Build your own professional bass guitars at an unbeatably affordable price with this plan that features a premium basswood body ready for assembly and customization.
String action depends on both player skill and string gauge, so regular checks of your bass to adjust its action are necessary to stay on tune. In order to do this successfully, several tools and supplies will be needed, including wrenches, soldering irons, solder paper rolls, files pliers and clamps.
Body and Neck
The Best DIY Plans Store Bass Guitars are constructed using premium woods like Paulownia, Kiln Dried White Poplar and Basswood that offer ample tensile strength and vibration dampening capabilities to withstand string tension. Each guitar also boasts unique tone. These woods were selected due to their durability and vibration damping properties.
As with the neck, the body of a DIY bass guitar must also be strong enough to withstand string tension while maintaining intonation and tuning stability. This is particularly crucial at the neck joint which is subject to intense strain from string tension. A reliable epoxy such as Wests Systems Epoxy will be key here ensuring a secure fitting between neck and body.
To do this, take your beautiful neck drawing (the one with all of its fret positions marked on it) and stick it onto a plank of wood. Now extend its endpoints all the way back towards your tail end and mark in where your pickup routs will be situated.
Step one in designing your DIY bass guitar! If your fretboard already meets these dimensions, you may skip this step and move directly on. Otherwise, place the fretboard where desired and mark out where the frets will go.
Once the fretboard is set in place, you can begin working on your bass neck. By gradually rounding out its shape with coarse-grit sandpaper (starting from coarse to fine grit) using a wide strap sandpaper strap (you may require to create that effect), gradually round it out until it satisfies you.
The neck should then be drilled with holes for pickups and output jack, strap buttons and tuners as well as tuner holes. Once these tasks have been completed, both neck and body are dusted, vacuumed, washed in acetone solution and sanded before staining or painting occurs. Prior to applying any finishes it is always advisable to check intonation of your bass guitar by playing each string separately while comparing their notes against those played at 12th fret - any adjustment necessary could involve shortening or lengthening strings accordingly.
Hardware
If you are using an all-wood body and neck, grain filler should be used prior to finishing. This easy-to-use product helps the finish adhere to the wood while also accentuating its grain pattern. There are solvent and water based grain fillers as well as pre-tinted options; choose which best meets your needs.
Once the grain filler has dried, it is wise to sand your guitar down to 240 grit sandpaper before proceeding with stain or paint application. Wiping down with denatured alcohol or water will ensure any contaminants have been eliminated and ensure it is ready for a finish application.
The neck is an integral component of any guitar. Under constant strain and subjected to incredible levels of tension, its strength must be sufficient to bear this burden. Make sure that it's made from quality maple material and reinforce it if necessary with an epoxy such as Wests systems Epoxy.
Install a truss rod into the neck to alleviate any excess bow. Adjustment should be made in small increments while being mindful of maintaining concert pitch throughout this process.
Once the truss rod, bridge and tailpiece have been installed and adjusted, you're ready to start stringing your bass guitar. Tune it to concert pitch before testing any issues such as string height, intonation or electrical interference that arise during string up.
Installing different pickups can give your bass guitar more of its signature sounds by customizing its tone with multiple pickup combinations. Doing this requires only a few easy steps and is an excellent way to personalize your instrument - just remember to tune to concert pitch when making adjustments, and avoid making drastic ones! Also it would be beneficial to install a grounding strap to prevent electrical problems from developing later.
Electronics
Once your neck and body of your guitar have been completed, it is time to add the pickups and electronics. Most kits provide pre-soldered pickups but if your kit requires it you may require to do some soldering yourself. While soldering shouldn't be too difficult if this is your first experience or follow online tutorials or seek assistance from more experienced hobbyists if needed.
If your kit doesn't require any soldering, start by threading shorter wires from both the piezo (the flat piece that sits beneath the strings) and the jack through their respective holes; make sure the stubby post of the jack is on the back of your bass or wherever makes sense to you. Cut short lengths of coated wire with two strands twisted together - one will go to the piezo while one goes to its stubby post - strip them both then slide some heat shrink tubing over both ends before soldering in place!
As with most things, pushing through bridge posts requires applying some force; if that's necessary, ensure the neck is fully supported with padding underneath for safety purposes and no damage or chipping of wood occurs. Also take caution when tightening thumbwheels - overtightening can cause strings to snap if done too quickly; so take your time!
Installing the pots and selector switch is the next step, which may prove challenging as their small dimensions make fitting into their holes difficult. Again, force should be used carefully - too much tightening could cause knobs to loosen when playing; also thread longer wires for volume and tone pots through their respective holes before positioning them using plastic clips (red in this image) attached to their respective color-coded wires - then all join back together by plastic clips (red) at their ends once installed.
Finish
Once you have repaired any dents or chips in the timber and sanded it to an ideal level for finishing, apply a coat of acetone. After it has set for at least 24 hours you are ready to stain your guitar; either with tinted grain filler or dark stain; this will highlight natural patterns in the timber while taking up minimal equipment or space.
Before applying your chosen product to your guitar it is advisable to conduct a preliminary trial on an extra piece of timber or scrap wood, to make sure its color and consistency meet your standards and you are satisfied with how it looks. Furthermore it would be prudent to tape off areas which won't be affected such as pickup holes and fretboard.
Once you've applied tinted filler or stain, it is necessary to sand it back using finer grade sandpaper. Always sand along the grain of timber as this could damage it further and create scratches or smudges. Once this step has been completed successfully you can continue with staining your bass guitar.
If you don't have the time or space to apply a gloss finish to your DIY bass guitar, an alternative method would be applying a thin coat of clear oil to it instead. After this has dried fully you can begin playing it to experience how it sounds before proceeding further with finishing steps. This requires minimal materials or time while producing stunning results; just take care to read and follow manufacturer's instructions as some products might not work well on certain types of wood, potentially damaging instruments in the process if left unchecked; doing this research before hand will save both time and frustration later down the road when trying to complete it all yourself.