incoming

I've always wanted to learn to play bass. I've been having so much fun with the ukulele I figured another four stringed instrument would double my fun. I've got a Hadean solid body uke bass on the way.

I was also looking for a diy type of project. I'm not much of a horny person so I'll probably take it apart and violate the body shape in some way

Looking forward to getting it...

Mike

I buy those basses just to modify them, I too don't like horns all that much. The first mod was a blue one, which I had a local builder do, but he took over 7 months (kept putting mine aside for "more important" jobs, so I'll never use him again).



The next one was a sunburst, which I sent to a guy out of town to make a violin style body, but he took almost a year, so I won't be going there again. It will be delivered late this week.



Then I bought one of the longer scale ones from Rondo to make into a tribute to the first solid body electric made in the late thirties by AudioVox, and decided I would do some of the work myself and have it painted by Pat Wilkins near me. I also found a builder near him who I had do the pickguard, and will now be using him for all my mods. Took less than 8 weeks including pauses between my decisions.

That's a good looking group Mike. I'm glad you posted since you were the motivation/inspiration for this project.
(Yes I told my wife it's all your fault that I had to order another uke)
All three of yours turned out great; that Audiovox is really cool!

I'm not sure what I'm going to do with mine yet. For starters I'm going to play it…
I'll probably modify the body slightly and refinish it. I grabbed the last swamp ash model for $139 and wasn't expecting too much. I have to say I'm impressed though. The build quality is pretty darned good. I haven't played it too much yet so I'll offer more observations later. For now suffice it to say I have no regrets on this purchase.

Unfortunately though the modding bug probably won't end here. After seeing Mike's Les Paul Express bass conversion I've been very eager to do the same conversion.

Mike

Wow Mike, love that one on the bottom. I just ordered the Oscar Schmidt curly maple bass uke a few hours ago. I have that eMedia bass course I've been wanting to try.

Thanks Mike and Phil, the AudioVox tribute came out really well. I played it at rehearsal today and it sounds really good, in fact much better than the shorter ones since the electronics are much improved in the longer version.

Mike, did you see the details I posted for converting the Les Paul? One suggestion, I used LaBella Deep Talkin' black coated strings, gauge 110 for the E, but they are very stiff, I suggest using a smaller gauge that might be more flexible.

Phil, I bought that OS model a few months ago (flame maple is the wood), but when it arrived, the preamp crapped out, so I returned it. It is good looking.

kohanmike said:

Mike, did you see the details I posted for converting the Les Paul? One suggestion, I used LaBella Deep Talkin' black coated strings, gauge 110 for the E, but they are very stiff, I suggest using a smaller gauge that might be more flexible.

Click to expand...

Mike,

I did go back and copy all of the details from your build.
In my notes I have RotoSound RS88 Short Scale strings. They're black nylon flatwound 65 75 90 115. I have no experience with them as this is all new territory to me. The reviews seem favorable but it remains to be seen if they're a good fit for a 22" scale. I've been researching other possibilities as well.

For my Hadean bass I ordered the Road Toad Black Pahoehoe set.

(other) Mike

Kohanmike,

Your "Audiovox inspired" bass uke looks really cool !
Is it Pahoehoes on it ?

Yes, and as a matter of fact, even though the Rondo is 24" scale, I used 21" scale Pahoehoes and they still wind around the spool 2 to 3 times, getting ready to snip off a chunk and restring.

Ok, so the Pahoehoes can be used on a longer scale...very interesting!
Thanks

Cut off a chunk from the G, D and A, E didn't need to. Took it to rehearsal today and though it needed tuning between almost every song, they're settling in well.