My U Bass Build

goyousalukis · Oct 15, 2014

Hey guys, I just wanted to share some photos of my recently completed U Bass. It is my first acoustic build. It is a 21" scale fretted baritone size bass. It has black limba top, back and sides. The neck is laminated mahogany, walnut and maple. The fretboard is ebony and the rosette is spalted maple. The tuners are Grotoh, and it has a Belcat under saddle piezo pickup. The finish is shellac. Building it was a lot of fun, and it is a lot of fun to play.

Regards,
Justin

PhilUSAFRet · Oct 15, 2014

Great looking! What strings are on it?

goyousalukis · Oct 15, 2014

Thanks, They are the basic Kala U Bass strings.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B003JZ1444?cache=0801f2f84ff194c5081959361aadcf3b&pi=SY200_QL40&qid=1413334582&sr=8-1#

little timber · Oct 15, 2014

looks awesome. love the laminated neck! how does it sound plugged in?

goyousalukis · Oct 15, 2014

It has that upright acoustic bass sound. You end up getting quite a bit of "string noise" from the piezo pickup, which adds to that sound. The pickup has a treble and bass fader, and I like the sound best when the treble is down and bass is up. I have a recording up on youtube of a blues tune played with friends using only instruments I've built, but the balance isn't great, and you can't hear enough bass.

little timber · Oct 15, 2014

seems like every pickup I have put in an acoustic instrument has had issues with being overly sensitive to feedback... do you have that issue with your bass?

goyousalukis · Oct 15, 2014

Not this one, although with small practice amps I have to turn it all the way up to get a decent volume. On full size bass amp rig, though, it is fine. I have made a couple of homeade piezo pickups sandwiched between two pieces of ebony, and those will feedback like crazy if they are too close to the speaker cabinet.

goyousalukis · Oct 15, 2014

This is the pickup I used:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0095...200_QL40&qid=1413406566&sr=8-1#ref=mp_s_a_1_1

The built in tuner works great too.

Pete Howlett · Oct 15, 2014

Having used these impossible strings and those gruesome tuners I now use [video]http://www.guitars.de/stevens-custom-guitar/stevens-grundmodelle/ukulelen/bass-ukulele-english/[/video] as an inspiration for my bass ukulele. A much better aesthetic solution.:

goyousalukis · Oct 15, 2014

I've gone ahead and attached some of the obligatory build photos.

goyousalukis · Oct 15, 2014

Pete, I wouldn't call them impossible or gruesome, but I appreciate the link. That is the first time I've seen those strings/tuners. How much do they cost? I can't seem to find the price on the site, but I am on my phone.

Thanks

goyousalukis · Oct 15, 2014

Pete, what do those strings sound like. Acoustic upright, or more like an electric bass?

Pete Howlett · Oct 15, 2014

Follow the website links to video on YouTube.

little timber · Oct 16, 2014

I think it looks great. Love the build photos and adore the rosette. What did you use as a cover for that little access port in the back?

goyousalukis · Oct 16, 2014

Thanks littletimber, I drilled a small hole and used a scrollsaw to cut out the port, so the cover is the same wood as the back.

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