Building An Acoustic Bass Guitar, 1 of....

[@waynechase4595]

Awesome! Please keep ‘em comin’ !

[@lyndamcardle4123]

Seeing the really stiff bracing on the back Kevin, I knew exactly what you were going to say before you said it and I think your modus operandi is spot on ! I look forward to your subsequent, illustrative videos on this model. Thanks.

[@thepragmaticluthier]

Thanks! Let's hope my judgement and intuition pay off all the way through this project.

[@jonahguitarguy]

This is going to be a fun build. I did an ES-335 sized short scale bass a couple years ago. Just made it up as I went.

[@johnford7847]

Looking forward to seeing (and hearing) how this progresses. Thanks for sharing.

[@earlsinstrumentsandtunes9732]

That is a nice piece of butternut lumber, it must have been a pretty good sized tree. Looking forward to this series of videos, thanks for doing it.

[@thepragmaticluthier]

It was a big tree, about 48" in diameter, but having a very short stalk, at about 6 feet. It was old and badly deteriorated. After sawing, I doubt that I got more than 5o board feet of useful material.

[@JamesJones-qf9xg]

Love your words of encouragement to new builders. Will follow

[@thepragmaticluthier]

Thank you. I hope you get a lot out of my presentations.

[@ronaldrice4085]

I've never seen a guitar finished on the inside. he would seem to me that a finish on the inside would make it more responsive. As Guitar Building videos go yours is by far the best thank you

[@thepragmaticluthier]

The body you see in this video is not finished inside yet, but will be. There is the theory that a finish inside the body tends to make the back in particular more reflective. I am not aware of any science to support this theory. Additionally, a finished interior, especially a top can be a repairman's nightmare.

[@tomehCanada]

Only two have stood out, a Takiline with Mahogany body. Sita top and Larrivee with rosewood body and Sitka top. The rest I have tried were just about useless on the low E. I have often thought that the PRS Tony McManus, signature, 6 string, top design would be excellent for a bass? It is like a drum top and can take all the drop tunings of the low E extremely well. Down to D or C without fading.

[@nic6754]

Brilliant video. I look forward to the next

[@kimstrickland65]

Don't have any first hand experience with this, but am interested in what can be done. I have done a bit of online research, and recall some things I have seen in live music settings and music stores. Going to the major online music stores, most of the major manufacturers offer or have offered some sort of acoustic bass. These can vary a lot on how they are built. Scale length varies from 34" down to 24". Strings can vary from flat wound steel, bronze wound steel, to special nylon. Most are shaped like a guitar, but are a bit larger, but they are still much smaller than an orchestral double bass. Ernie Ball started selling one in 1972, loosely based on the design of the guitarron, a Mexican instrument used in mariachi bands. From what I have seen in stores, most subsequent acoustic guitar basses were inspired by the Ernie Ball version, but were not close copies. I suspect the reason is that frankly, the volume and tone of the early instrument was not worth copying, even if the concept was interesting. Last year I visited Pimentel in New Mexico - in addition to a variety of nylon and steel string guitars, they also make the traditional Mexican guitarrons and banjo sextos, as well as smaller requintos. Their web site also claims that they will build bass guitars, but the site does not show pictures of them. Think about what you want to do with the instrument and what kind of instruments you are already comfortable playing. Strength of the instrument (wood thickness) will have to scale with the tension of the string set you want to use.

[@jessejonescomposer]

great idea for a series! - never seen one on acoustic bass guit before!

[@johnbanks127]

Thanks for picking up on my comment on the last video. I’m really looking forward to this one

[@steveloudoun5420]

Man, thank you so much for this - so good to hear!

[@thepragmaticluthier]

My pleasure!

[@johngray4476]

I am a acoustic bass player also a rough wood worker keep us informed on progress of this bass vary interested on end results Ps. I like you vlog keep it up

[@hampshirepiano6383]

Good idea.

[@wilsonguitars156]

nice work!...ive built some acoustic basses and the last one was an archtop....ive made much the same as you are with X braces too....i really like archtop style....i have developed a method of hand bending the arch top and back with steam and forms.... I think your on the right track and ill be watching as the whole thing unfolds...you are a great thinker on the subject!

[@MrJohntheHarp]

A mate of mine comes along to our session with his 6 string acoustic guitar, It has an X braced back & works just fine. Just saying :) Great job BTW..👍

[@Kevin.odonnell]

On fire with the videos lately bud!

[@glynnphillips1576]

Beautiful

[@tomehCanada]

Beautiful. Interesting bracing. I can't wait to hear it completed. I have found acoustic, bass guitars challenge in balance to be a relatively weak E string. This is also true in laminated, Double Basses.

[@thepragmaticluthier]

I agree with every word in your comment, especially the low E string losing strength from the fifth fret up. FRUSTRATING!

[@Stanvansandt]

I tried to find an acoustic bass guitar that could be heard acoustically in a bluegrass quartet and concluded that it couldn't be done. (I have a bad back and can't lug a doghouse around.) The closest I found was a Stonebridge fretless with an offset sound hole (the low E string was its best feature), but it really needed amplification to hold its own. They all do - I hope you bear that in mind as you design this. It needs a good pick up. The type of music intended should also dictate design features: I was shooting for a double bass sound, but other genres might benefit from a little more brightness. I will be following your posts - you do a good job communicating without resorting to show biz tricks. The iPhone is fine.

[@thepragmaticluthier]

You're clearly right about the volume issue with acoustic basses. Fortunately for me and the owner, this instrument will be used in very small groups and jam sessions, never on stage or even open mic situations. The basses that I have hold up well in that context as well, but admittedly, without a good pickup, they're limited. Thanks for the positive response regarding the iPhone. I'm sure you already know, I'm not a videographer.

[@tedrowland7800]

Thank You!

[@erlingwesth7055]

Hi Kevin, I have built western guitars and atchtops for a couple of years - bur never an acoustic bass guitar. So your videos are quite welcome. I like the way you progress and I was going to ask you some questions when I realized that apparently you have not finished the building proceess. Will there be more videos? I do hope so. But nevertheless I want to ask you about specifikation of the bass guitar. Thickness of top, back, sides etc Can that be found anywhere? Kind regards Erling Westh (Denmark)

[@thepragmaticluthier]

I will be happy to answer specific questions through text or email. Contact information can be found on my website.

[@MrDaveKC]

I'm very curious to watch this series. I'm not much of a bass player but I do like them. Once i get more experience in making acoustic guitars, I just might be interested in building one.

[@thepragmaticluthier]

Curiosity and limited skill as a bass player is what got me into building basses too. Strangely, it led to a few commissioned pieces later on. I have one in Tenessee and two others locally. Thanks for watching my videos.

[@rakentrail]

Looks Good! Back in the late 80's to mid 90's I was a tech at a guitar store. My boss stocked up on acoustic basses as the metal ballads were the next big thing. Sadly the ones available all sucked when it came to intonation. Both American made to Asian made. JMHO but I'd pay close attention to that which I'm sure you will! Can't wait to see it done!

[@thepragmaticluthier]

My experience with acoustic basses has been similar to yours. The early Guild basses were not that great, the Martins were better but not by much and the imports mostly sucked. The only really impressive acoustic bass I have seen was at least twenty years ago; a Taylor, which appeared to be a collaborative effort between them and I think, Steve Cline. I saw only one in Ithaca, NY and have never seen on since, but was a KILLER.

[@waldopaco3434]

Question that's been killing me...... What would you do to make an acoustic bass loud enough to play with to guitars or a guitar and an acordion..... Or at least to make it loud enough to play it unplugged with a guitar.

[@thepragmaticluthier]

The sort of volume you're describing can be very difficult to achieve, but I have found that a large body, 18 width helps along with length, so as to increase the monopole and dipole response as least send one in the right direction. See the top as thin as is reasonable (that varies with every piece of wood) and decrease the diameter of the sound hole. Keep top braces a little lower. Prey to the gods of low frequency:)

[@gregholmberg2]

The lowest note on a regular guitar is 82 HZ. For that, you want a Helmholtz frequency 90-100 Hz. This is determined by the volume of the cavity and the hole area. For a bass guitar, the lowest note is an octave below that, so 41 Hz. So I guess you'd want a Helmholtz frequency 45-50. That will be difficult. You need a large box and a small hole. The other problem is bracing something so wide, such that it doesn't break, while also making the frequency lower, which means less rigid. That's a contradiction. You're probably shooting for something around 100 Hz for the top main mode? Note sure. Sounds hard.

[@thepragmaticluthier]

Thank you. I admire your informed presentation of information. It's just this sort of exchange that challenges perceptions and provokes thought.

[@alext8828]

How does the bass bar work in a violin?

[@thepragmaticluthier]

I don't build orchestral stringed instruments.

[@hampshirepiano6383]

Are those back braces shaped to fit the radius?

[@thepragmaticluthier]

Yes. I always arch my braces to the desired radius. Have some shaper jigs that match my radius dishes to perform the task. Works very well.

[@markfogleman8438]

The acoustic bass documentation and other info on the Liutaio Mottola site are a great resource.

[@thepragmaticluthier]

Thank you. I had not seen that information there. I'll return and find it. I appreciate the suggestion.

[@blauschuh]

How about some videos is something other than 1995 360p

[@tomehCanada]

Maybe you can donate enough 2023 dollars so that he can purchase a High End DSLR with 4K?

[@thepragmaticluthier]

I'm sorry that you're disappointed with the quality of my videos. I record them on an iPhone 11 and that's about the best I can do with it. If I was monetizing my work and creating click bait, I might invest in better equipment, but shameless commerce isn't my gig.

[@tree-e2q]

iPhone 11 has good camera that make high quality video so i think it is youtube upload quality setting issue or camera application issue@@thepragmaticluthier

[@blauschuh]

​@@thepragmaticluthier an Iphone 11 can do 4k

[@blauschuh]

what a silly comment.@@tomehCanada