn't drill the plug hole until finished. I think the pickup does justice to the intended sound. I didn't run it through a pre amp and it still provided lots of gain. My wife's skinny arm can reach all the way to the tail block from the soundhole. On a future build I would consider a sound port for the players ability to hear better. Love to connect some time.

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Doug

Don't let fear or common sense stop you from trying to build something

I have had a monster of a time trying to find a case for the large Tinozza. After a few failed attempts I landed upon a deluxe 4/4 cello gig bag from ProTec. It fits the bass like a glove! Those of you considering building a Tinozza might be interested in this little piece of information.
I should add that this was my wife's idea.
http://www.protecmusic.com/items.aspx?ProductID=516&InstrumentID=9&InstrumentGroupID=7&CategoryID=3&subCategoryID=1

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Doug

Don't let fear or common sense stop you from trying to build something

Nice work, Doug! Congratulations.

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Good judgement comes from experience. Experience comes from poor judgement.

About to rout the first flush cut on my D28 style guitar. Really afraid I've left to much over hang and terror of tear out any help about what to do know about tape on top grain should I shellac first my braces are through the sides worry they may create problem should I carve with chisel first Help please.

I'm a newb, so take it for what it's worth, but I will use a chisel to remove any overhang I think is too much before flush routing. Just be sure and chisel out of the grain. In fact, the guy I built my first one with taught to do the whole flush trimming of the top with the chisel rather than router to avoid tearout. I use the router now, but I do have shellac on the top, and just have to take care to rout in the right directions.

So here is a little clip of the Tinozza bass being played in a coffee shop setting by professional bass musician Danny Hagan and accompanied by the equally aclaimed Mark Zielke on the keys. The song is the Miles Davis classic, "So What."
I apologize for the rough nature of the recording: done on an iPhone, in a noise coffeeshop and my phone ran out of memory therefore only half the song is recorded. Nonetheless, it does give a person an idea of the kind of tone this unique acoustic bass does produce. The bass has a K&K pickup.
I will submit a better recording for consideration in the New Builder Challenge.

http://youtu.be/Zs0ZwWg2PS0

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Doug

Don't let fear or common sense stop you from trying to build something

I imagine you were grinning from ear to ear, Doug! Well done, and don't keep us waiting for some better video!

Alex

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"Indecision is the key to flexibility" .... Bumper sticker

I sure was Alex! This guy has toured with Randy Travis as his bass player and has started to talk to me about getting a Tinozza bass built for him. I keep telling him that I need to get a bunch more builds under my belt before we go there...but it does feel good.

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Doug

Don't let fear or common sense stop you from trying to build something

Congratulations, Doug! Beautiful work.
It's great hearing someone else playing an instrument you built, isn't it!?

So here at long last, and just in the nick of time (recorded this afternoon) is the video of my 1st build. Forgive my sub-par abilities playing on a fretless bass but I think the video will, nonetheless, give you an idea of the unique sound this instrument produces. The audio from the video is pure, that is, it did not run through the K&K pick-up that is resident on the bass nor was it manipulated in any way while editing. Audio was collected from external microphones. Special thanks to my brother, Michael Haslett of Global National News, who did all the recording and editing for this video demo.

[youtube]http://youtu.be/f0iBG0ZqMPs[/youtube]

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Doug

Don't let fear or common sense stop you from trying to build something

Awesome!!!

Alex

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"Indecision is the key to flexibility" .... Bumper sticker

Well done, Doug.
First rate craftsmanship, even on the video itself. A beautiful instrument. I still intend to come hear it in person sometime!
Cheers,
Luke

Absolutely first rate! Well done, Doug.

I've often thought if I were to make an acoustic bass that I'd want it to be as much like an upright as possible. I'd love to hear a comparison played by someone who is both familiar with an upright and used to playing bass guitars... That would be fun!