Converted a guitar to a pseudo u-bass

KohanMike

Los Angeles, Beverly Grove West
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I just converted an Epiphone Les Paul Express junior guitar 22" scale to a bass to play along with my ukulele group, here's a video I just made sampling it, with details of the conversion below. (Didn't get much action on the bass thread so I thought I'd post here too.)



Parts, prices and vendors:
•Epiphone Les Paul Express 22" scale guitar - $99 - zZounds.com
•Rotosound Tru-Bass RS88s 30" short scale black nylon coated strings - $31.99 - Amazon
•Black Bass Bridge BA-1004BK L Shape Saddle - $19.99 - lotmusic (China) via Amazon
•Four 3/4" steel pan head machine screws that fit the bridge - $1.24 - Koontz Hardware, Los Angeles
•Tibesti 4 string black bass nut - $1.60 - Aaron Store via AliExpress.com (China)
•4 Chrome Guitar String Ferrules - $4.20 - C. B. Gitty Crafter Supply via Amazon
•4 Black plastic 3/8" hole plugs - $1.96 - Koontz Hardware, Los Angeles
Total Cost: $159.89 US
 
Great work!

But a question that I would like to ask is - would it not have been simpler to modify a cheap Bass guitar? Albeit a short-scaled one?

It just seems like a bit of extra work converting something designed for 6 strings to 4, when a Ubass is basically a bass guitar/.
 
I already own a Gold Tone GT MicroBass acoustic, and waiting for a custom 21" scale fretless u-bass, but got BAS for an electric solid body bass after reading on the Talk Bass forum of a few guys who modified guitars to a bass. Knowing I wanted to stick to a very short scale, I found the Les Paul Express and decided to go for it. Ultimately it wasn't a difficult conversion at all, the most care I needed to take was drilling the string-through holes at the tail, which came out pretty well.

(Tonight I actually found a ready made small bass for $159, but it doesn't have the style of my conversion. It's possible if I would have seen it before, I may have bought it instead.)
bass_guitar_half_size.jpg
 
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(w)hat has was that you found?
 
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You are right, your conversion has some "style" not available on most "mini" basses. Thanks for sharing. I have a First Act mini guitar I want to convert to an acoustic bass, but I have to figure out how to put an end block in it...it has none.
 
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Very cool. And it is nice to see your face and hear your voice after reading your posts!!!

I was just watching the following video, about a uBass string comparison and then came here and saw your post. Someone must be trying to tell me something!

 
Good job Mike. I like the sound better than the UBass, less floppy sounding. You should try those Pyramid strings that Jenny just posted.
 
Very cool. And it is nice to see your face and hear your voice after reading your posts!!! I was just watching the following video, about a uBass string comparison and then came here and saw your post. Someone must be trying to tell me something!

I hope I didn't scare you away ;-). Thanks for the post, you conjured up my thinking, that I have to try the black Pahoehoe strings on my custom bass that's still on it's way, I know I don't like the sound of the Pyramid wound strings.

I'm having a great time learning the bass to play with the CC Strummers uke group I belong to.
 
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Good job Mike. I like the sound better than the UBass, less floppy sounding. You should try those Pyramid strings that Jenny just posted.

Thanks Dan. I'm going to bring it over to U-Space for my next lesson with Brad. I really don't like the sound of the Pyramid strings, too much like a standard electric bass, with the noise of the round wound. The Rotosound flat wounds with black nylon wrapping are very smooth and deep sounding.
 
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Nicely done. I think the only thing I would do differently would be to get bass tuners (I didn't see them on your shopping list) and plug the middle holes on the headstock instead of the ones closest to the nut. Aesthetically, it would make the headstock look more balanced. Good Job! :cool:
 
Thanks Hal. I actually did buy bass tuners, but would have had to drill new holes in the head, and the existing tuners worked perfectly so I kept them (actually, I swapped in a set of tuners with black knobs I had in a drawer that were exactly the same size as the originals). I used the top four tuners to make use of the maximum length of the strings.
 
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