Official Luthiers Forum!

In the future I would like to have a go at building an acoustic bass guitar for my music studio. Dose anyone know where there is a plan available. Just looking at a four string nothing fancy! Even a top and back brace pattern would be very useful. I was thinking maybe a short scale would be sufficent.

Any ideas, suggestions will be much appreciated.

Cheers

Alan

Alan,

I bought a set of acoustic bass guitar plans from Mark Stanley on eBay a few
months ago.

Mark is a retired luthier and says the plans represent
the end result of his refining the design through 18 builds.

See: http://cgi.ebay.com/ACOUSTIC-BASS-GUITAR-PLANS-LUTHIER-TONEWOOD_W0QQitemZ160285581769QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item160285581769&_trkparms=72%3A1234|39%3A1|66%3A2|65%3A12|240%3A1318&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

Good Luck,

Eric

PS If the link doesn't work, just search for "acoustic bass guitar plan" on eBay.

Thanks Eric!

That link looks just what I'm looking for.

Cheers

Alan

So I was wondering, what are the caveats of building an acoustic bass? I know that even for a solid body electric bass the string tension is so high that a lot of Fender necks with the vintage truss rod would become warped beyond use (too many dead spots) and a lot of modern basses uses a double expanding truss rod with graphite (Warmoth uses steel, they work and cheap too) reinforcement rod. a lot of 5 and 6 string basses had bubina/wenge/maple laminated neck for extra stability too. I would imagine that for an acoustic bass not only you have to worry about the neck but the body too.

_________________
Cat-gut strings are made from kitten guts, stretched out to near breaking point and then hardened with grue saliva. As a result these give a feeling of Pain and anguish whenever played, and often end up playing themselves backwards as part of satanic rituals.

Typhoon Guitars
http://www.typhoon-guitars.com

G'day Tai Fu,

I'm not expert here but I do know they use low tension strings. There are a few string companies that make strings for acoustic bass instruments. La Bella is one. I think the E string gauge is around 100 thou and they are silk and steel. Most of the factory made ABG (acoustic bass guitars) I have played where very dead, not much sustain and very little volume. There was a Fender bass I played once that sounded good but it was expensive.

Thanks for your interest!

Cheers

Alan

Hey Alan,

Theres an article on acoustic basses by Dave Freeman in one of the GAL Big Red Books. Ill find it and send you the reference.

Cheers Martin

That will be great thanks Martin!

Cheers

Al

Take a look at some of the acoustic bass plans by R.M. Mottola: http://liutaiomottola.com/instruments.htm#mozTocId11443

I can't comment on how the instruments turn out as I've not built any of them, but they're certainly something a bit different.

_________________
Richard
http://www.guitarmaker.com

Thanks Richard for the heads up. Hmmmm, looks a bit to out there for a beginner like me! It would be interesting to get a listen to one of these bass guitars though. Looks like some thought has gone into the bracing so it may sound damm good!!

Cheers

Alan

Alan,

You should also check out Dave Maize's site at maizeguitars.com.

He builds acoustic basses. There aren't any plans or build details other than some dimensions
on his site, but there are nice recordings of his instruments that sound wonderful
to me. He has built acoustic basses for both Jack Casady and Phil Lesh,
which gives him massive credibility in my eyes (Phil was the Grateful Dead
bass player and Jack was in Jefferson Airplane/Hot Tuna).

Eric

Thanks Eric for the link. They are beautiful instruments. I like the tone of the fretless! Like Mark he uses cedar for tops also! Hmmm!!! The might be the key to acoustic bass tone. The bass's sound good alright.

Cheers

Alan