Maple Electric Upright Bass

[Justin Tugaoen]

Here's my attempt at an electric upright bass

42" scale
Body: Figured maple top with chambered basswood body; maple tailpiece; standard double-bass maple bridge, trimmed to size
Neck: Bolt-on, figured-maple
Fingerboard: Ebony with wood vine inlay; LED side markers; ebony nut
Electronics: K&K pickup with K&K preamp integrated at upper bout, Fender tuners
Finish: Tru-oil

This thing is pretty heavy (compared to a regular electric bass), but apparently even acoustic double basses weigh over 20 pounds, so I guess it's to be expected. Sounds pretty good (I'm not really an upright player but enjoy pretending) and sounds decent even with the bow. Might be time to take some lessons so I can use the thing!

[Michael Jennings]

THAT is really nice! As another non-base player I have toyed with the idea of building one as well. FYI posting photos like this sometimes encourages "theft" [of ideas] for those of us who suffer from incidental ethics deficits.

Mike J,

[Hans Bezemer]

Wow, that looks way cool.
Do you have some work-in-progress pictures?

[Steve Senseney]

Interesting!!

I know nothing about them however.

[Justin Tugaoen]

Hans, this is about the only "in-progress" pic I could find, but it gives a different view of the EUB. You can see in the upper bout how I integrated the preamp, so that only the adjustment knobs are showing. Battery access is in the back. The piece in front is the solid maple tailpiece, which attach with bolts. Unlike most other EUBs, I kept the neck angle and bridge height roughly the same as a standard acoustic bass and I also used a standard bass endpin, instead of a tripod mount.

[Hans Bezemer]

Thanks for posting that picture. You've build a really nice instrument!

[Jason Rodgers]

Unlike most other EUBs, I kept the neck angle and bridge height roughly the same as a standard acoustic bass...

Huh, I guess I didn't realize that most EUBs don't. Seems like that would be sort of important to the feel of the instrument. This is cool!

[John Mueller]

Could you post some pictures of the tailpiece?

[Justin Tugaoen]

Here's a couple better closeup pics of the bass, including the tailpiece

[Warren May]

Beautiful!

[Jason Rodgers]

I shall assume the tailpiece is the reason most EUBs don't use actual bass geometry: you really gotta get those string ends up off the top. Dang, that's a seriously beefy chunk of maple!

[Gilbert Fredrickson]

Beautiful.

[Barry Daniels]

Is the back cracked?