Building a Bass w/ FREE WOOD from the JUNK PILE (with minimal tools)! OSB and 2x4's DIY guitar

[@playAgainMe]

your headstock design is one of the freshest with the cutout in the headstock... thumbs up

[@heymrguitarman7637]

I'm a luthier as well, and too many folk are precious about the wood used on guitars. Yes I do believe it makes a difference (not necessarily better but different) but you can make great guitars from anything so long as it's made well.

[@andrewjackson5741]

You need to patent that headstock ASAP 😂

[@5000rgb]

That is a really cool design.

[@MattMcConaha]

Any patent that would actually be accepted would have to be too specific to actually be worth patenting. I've never seen a headstock EXACTLY like this one, but I have seen other slotted bass headstocks. The fact that we have the terminology is "slotted headstock" already shows that most of the uniqueness of this headstock is not actually novel enough to be truly patentable. I'm not digging at Dan or anything, I just don't really like patents (even though I technically have one) and I think that almost everything in the world that is "new" is actually derivative enough that it is kinda greasy to claim to be the inventor.

[@LuckyThreeLeafson]

@@MattMcConaha Didn't Music Man patent the 4 + 2 design even though they weren't the first to do it, very shady. But this headstock is pretty unique. I haven't seen an inline slotted headstock like this, only the classical style.

[@JamesSClapperton]

Seriously!!! Do it, man!!!!!

[@johnpearson5000]

You should see if you could get this bass in the hands of Adam Neely. I think that'd be a fascinating crossover episode.

[@joycesanders4898]

I don't know if Adam is much of a gun guy,...neither am I really.

[@mccalltrader]

@@joycesanders4898 good for you 👎🏻

[@matthewjohnloren1995]

Dan should make him a bass!

[@Lovebird_music]

@Virgil Grin what?

[@MattMcConaha]

@@Lovebird_music Adam Neely is a liberal arts kind of guy, he has made videos basically about how white people doing black people music is bad. Stuff like that. I'm not saying I agree with the sentiment that Adam is a bad person or that he actually hates white people, but he's definitely from a background that has the potential to clash with someone like Dan who is a Christian gun enthusiast. But I think they're both nice dudes and I generally like both of them.

[@TheLateBoyScout]

Beautiful work! That single single coil has a great sound.

[@TheAtariCreep]

"The grain is.... That direction". HAHA Bass looks killer man. I dig.

[@brianforlin3963]

The osb reminds me of the old tortoise shell pickguard material common on vintage guitars. Great job!

[@andrewmundenandcadfellmast4624]

Looks terrific mate! A couple of points 1. If it's wrong and it works, it ain't wrong lol. 2. Love your choice of tonewood. 3. Clever way to grain fill the chipboard. 4. Absolutely love that headstock shape. 5. Cant believe nobody thought to invert the jack before! Great video as always, keep it up dude 😊👍

[@JamieLamb]

The wait did not disappoint!!!!

[@saulgoodeguitars]

Ain’t that the truth

[@CosmicCowboy]

Since you’re using free wood maybe you should collab with Tim sway

[@vyladence]

i'm gonna say it, this has got to be the most beautiful ugly bass i've ever seen

[@5000rgb]

The OSB top looks cool. I can see someone doing that for the looks instead of just cheapness.

[@mississippisnowplow]

I love it 😍

[@saulgoodeguitars]

Finally, after hearing about this for a fair while Awesome bass mate

[@oliveragnew8415]

The way you did the steps in the tuners along with the shape of the body of the base in conjunction with the colors in the Symmetry I would say it's Picasso meets Barringer you did a beautiful job and I love the way you play it thank you

[@andybungert]

Just WOOOOOWWWW. That thing is KILLER! I'm so excited that you're continuing to use that headstock design with the sideways tuners!

[@jamesduffin9417]

The most inspirational guitar build I have seen! So much so I built an OSB telecaster and am now building another OSB guitar! Thanks 🙏🏻

[@peterquailman2460]

So sweet! Finally, the build that I was really waiting for. Honestly, I have been wanting to see this build. It is the same thing I was thinking of doing for my first guitar build: buy a premade neck then make the body from scratch, or in this case, SCRAP and make it using minimal ESSENTIAL tools. So much admiration man, from your words of wisdom to its realization, just sweet. Keep it up, stay safe, and God Bless you.

[@renebustos87]

The neck looks thicker than what i would use personally. But oh man, you hit the sweet spot when you mentioned you went straight from pickup to input jack. I am definitely going to attempt this build. I love the end result!

[@GunsandGuitars]

The neck is actually a jazz bass profile surprisingly enough, so it’s actually pretty slim and plays very nice. I was shocked for the price I paid.

[@carranen]

Very nice headstock, nice body back, not so convinced about the front body but hey , this bass sounds GREAT ! Nice job!

[@MarcioSilva-ssiillvvaa]

The headstock is out of this world! Amazing!

[@ConstrutorMusical]

I laughed out loud when you explained that your way of doing ia the wrong way, but faster! Amazing work! That's the kind of project i'm into!

[@ThirdEsquire182]

Dan, your ingenuity never fails to inspire me!

[@MarkGutierrez]

Clever use of the strand board. If you squint your eyes it looks like a burl top. Love the carves.

[@MetalMike87]

I'd love to see if your headstock design is feasible on a guitar!

[@jim4596]

This Is amazing I'm thinking about making a ironbird with 2x4s and plywood.

[@jimbaritone6429]

Dan, here's a Clamping Hack: If you have or can get an old bed frame made of angle iron (usually 1-1/2 inch angle iron that's 1/10th to 1/8 inches thick), you can make clamps for gluing blanks. You'll also need some threaded rod and a few bolts. I had three pieces of 5/16" x 3 ft. threaded rod and a 2 foot chunk of 3/8" threaded rod, with nuts & washers. I also found six 3/8" x 1" bolts with nuts and washers in my bolts bin. YMMV. I used a hacksaw, an electric drill, a couple of drill bits, & a file. If you have an angle grinder, scratch the hacksaw and file. I clamped the blank two ways. First, to keep the blank flat and more-or-less level, I cut 4 pieces of bed frame long enough to go _across_ the glued-up 2x4's plus a few inches, and drilled a hole in each end, just big enough for 3/8" threaded rod. Then, I cut my 2 foot piece of 3/8" threaded rod into four 6 inch long pieces. I put a piece of this through the holes in each of the four ends of the of the bed frame sections, with a nut and washer on each end. That made 2 clamps that held the top and bottom of the blank more-or-less flat and level. 4 pieces of thin scrap on some wax paper go between the angle iron and the glued blank. To squeeze the glued 2x4's together , I cut three pieces of bed frame that are 3-4 inches wider than the blank. I drilled a hole in each end of these longer pieces, but in the side of the angle iron that would be vertical when the angle iron was laid flat on the blank. Then I drilled holes in one end of each of the six shorter pieces, and bolted them to the longer pieces using the short 3/8" x 1" bolts, with a washer so they could pivot. This means that the other face of the short pieces of angle iron press flat against the side of the glued blank. Finally, I drilled a hole at the opposite end of each of the six short pieces. These holes are in the side of the angle that is flat against the sides of the 2x4 blank. So, three pairs of holes that face each other. Then, I took the 3 long pieces of 5/16" threaded rod, and put them through each pair of holes, tightening them with nuts and washers at either end. This made three "U" shaped clamps, the short sides pivoting on bolts on the lower corners, and tightened by the nuts and threaded rod on the "top" side. (I put pieces of scrap wood between the uprights of the "squeeze" clamp and the glued 2x4's prevent the uprights from digging in, & even out and spread the clamp force. (If I had had more pieces of threaded rod, or wire cable and turnbuckles, I could have just used six short pieces of angle iron bed frame, with a piece of threaded rod across the 2x4 blank on both faces. But, I only had 3 pieces, so one long side of each "squeezing" clamp is angle iron. Possibly the "squeezing" and the "flattening" clamps could be combined. But, I wanted three "squeezing" clamps for even pressure, and my long pieces of threaded rod were only 5/16" - not as strong as 3/8" threaded rod. So I made two sets of clamps - one set to hold the blank flat, and the other to squeeze the 2x4's together. IIt took longer to write this description than to make the clamps. Also, making it might vary depending on materials on hand - I didn't have money for more threaded rod, etc. I had an old bed frame, 3 pieces of 5/16" threaded rod, a 2 foot piece of 3/8" threaded rod, and some short bolts. I might have done without the "flattening" clamps across the blank. However, my concern was that when I tightened the "squeezing" clamps, the 2x4's would buckle at the glued edges and the blank would collapse. Sorry for the long comment. I hope this might be useful - it could be made with other materials. I used what was here. Thanks for all the great ideas in this build.

[@guitfidle]

Nice job Dan! I've actually done this a couple times- I call them my spare parts series. All of the wood is leftovers, scraps, culls from a local lumber yard etc. And all of the parts- pickups, bridges, tuners, knobs were used. Only new parts were pots and jacks- I try to never reuse pots and jacks, that just leads to issues down the road.

[@stephaniaustin2099]

As much as you've been teasing this bass, I've been really looking forward to this video, but even better than watching the build, was listening to you play it!

[@evanwilcox82]

Love how the vid starts with a dancing, headless body, slapping a funky groove on a cool ass lookin' custom bass.

[@frankiechan9651]

I'm looking at a similar scrap wood build (aka non-luthier tonewood) but was researching true-ing up boards using a hand plane and making up a shooting-board. Not expensive, although the plane should at least be decent and the shooting board can be made from salvaged wood too. Mine is some pine that's been in my shed for 20 years and there is a recycled timber place that does "project packs" of short lengths of wood for cheap. I'm hoping to get some old floorboards to use as my top (and maybe back) - or maybe even build my first neck/neck-through if I get some bits that are long enough. I'm only trying this because of the work that you do, your videos full of knowledge and the inspiration and positive attitude you provide.

[@LukeShingoose]

Gotta say that your bass playing demos have been GREAT recently. Keep it up Dan!

[@davidfrank2824]

That really turned out great. I really love the neck. I love how you think outside the box. Look forward to watching more of your work.

[@mikeycisme]

Excellent video! I recently did a few re-surfacing of a few older guitars and the wood grain filler is a great way to make the wood grain pop.

[@christopherbrant8610]

The best way to glue that osb on would be to screws. Since you had so much extra material, you could have traced out the template and put the screws all the way around it. A box of screws is alot easier to store than a bunch of clamps.👍

[@Strumbum01]

Man, that was fun to watch! Love the way you just go for it dude! Really dig the way the back turned out with the grain.

[@Crowbar11115]

When I was living in San Francisco my roommate and I became obsessed with making guitars from reclaimed wood. We found a dumpster FULL of Douglas Fir at a home renovation site. My roommate made friends with the construction crew and they gave us tons of over cuts, some of the old Douglas Fir stairs and the leftover materials from cabinet builds. Fast forward a few months and my roommate sold one of the guitars for close to $3K!! He's been making guitars now for about 5 years and it all started with a dumpster and a dream. Haha.

[@themadkraken1912]

That looks beautiful! If I ever get a saw and a router I'll have to try this. Maybe I'll finally be able to have a Rickenbacker- shaped bass!

[@bengibson3955]

Hey Dan. I’ve been watching your vids for ages. I know I watched this one back when it dropped, but I was pretty quiet on YT and didn’t comment much. I’ve revisited this old one just now and I’ve gotta say I’m loving the tunes you’re pumping outta that bass. Great work and all the best from rural NSW, Downunderland.👍

[@randylane8333]

You might not be selling it, but I'd play that any day of the week over a store bought. Great Job.

[@michaelhood8529]

That's a cool bass. I really like the inverted jack.

[@eliakuiper4266]

Sensational bass build 🥇 love everything about it. You're a terrific teacher Dan.

[@filipporimondi7857]

Masterpiece! The headstock is gorgeous..

[@saucyyy4508]

that tone is gorgeous!

[@erinancientelements]

That is such a beautiful little guitar!! You're amazing!

[@Solelova67]

Great work with basic tools and the skill it requires

[@DJPhree330]

Dan at scrap yard: You down with OSB!? YEAH U KNOW ME

[@griffshark]

Dan, you're just super inspirational to me. I love your resourcefulness. I'm going to order my first bass kit today. I've got a bunch of ideas, hopefully I can realize them.

[@Brandonfunky]

Because of your inspiration. I refinished my Fender Tele. Thank you.

[@ycart0125]

Another beautiful and uniquely designed bass, I love it. KEEP IT UP DAN

[@michaelb.42112]

I love the bass, Dan. I love my G&G decal, too ! The upside down Strat input jack makes perfect sense, too !!!

[@NAPeterson]

That OSB top is amazing. Never would have considered that.

[@User15275-g]

I’d call it the home-depotcaster. It reminds of me of when I worked at Home Depot selling and helping people with OSB. Loved the build, you really don’t miss Dan :)

[@GrouchoTM]

Actually im glad you went with no volume and tone cause it still has a very raw sound to it! Pretty cool out come!

[@andrewjeffries8721]

Wow, Dan! I love your designs for the headstocks! Both of 'em! And your playing at about 9 minutes was excellent!!

[@johnpartridge365]

Love this bass, beautiful simplicity. The head stock is an absolute work of art!

[@Jenisonc]

You are the man!!!! I need that bass in my life!!!!

[@tomfoolery2082]

I hav 2 subs on my stereo and when u play ur bass it really sounds good . Very deep , smooth with just the rt amount of high end , yeah tht dude sounds good .

[@heavycoughin6665]

love the look of this bass, nice work, sounds good too!

[@MrDaveKC]

Great stuff Dan, and I still think the tuner setup is incredible. You're inspiring me to continue my scrapwood build project.

[@ooferrell]

I'm loving that bass body dude!!!!! Btw u did great in the guitar build of 2020!! Keep it up and God bless you!!!

[@shaneharrington3655]

That body shape (your freehand version) should be mass produced and out there in the wild, so friggin sweet! Looks better than original.

[@morehumanity]

Really loving this channel, glad i found it

[@marksr12]

That's a beautiful bass. Love your ideas on the headstock and the output jack!

[@lewisochoa2761]

You’ve outdone yourself Dan. Great job!

[@andrewvitale7128]

Your headstock is a thing of beauty!

[@Emily_M81]

I did it! (well started it). I have 5 lengths of 2x4 clamped right now. Things I learned: clamping all 5 at once... I got a slight bow but it's not very bad. So I think 2-3 at once is a good limit anyway. I tried using dowels to lock the pieces together and managed to make it a disaster lol. But that was needless anyway because I can just put the bridge and neck pocket on the center 2x4. Going to glue on the top wood tomorrow and plan the body and pickups next week! Harbor Freight had a crazy deal/sale this weekend in-store so a few of their 20V cordless tools weren't expensive at all. I might add the circular saw so I can drive around and relieve people of wood they are trying to get rid of. My hatchback can only hold such dimensions lol... Bought sanding pads off your link at least ;) I think I have 3 videos bookmarked so I can do that for various things once I'm ready for the neck... I'm going to put weathered fence boards as a top and then epoxy it all to seal/fill it. Oh! HF had a smol rotary tool that was about the same price as a flex shaft, and I didn't know if my larger Radio Shack rotary could use an available flex shaft, so I got that instead. I may or may not try to stain the neck/fretboard to match the grey of the fence boards. Anyway, I'm rambling because I'm excited to see my project at the end :D

[@GunsandGuitars]

That’s awesome! Thanks for sharing, this is an exciting project!

[@Emily_M81]

@@GunsandGuitars I'm a little closer. I have the boards glued on and a body drawn on the body blank, at least. The neck you linked is going to be perfect because I want to make a stain with vinegar and steel wool that does a great job staining maple a greyish color so I don't have a weathered-look body with a minty fresh neck on it XD Northern Tool is blowing out the old Keter folding workbenches, with a coupon I got one for like $80 :O so much better than the janky/warped Costco camp table I was working on lol. The stars keeping aligning on tools/supplies >_>

[@patrickkeenan6331]

Well done. And the music you put in was great!

[@latencycc]

Killer build Dan

[@tranka6112]

Very awesome... so much cool info. The headstock is amazing, the upside down jack, etc. I got to check out this other vids now :D

[@danbosman2246]

Awesome job! And that fat Fender P-Bass sound is incredible!

[@christopherstorrier5560]

i really like that finish, the colours are kool... i like the distressed look and the headstock is neat & functional.. 👍

[@lotlum4343]

Came from the live stream!

[@MAVIEGUITARS]

Such a talented musician and luthier! Love your build, especially the head-stock.

[@thibautderycke4013]

Nice to finally see that you indeed don't need all those tools to make a guitar. Awesome build!!

[@coreyashton5678]

F'ing nailed it, dude. That is a killer bass.

[@tuansanpham09]

I would rather polished it, but I appreciate your choice!!! Great job! :>

[@arnlmndza]

That's a great build sir. And the headstock? Awesome!

[@Fernando.Canal2]

Man, that is awesome. Never thougt making guitar with OSB

[@kateruckus]

Wow, the grain turned out so cool looking! Awesome job!

[@bradford4570]

So damn rad! A true artist, that headstock is insane, it's about time new styles came up, I would love to have one like that

[@Yaksonator]

Man, you should really keep doing the headstock. That is the most fresh design I’ve seen in a long time.

[@vanshankguitars]

That was awesome Dan!

[@zakisafutramatosir2325]

That’s really beautiful, can’t wait to see full demo!

[@raffaelecrupi9347]

good sound !! I prefer the finish on the back of the body !!

[@hansstellingsmanetherlands5548]

This bass is Sweet 😍 love that weathered rough look 😍

[@JoeyB7615]

This is a hack I learn from Gramps keep your saw dust and mix it with the wood glue or liquid nails instead of wood filler..it dries harder should be good for guitar ..needing to resonate more readily

[@jamesmarkham7489]

"Tonewood" love to see if anyone could tell the difference between scrap and high price wood.

[@kellnola]

I used to think it was always overstated but at this point I'm pretty convinced it's all BS. Makes a big difference with acoustic instruments though, for sure.

[@daleskidmore1685]

Cool bass, nicely played. Love the headstock.

[@gamma921]

Although I just can't get befriended with the shape of the bass, I love every detail about it! Ok, maybe except for -and stone me right here, I'm not fan of - aging/relicing either, but really that's just personal taste. Why I'm commenting is just to give a huge virtual applause: very well done for all parts of this project, including (but not limited to) the work made on the guitar itself, the ideas put in (reversed jack socket, finally someone!!!), the colours, the headstock... And the great tunes played! Hats off Dan!

[@MinimGuitars]

Cool video, Dan, and that bass is awesome. The meteora is a cool shape! I like that you do everything with hand tools, lack of space and money means I can't have all that big stuff either so it's nice to see that other people do it the same way. Also a lot of my "cigar box" bodies are made from wood taken from my old fence that blew down, and a wardrobe that was in my house when we moved it. I still have loads of it left! Apart from the wood in the necks, all my wood is leftover from other projects or recycled.

[@russiangoose7053]

Charvel actually uses a similar output jack idea but on the back of the guitar and the lower bout of the body is carved at an angle so it doesn't poke into you

[@JohnnyGuitaristOfficial]

Sweeeeeeet, love this awesome build, brother! 🙌🏻🎸

[@corazongruperooficial]

That Bass looks great

[@shawnemenheiser5313]

Love your build with what you got approach Dan! Great looking bass!

[@shakyblues2099]

Wonderful. Looks and sounds great. I pulled a wooden pallet apart the other day with the intention of giving this kind of build a try. Thanks again for the inspiration. Keep building and making videos man. Best wishes.

[@secretjourney4815]

just goes to show. With Electric guitars and basses, the wood choices dont matter as much as pickups and electronics. Lord, that. bass sounds great!

[@seththesupernaut5503]

I love the "hey, can I get some wood" "from where?" "Scrap pile" "yeah, get it" lmao

[@RetroPlus]

I really like what you did with this, the experimentation really paid off with this one

[@howardperlin3016]

Love the head stock

[@71tbomb]

I like this Bass more than the guitar build off one. Especially the sound. It's Alive. Cheers Y/All. I like the original shape too. Extra cheers. I love rebuilding old guitars. But Making your own is so much better. I never took pics of the few I made. I just did it for fun & gave them away to people who couldn't afford a decent axe. I made them with bits N pieces I had sittin around.

[@1littlepunk]

Awesme build Dan that bass looks killer! gotta see you make that headstock in a guitar build hahaha