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Board index » Electric Guitar & Bass Construction

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ChuckG
PostPosted: Wed Apr 01, 2009 9:38 am 
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Cocobolo
Cocobolo

Joined: Tue Nov 27, 2007 2:36 am
Posts: 241
Location: Magnolia, Texas
First name: Chuck
Last Name: Gilbert
Focus: Build
Status: Semi-pro
A customer has asked me to build a 5 string acoustic bass for him. Does anyone know where I could get a set of plans as a starting point? I've built many acoustic guitars, but never a bass.

Thanks,
Chuck
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Dave Higham
PostPosted: Wed Apr 01, 2009 11:18 am 
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Cocobolo
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Joined: Sat Nov 19, 2005 10:54 am
Posts: 378
Location: Between Bordeaux and the Atlantic. S.W.France
The GAL has one, although I've not heard of anyone who's made one, so I don't know how well it works.
http://www.luth.org/plans/pl13.jpg

There's a free one on the MIMF.
http://www.mimf.com/library/mateus_abg.gif

There's also a free one on R.M.Mottola's site which looks as if it ought to be good but is a little more 'outside the box'.http://liutaiomottola.com/instruments/Tinozza.htm

There may be more. As to 5-strings, acoustically a low B will be just about inaudible. Some makers add a high B (I think Doolin does).
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ChuckG
PostPosted: Wed Apr 01, 2009 12:15 pm 
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Cocobolo
Cocobolo

Joined: Tue Nov 27, 2007 2:36 am
Posts: 241
Location: Magnolia, Texas
First name: Chuck
Last Name: Gilbert
Focus: Build
Status: Semi-pro
Dave,
Thanks so much for the information. This looks like a great place to start.

Chuck
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cyrguitars
PostPosted: Thu Apr 02, 2009 10:31 am 
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Mahogany
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Joined: Thu Oct 11, 2007 6:48 am
Posts: 87
Location: United States
First name: Steve
Last Name: Cyr
City: Roseville
State: CA
Country: USA
Focus: Build
Status: Professional
I've built two. I did not have a set of plans to work from, but I did have a set of the "Herringbone Guitar" plans that you can buy from LMI or StewMac. I developed the body shape I wanted (a cutaway jumbo about 16-1/2 wide), and adapted the brace pattern from the Herringbone Guitar plan to fit the jumbo body shape. I documented the builds on two web pages on by website:

http://www.cyrguitars.com/AcousticBassProjectPage.html

http://www.cyrguitars.com/Acoustic5Stri ... tPage.html

Feel free to ask questions!

-- Steve
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Bruce Dickey
PostPosted: Sun Apr 05, 2009 11:30 am 
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Brazilian Rosewood
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Joined: Wed Feb 01, 2006 3:25 am
Posts: 3788
Location: Russellville, Arkansas
Nice Job Steve, bd [:Y:]

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http://www.dickeyguitars.com
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cyrguitars
PostPosted: Sun Apr 05, 2009 6:16 pm 
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Mahogany
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Joined: Thu Oct 11, 2007 6:48 am
Posts: 87
Location: United States
First name: Steve
Last Name: Cyr
City: Roseville
State: CA
Country: USA
Focus: Build
Status: Professional
Bruce Dickey wrote:
Nice Job Steve, bd [:Y:]


Thanks, Bruce. I sold the 4-string last year, but the 5-string is part of my personal arsenal. :-) As with all ABG's I've come across, it works OK unamplified with a couple of acoustic instruments if you play it with a heavy pick. I set it up with a pretty high action so you can play it hard, too.

I got into a Bluegrass jam with a couple of dreadnaughts and a mandolin once, and the bass held its own until the banjo player showed up - then it was all over.

The truth of the matter is that these are really electric basses that look like acoustic guitars.

--Steve

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