Official Luthiers Forum!

I am venturing to make my own Electric Upright Bass at the full 40" instrument length......(if that is right). 

The first hurdle that I have come across is figuring out where to get a truss rod for this length.........as it is uncommon..........and the fingerboard will extend much further than a typical electric bass.

Acoustic full scale bass dont need a truss rod because the strings are not metal and dont exert the amount of tension metal strings do.............from what I understand.   However, EUB's have metal strings......and a long neck to make things worse.

Any help is appreciated

Well you have a few options. First is to make one yourself, next is to have a company that makes them up make you one, LMI may do that and I can do that also, and third is to just not use one but instead stiffen the neck with carbon fibre. Jim Watts from Los Alamos Composites (link in the sponsor section above), is where I get the carbon fibre I use. Another of my customers is in the middle of three EUB's and I could contact her to see how she is addressing the issue if you like.

Good like and we like pictures here! And Welcome!

Shane

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Canada

[QUOTE=Shane Neifer] not use one but instead stiffen the neck with carbon fibre. 

 Another of my customers is in the middle of three EUB's and I could contact her to see how she is addressing the issue if you like.
[/QUOTE]

Shane,

Your generosity is truly welcome.   Yes, please....it would be great if you could ask her for some advice.

I have seen those carbon fiber stiffening rods......but wondered about their practicality.   It seems that a truss-rod is just a weakness in the strength of the neck..........until the day that you actually need it and have to bend the neck back into shape.

It seems that the longer the neck......the bigger the problem will be as well.  

How reliable are these carbon fiber rods?   What happens if your neck bends?

WILL THE NECK BEND with one of them installed, or does it completely eliminate the possibility for future problems?

I did install a couple of the rods into a Yamaha Custom fretless bass that I had to replace the fretboard on. The owner was really amazed at the difference. The long thin maple neck on this bass was like a wet noodle once I had the fretboard off. The truss rod stayed in as well but the carbon fibre really siffend things and he claims that the tone of his bass has dramatically improved!

I will contact my friend and see what advice she has to offer!

Shane

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Canada

I put carbon fibre in the one I built. If you think about it, acoustic upright basses don't have trussrods or carbon fibre reinforcement and some of those have held up for 100 years or more, so why should an EUB need a trussrod?.

It depends on your design, of course, but as an example on a typical acoustic upright bass the distance from the nut to the body joint is only about 18 inches. The length of the fingerboard is not relevant - it extends over the body way beyond the joint but it's not taking any of the string tension.

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Pete
http://www.petewoodmanguitars.com

I'm interested in doing a similar project, more along the lines of the basses
that NS Design (www.nedsteinberger.com) makes.

I found some long carbon fiber strips over at Dragon Plate
(www.dragonplate.com) for relatively cheap.

For carbon fibre you really need to check out Jim Watt's stuff. He is a member here, a luthier and owns Los Alamos Composites. This is his URL: http://www.jameswattsguitars.com/LAC.htm

or you can just go here.

His sizes are made for instruments and he has supplied me with longer ones than listed for basses.

Shane

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Canada

Cool, thanks. I think I'd rather buy from someone here anyway.