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[Woodman13]

Re Strings-

Polyurethane all the away.

e- 4.8mm .187in
a- 4mm .156 in
d - 3.5mm  .131in
g-3 mm .128 in

The choice of string diameter is real important to get a uniform sound across all of the strings.  If you make the g string thinner it will take less tension to tune up but will sound radically different.  One thing you will find if you are shopping for strings is that there is a very limited selection of O-Ring cord diameters. So you can't go too wrong.

22 inch scale

width at nut 1.7in 44mm
width at bridge 63 mm 2.5 in

The locking mechanism is fairly straight forward. Take a second look at the pics from earlier posts in this thread.

No need for fancy tools. A drill press, HackSaw, some threaded rod or screw cut to length, thread taps.  The part with the hole in it that clamps the string is made from Delrin ( a plastic similar to nylon) You could use aluminum or other metal. I think wood might break in this application.

One thing I noticed right away when I first showed the bass to a musician.  He tried to tune it in a traditional manner.  This tuning method is primitive but works just fine for the poly strings. Might be a tough sell if I was to go into any sort of Bass building business. I bet this method was used somewhere before on some stringed instruments from the past or exotic countries.  Worth investigating Indian instruments for example.

Am looking at modifying some standard bass tuners for another guitar. The big ones on a Fender PBass are good candidates. Will keep the worm mechanism but add a new cap for the string winding.  Am thinking of combining what I did here with a string clamp and a way to fine tune the tuning with a traditional tuner.  So pull the string up to tune and clamp it. The turn the knob just a bit to fine tune.

Glad you enjoyed the bass.  Keep Rockin

gary

[emcgee]

Thanks for the details. I thought the tuners might be friction-fit-The pics don't show. threaded rod makes perfect sense.

Another question on string spacing. I've not worked with the "rubber" strings before. did you space them even center to center or even spaces between strings? Can't quite tell from the pics.

thanks

[Woodman13]

Space in between the strings is same for all.  About 8mm.

The space from the outside of both the e and g strings to the outside edge of the neck is about 5mm.

If you experiment with different string diameters the spacing will be a little different but not enough to worry about.

[emcgee]

Woodman13,

Would you mind posting the height of your action at the nut, 12th fret( I know, it's fretless  and the bridge? Having not worked with the rubber strings before, and not having access to a bass with them, I'm pretty clueless about setup for this.

Thanks

[Woodman13]

The height above the fretboard  at the nut is less than a millimeter.

The height for all strings at the 12'th fret location is about 5mm above the fretboard.

The fretboard does not go all the way to the bridge so no measurement here.

If you move the strings even just a little bit closer to the fretboard you can get more of the growly sound.  This growly sound may or may not be what you want.  Think whoopee cushion. I have no string height adjustment other than remaking the bridge ( got a box full of em) or elevating the bridge or adding some material back into the grooves cut in the bridge.

[Gman]

I'll protect you from your wife. Sell me this bass.

Gman

[Woodman13]

Thanks GMan.  May have to take you up on the offer.  Got  some plans in the works for an Acoustic Ashbory. Haven't told the wife yet.

[Jugtones]

That is a sweet design m8... love it!!