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[Woodman13]

Here are some pictures of my latest creation.

22 inch scale.

Maple Body
Birdseye Maple top
Ebony Knobs

Simple Clamp tuners

Added a sound sample at end of post.  test.mp3

Enjoy

[Brock]

That's aggressive! I like!

[heymelbs]

Awesome bass dude!!

[tauzero]

Excellent. How easy is it to tune using that clamp method?

[Woodman13]

Re tuning.

This is the second rubber bass I have made.

I learned a lot from the first one.

One thing I learned was that all you needed to do was to simply clamp the cord tightly between the nut and bridge.  Extra cord on either side of the nut or bridge works against you because it sticks and the tension is not the same on either side of the nut or bridge.

It was best if there wasn't a big ball of cord wrapped around a tuning peg as the guitar would go out of tune this way.

So to answer your question it is very easy to tune this way and it stays in tune too for a very long time.

Sometimes I pull the cord a semitone sharp and then let it slowly slide back in tune and then lock it.  If you start pulling from the bridge and slide along the string you end up with a small loop at the nut and it is very easy to pull thru the clamp and lock it.  Surprisingly the small g string is the hardest one to pull in tune and even it is not that hard to do.  A small kid might have trouble tuning using this method but they can usually find a big guy to help them out.



Hope the pictures explain how it works.

[topher]

Oh I really like your design a lot! The clamps make so much sense! I wonder how they would work with the black (higher tension) Pahoehoe strings...

I'd like to know more about your pickup and electronics. The main thing is want to do in my next design is to make a custom bridge with wider spacing and an arch more like an string bass.

Really great ideas, lovely design, beautiful construction. Congratulations!

[tauzero]

I think I've worked it out. Are the strings unclamped at the bridge end, just held in place by the loops through the body?

Were the clamps something that you made or are they something you've adapted for this purpose?

[Woodman13]

Re Clamp Tuning.

The strings are secured at the Bridge by stringing thru a series of holes.  No Knot is required and the cord never slips.

The clamps are homemade.  Added a screengrab from the Solidworks program used to design the guitar in my first post on this thread.

I showed this guitar to some Cuban musicians on the weekend.  The first thing they tried to do was to tune the guitar in the conventional way.  It takes a little getting used to but the clamp idea works just fine as the guitar stays in tune for a long period. This guitar is ideal for this type of music. Sounded great.



I bet you can change the tune of any string on a conventional Asbory by tugging on it and causing it to slip a little in the nut just like my clamp method.

[fluent piffle]

This is stunning work, Woodman! Inspirational.

The greatest problem for me with the Ashbory is its weight. It just floats around all over the place, so a nice piece of chunky hardwood would cure some of that problem, I think.

Again, beautiful. Thank you!

[Woodman13]

Thanks Man.  Your kind comments are really appreciated.

Tried to address a couple of things with the shape of the guitar.

1- Tried to make it sexy.

2- Made it as small as I could and still look nice. It could have been as small as just the fret board , 22 in long by about 3 inches wide. There are some EUB's out there that are about 4inches wide and 42 inches long.

3- Made it comfortable to play, especially when seated.  Went thru a few mockups til I got the shape right where it sits on your leg.

4- Moved the bridge to the rear so that the natural place to pluck the strings was further away from the bridge.  Playing right at the bridge gives a very brittle sound.  Playing half way up the neck towards the nut can give a real sweet bell tone.

[fluent piffle]

I can see a huge amount of thought, time and effort has gone into this.

What do you estimate the final cost to have been?

[Woodman13]

My wife would kill me if she knew how much I spent on these woodworking projects.

[fluent piffle]

 

That probably puts it out of my range too!

 - but have you considered recouping some funds by selling some of these projects? (or patenting your designs and selling them to larger companies like fender?)

[Woodman13]

Not a big fan of patents.  You need deep pockets to defend them.

I'd rather just share information with other bass builders. I wouldn't have been able to build my bass without all the help from other posters on this forum and elsewhere on the net.

[emcgee]

Woodman13,

Could you go into some detail on your tuner clamps? How did you make them? They look perfect for my CBB project.

Also, would you mind sharing the string spacing at the nut and bridge?

Awesome build, by the way!

Thanks