How I built this Ukulele Bass out of one piece of wood.

In this video I am building a ukulele bass from scratch, out of one piece of beech (and a little bit of plywood), using only hand tools (well, I didn't have a hand drill so an electric one counts as a hand tool) . This build is a part of the #usewhatyouvegot challenge. Sound test at the end of the video!
#usewhatyouvegot #lockdownguitar2020 #lockdownchallenge
Timestamps:
0:00 - The Neck
6:38 - The Body
17:14 - The Finishing
20:23 - The Hardware
21:40 - The Test
Follow me on Instagram for more updates: / bogdanbacila301
Lockdown Guitar Challenge: www.chrisfranklyn.com/lockdow...
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[@ramizculfa]

This is arguably one of those really rare builds where almost no professional equipment is used to craft such a wonderful piece of art. Stunning!

[@BogdanBacila301]

Thank you! I don't necessarily have anything professional on hand, but the problem is that I don't have where to store them even if I did have them, as I still live in a student accommodation. Glad you liked it!

[@ginopezzini]

That’s craftmanship !!! Many compliments!

[@7stringbassist]

That's brilliant. Refreshing to see hand tools being used. The combined bridge and thumb rest is ingenious 👍👍

[@JARottenHeart]

great building process, you did the best out of little things. Not many tools or space. Awesome!

[@Nukh]

I’m really stunned by your talent. So much hard work and the outcome is an absolute beauty. Sounds and looks amazing. This is really impressive! Congratulations my friend...

[@BogdanBacila301]

Thank you very much!

[@seanedwards9787]

This is one of my favourite things I've seen in ages!

[@Koospa]

I love the thumb rest-bridge, it's such an awesome build!

[@BogdanBacila301]

Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it!

[@eseijin]

I love this fingerrest design. great work!

[@unicyclopsgallant7698]

Beautiful work! Great design.

[@garryyoung8945]

Very nice to watch. Thank you for posting this

[@BenD_Bass]

I never thought to use a picnic table as a work bench lol. Great video, gave me a couple ideas for my next mini bass build

[@alpesta]

Really good handwork and impressive instrument!

[@WRXBase]

Beautiful build. Love the song selection.

[@robertreid2241]

Looks wicked, love the performance at the end

[@BogdanBacila301]

Thanks man! Really appreciate it!

[@MarkErikEE]

Impressive. Sounds amazing, too.

[@davidandrassimon9713]

Beautiful!

[@eduard_schneider]

Congrats!!!! Epic build & video

[@BogdanBacila301]

Thank you! I'm very honoured, especially when it's coming from you!

[@stephencoxbass]

Very nice instrument! It looks and sounds great! I like the way you have a separate saddle for each string, I'm sure that helped the strings to have a more equal volume. Excellent work!

[@BogdanBacila301]

Thank you! Really appreciate it!

[@axelmorisson]

Amazing!

[@kmichaelp4508]

You’re quite the craftsman Pal. I love to see this kind of spirit for a young man 🤐

[@BogdanBacila301]

Thanks Mike! Really appreciate it! 😁

[@jeroen9637]

Love it. Well done 👍

[@BogdanBacila301]

Thank you!

[@haolejohn]

Very organic and has a soul of it's own.

[@BogdanBacila301]

Thanks!

[@christofferniemonen8872]

great tone

[@peetyw8851]

I agree with everybody else. Wonderful process, execution, and result!

[@ItsMeAndru]

RESPECT!

[@saulgoodeguitars]

So glad this popped up in my feed again

[@BogdanBacila301]

Thanks man! Hope you're doing good! ❤️

[@saulgoodeguitars]

@@BogdanBacila301 thanks mate, still in hospital, been fighting fevers the past five days but slowly getting on top of it

[@BogdanBacila301]

@@saulgoodeguitars great to that! Definitely a slow process but it's great to hear it's getting better😁

[@reinjuriasu2105]

100% very good job sir more videos to do of you its so amazing creation 😃😃😃

[@wallylozadaguitarrista]

Gran trabajo 👏 👍 💪

[@mauroalfredo9874]

Muy bueno el proceso, sobre todo para aprender distintas técnicas de construcción

[@HarlemFingerboards]

its cool to see you working on what looks to be your apartment/neighborhood park table. I noticed the chain around the tables leg so i can only assume its not your backyard. Good inspiration to those who don't have a workshop or a readily accessible space to feel confident and comfortable to woodwork.

[@BogdanBacila301]

Thanks! Yes, I used to live in a student accommodation so this was what we had there. Honestly, those tables made amazing workbenches, there's a certain magic in working out in the sun at a slow pace with hand tools. It just makes you pay attention to the work so much more. Now I don't live there anymore, so I don't even have the luxury of having that anymore, I don't even have a backyard and I need to be careful of the noise that I make in the apartment. So woodworking is, unfortunately, pretty much impossible for me at the moment. But maybe this limitation will give birth to something new ;)

[@marcos338]

Congratulations, it's an excellent work

[@BogdanBacila301]

Thank you!

[@DadPlaysBass]

That bass sounds amazing. Better than any other counterparts

[@cmjudco]

Well you definitely got a physical workout making that guitar that is for sure! It’s a beautiful guitar and it sounds great

[@kristopherrobin7069]

With out the test at the end I'd of said "there's no way this thing can play even 3 notes"...but you proved me wrong ;)

[@pralkatv3485]

I am really impressed. I am guitar lover.

[@xhibitionism]

A great project, cheers.

[@xhibitionism]

Did you find the string are stretching very long?

[@BogdanBacila301]

They did stretch quite a bit, yeah, and they also took some days to completely settle down. It was after about a week when it started being stable and not drift out of tune

[@KingBespokeCreations]

Super cute and sound fantastic! I might have to make one! 👍

[@BogdanBacila301]

Thanks Chris! Absolutely, I can't recommend making one enough, theoretically something like this can be thrown together in a couple of days if it's not raining or snowing in your workshop haha. No fancy stuff, no truss rod, no separate fingerboard, this was just a little instrument to get rid of some leftovers I had around.

[@KingBespokeCreations]

@@BogdanBacila301 cool. What scale length is it?

[@BogdanBacila301]

It's around 510mm, the strings can go up to 21" so I wanted to get close to that, just for that little more tension and "thump"

[@javierandresmesa]

Beautiful ❤ Greetings from Colombia!

[@Octavian-Dan]

Well done Bogdan!

[@BogdanBacila301]

Many thanks!

[@urielfranciscofloreslozano5149]

Very nice, never seen a fretless U Bass, looks perfect

[@BogdanBacila301]

Thank you!

[@barryashton1404]

Respect

[@WalnutAnimations]

This is cool

[@PastelComGini]

Ha, I love it. A mini bass, I thought the body was too small but the final product is harmonic, maybe the dark finish helped on that. Sounds nice, I didn't even know about these (silicone?) strings.

[@BogdanBacila301]

Thanks! Yeah I thought the same about the body. At the end of the day it was the limitation of the size of material but I was relieved to see it wasn't that bad at all.

[@Gatherersmusic]

Fantastic work, great ideas to make use of what you have. You should do a GGBO entry for sure.

[@BogdanBacila301]

Thank you! I actually did, if you check my channel, I won 4th place in the first GGBO, the one where it was still called "unofficial". In fact, the materials used here are the leftovers from that build, I'd appreciate if you checked it out :)

[@Gatherersmusic]

@@BogdanBacila301 awesome, I will do 😃

[@_BigLife_]

Very cool

[@BogdanBacila301]

Thanks!

[@chihauccisoilconte4474]

🔥🔥🔥

[@flonay5261]

What is the scale length of that bass? Also what strings did you use bc im making a ubass right now and i know i will want to make another after this. Great video👍👍 (I want to make my next one a travel version with a partial metal frame btw)

[@mark64tanner]

What a great build. Very well done Bogdan. Sure takes the stress out of fret positioning (still gotta get the bridge right, but sounded like you did and love the thumb rest. I would have chickened out and made it moveable) really cool All the best 👍✌😎

[@BogdanBacila301]

Thank you, Mark! It was indeed a bit scary to have the bridge fixed, but it seems to be fairly decently positioned. With these strings and their frequencies the intonation will always be slightly off even with nicely positioned frets.

[@roylivingston9085]

Thats an awesome build.What kind of strings did you use.

[@realitystudioscustomshop]

Dude, that is cool as... well yes it's cool and I want one :D well done!

[@BogdanBacila301]

Thanks! Aah I wish I could have sold some as well, but when I do, you'll definitely get notified and we'll sort something out!

[@realitystudioscustomshop]

@@BogdanBacila301 it's a great idea love it :D

[@edt.5118]

Everytime I think about building any kind of ukulele I watch one of these videos.

[@BogdanBacila301]

The hardest part is to start haha, just go for it! Nothing can go wrong ;)

[@paulolopes3726]

Great 😁👍👏

[@BogdanBacila301]

Cheers!

[@bradleyl.9785]

Amazing build even without it being hand tools only. Hand tools only shows your amazing craftsmanship on top of the build. I’ve never seen a U Bass before this one. Very interested in building one in near future. Did you have some plans or at least general dimensions that you based anything off of or was it just all hand drawn to fit on wood you had.

[@BogdanBacila301]

Thanks! No, unfortunately, I didn't have many plans, just drawn everything on the wood itself. I obviously followed some standard ubass dimensions like scale length and nut width and all that, but that's about it.

[@andrevilaca6469]

nice

[@bjornpiper]

Awesome video. Man I want to build one, do you have the measurements you used? I know near nothing about guitars but I still want to give it a shot

[@BogdanBacila301]

Thanks man! Unfortunately I don’t have any measurements, it was built from scraps and that kind of dictated the dimensions and shape and everything. But we’re in the same boat haha, I also don’t know much about them, but if you start, I’m sure you’ll get something done ;)

[@Obxhatman]

Peter Dinklage makes bass ukuleles , hell yeah man , rocking

[@diopappa]

What kind of strings did you used and which is the scale? Great result anyway

[@BogdanBacila301]

They are Aquila red thunder if I remember correctly. I don't remember the scale, but I know I made the maximum that the strings had written on the package

[@thewabisabicollective7170]

Really nice!! Was wondering what soldering iron you use? Thanks! ~Beauty & Peace~ Kyle-

[@BogdanBacila301]

Hi Kyle, thanks for the question! I used a TS-80, it's a great little USB-C powered iron, usually enough for any normal soldering but it's amazingly portable and can always be on the road with me in case I need it.

[@ChrisFranklyn]

Who needs the gym when you can make guitars on the bench outside you flat! Serious respect!

[@BogdanBacila301]

Don't forget about all the tanning you get from hand sanding in the sun for 5 hours. The perfect vacation care-package ;) Thanks!

[@zodak9999b]

Beautiful instrument, Bogdan. I would have loved to see the bridge being done. I watched twice to make sure I didn't miss it. I'm utterly unfamiliar with electric ukelele... I guess there's (a/some) piezo pickup(s) under the saddles? Is that right?

[@zodak9999b]

Never mind, I'm a dumba... The "I'm surely going to watch that later" video had my answer.

[@BogdanBacila301]

@@zodak9999b Hahaa no worries! thanks! Yeah, I had the bridge video posted earlier this month because it needed some explaining as well rather than just throwing it out there.

[@TheMCEnthusiastPlays]

hey bro just saw this on a Snapchat story, really cool stuff man! keep it up :)

[@BogdanBacila301]

Thanks man! Glad you liked it!

[@user-rs7hc6sd7b]

Какой применяется звукосниматель и как подключить к компьютеру?

[@snuffying]

0:00 - 10:00 traba niste ulei de firez. thats a nice workout! good job bro!

[@BogdanBacila301]

Hahaaa, man, trebuie niste ulei pentru umeri, aka vin:)))) rezolva ala toate problemele instant:)) Multumesc mult!

[@JhonatanSordan]

Great job, man! Really beautiful and inspiring. What kind of tuning machine did you use?

[@BogdanBacila301]

Cheers! Soo, the tuning pegs were bought from Wish actually...the issue is that they are rather bad, I would not recommend them at all, it feels like they will crumble at any point. I'd recommend going for the proper brand name ones.

[@JhonatanSordan]

Thanks for the reply!

[@tiagoamado6330]

Top

[@sinrockcompany7487]

ขอบคุณ ขอบคุณ ขอบคุณ

[@saulgoodeguitars]

Great build Bogdan, definitely stealing how you clamped the body around the 13 minute mark When’s the next strong man competition? My body hurts just thinking about all that sawing and rasping

[@BogdanBacila301]

Thanks! Aah, that was the only way I could do it, could definitely use a bench and nice vice. And honestly, there's barely any effort put into the sawing, with the correct posture and technique. It was definitely more painful to hand sand everything in the sun and also got a little burnt haha.

[@saulgoodeguitars]

@@BogdanBacila301 oh yeah I wouldn’t be able to do it, I have crappy posture 😂 Perfect video for the use what you’ve got challenge though I remember cutting the back of a headstock once and I clamped the neck in a doorway in my shed at the time It wasn’t pretty but it worked

[@SatanSupimpa]

It's like a much more pleasant looking Ashbory.

[@joaquinguadarrama5803]

Hello, would it be possible to put the measurements of the body and the nec, please

[@BogdanBacila301]

Hi, in sorry, but I don't have them unfortunately, however, I chose the scale length to be the maximum recommended for those particular strings.

[@user-qb1wo2ds3m]

Тест звучания что надо)))))) главное что автору понравилось

[@gbond00]

Awesome video and beautiful instrument! Was that Monkey Shoulder whiskey you used?

[@BogdanBacila301]

Thanks! I think it was a Glenfiddich one if I remember correctly

[@brendanhilgeman1395]

Random as heck. I was just watching Rocky Road to Dublin covers and then watched this. Thought my Spotify was glitching 😂

[@janisjoplinredmi7104]

Saya suka

[@raijinrasetsuii8820]

Looks legendary! But fretless?

[@BogdanBacila301]

The challenge was to build an instrument with thing that I had on hand... at the time I didn't have any frets soo yeah😅

[@greenPBCH]

А в каком месте она из цельного куска, если она из нескольких + слой фанеры?)

[@PatNetherlander]

Two pieces… You don’t need the clickbait title Bogdan. Your beautiful handcraft speaks for itself. Nontheless one helluva u-bass!

[@BogdanBacila301]

That's right, apologies for that, there's also one more that was not entirely correct, it's not a hand-tool only build but I'm using a cordless drill, just because I don't own a manual one 😅 Regardless, thanks for the appreciation!

[@chichilahachepe]

Blueprints please, beautiful job

[@BogdanBacila301]

Apologies, I don't have any for the bass, it more or less built itself from the available material, in this case I could not afford to have a blueprint made before😅

[@jandebuyssere]

So you did this with no plans? How? The bridge, nut and strings need to have specific dimensions in order to sound good, no?

[@marcos338]

How can I get the plans to build one? Please

[@BogdanBacila301]

I do apologise, but I don’t have any plans for this particular bass, it was something put together from scraps, and that dictated all the dimensions and shape.

[@gregpruitt1647]

This is a huge amount of manual labor going into the construction of this instrument!

[@danielmarshall6106]

What bridge is that?

[@BogdanBacila301]

That’s a custom bridge that I built myself, you can watch it here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/fpbYpWiIfcatZs0

[@bhaibhai-qp6fh]

Can you pls provide the dimensions . Its like a dream project for me

[@BogdanBacila301]

I'm sorry, I don't really remember the dimensions, I just played it by ear with the dimensions of the wood that I had. For scale length I used the maximum allowed by the strings, written on the pack.

[@ClumsyFlounder]

whats the scale length

[@BogdanBacila301]

I can’t remember exactly, but I remember answering this question before in the comments, you can have a look over there and you might find a suitable answer!

[@JoseEduardo-vb6ko]

What string was used?

[@BogdanBacila301]

This was a set of Aquila thunder reds.

[@JoseEduardo-vb6ko]

@@BogdanBacila301 Thanks and happy New year!

[@simpleton8148]

Rename this video “Off grid pain”

[@RichardGarcia93]

21:57 Jesus can play some good bass!

[@bhartissimo]

Lots and lots of hand sawing!

[@BogdanBacila301]

Yuup, I think you're also familiar with now it all feels haha. But the hand sanding was the hardest part though.

[@bhartissimo]

@@BogdanBacila301 I hate sanding. I don't think anyone in the world likes sanding.

[@ArtyomOutdoor]

Очень сложная басовая партия, я бы так не сыграл :)

[@t.g.998]

Very nice, but not from one piece of wood. Because of the top laminate.

[@citizencyclops406]

One piece of wood? Is plywood wood?

[@user-pf3dn4fs5j]

какая сложная басовая партия.

[@georgevillanueva6926]

Noiice work man but when u solder for ur safety man don’t take that big inhale before u blow away the flux burn or wat not this is a message from ur parents threw my spirit 😂

[@BogdanBacila301]

Haha thanks for the tip! I really do need an extractor

[@alexmaiskiy2763]

надо попробовать поиграть на бас гитаре, весьма вероятно что я лучше играю чем Богдан Бацила. Бодя, без обид))))))).

[@yellowcat1310]

uh, one piece? then whips out a piece of plywood for the top? maybe i need a better pair of reading glasses. i might have missed something.

[@BogdanBacila301]

Oh, I also said hand tools only and then whipped out a powered drill, oopsiee 😅

[@zokraft]

Lemnul se va trage si se va desprinde de placaj sau va crapa. In rest fain lucrat!

[@BogdanBacila301]

Mulțumesc! M-am gandit si la asta, si sunt sigur ca in timp se va deforma, mai ales ca e fag si ii place enorm sa absoarba umezeala si sa se indoaie. Sper sa il mai ajute uleiul si ceara, dar daca se întâmplă asta este, am învățat ceva macar din experiența asta.

[@anamercado331]

@@BogdanBacila301 ce fel de muzica este la final? Irlandez? Ai nevoie de o melodie cu o parte de bas care evidențiază mai bine basul.

[@BogdanBacila301]

@@anamercado331 da, este irlandez, știu că aș fi putut ales ceva mai bun, dar atunci nu eram foarte stăpân pe fretless, mai am puțin nevoie de studiu😅

[@SuperNunien]

Le contreplaqué c'est péché.

[@BogdanBacila301]

I do agree with you on this. However, if you read the description carefully, and follow the playlist from which this video is coming, you will find out that this build was a challenge called "Use what you've got challenge". That means, building an instrument with only the materials that you have laying around. I only had that, so I built something with that ;)

[@NeoRazor]

I dunno man there's a lot more than just one piece of wood here. There's like...metal? Plastic? Electronics? Some kind of rubber? Misleading title.

[@Dogetheun]

Well no duh it’s gonna have rubber plastic and electronics but yeah this is definitely not 1 piece of wood.

[@atropiperio]

the tune is not right ,just saying

[@BogdanBacila301]

Considering that the strings were fresh, didn't really have much time to settle in properly, and I have never had any experience playing fretless intruments, without any markers on the fingerboard, I think I've done quite a bloody good job. Just saying.

[@milklover45]

nice