Hey guys, I am wanting to build a 2-string cigar box bass. I'll find a suitable box in my stash or on my next box hunt likely. My intentions are building it to a 30" scale. Would you recommend a truss rod in the neck or maybe a laminated neck or are either really necessary? I will probably be using Maple for the neck. Leaning towards a rod-type piezo but the box I use may have some influence on that too. Any tips or experience on the type of pickup to use? Thanks for any wisdom you can share on building one of these.
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I would recommend some type or trussrod for anything with a scale of 25" or greater and more than 3 strings. A bass will have a lot of string pressure even if you only have 2 strings.
Oak or Maple or other similar wood would be best for a bass neck, don't want to use any soft wood for that neck.
John,
The piezo disc worked well for me but, each build is different. I have built a couple CBG's (not a bass though) with tins and piezo discs and getting sound is not a problem. If the piezo is mounted to the tin use a good bed of adhesive and then cover it with adhesive to insulate it some, tins can get pretty "twangy". I have also mounted the discs with double-sided tape and then covered them with the same and that works well too. Mounting the disc on the neck, inside the tin, is an option too, you may need to fool around with placement to get the sound you want. When I built my 2 string bass I used the piezo rod in the bridge and that worked very good with a nice bass sound too. Oak is a good choice for the neck since it's very strong.
Hey John, I built a 2 string bass with a wheelbarrow handle for the neck, and weedwhacker strings. I put a disc in it, but had to replace it with a rod because it wasn't loud enough. I have pics and a short demo video on my page.
Rick,
I'm going to have to check out your weedwhacker stringed bass, I have thought about trying that on one of my builds.
They are cool. I got a 2 string set for $20 on ebay. They are low tension, so my bass is overkill.
Hi Bruce,
This is the info on a 2 string Bass I recently built, no truss rod but a thru neck, and have had no trouble with bowing problems, and sounds great!!, there's a picture of it on my page.
AGP #67
“Fretless B”
(2 String Bass CBG)
Scale: 762mm / 30 inches
Strings: Standard D & G Light Bass
Tuning: D G
COSTS
Cigar Box: Patagas 25 D4 $16.53
Sound Hole & Hang Grommets : $0.64
Tas Oak Neck Timber : $4.85
Hardwood Fretboard Timber : $0.00
Chrome Machine Heads: $3.60
Nut Bolt : $1.00
Bridge Bolt : $1.00
Strings : $3.60
Potentiometers : (2 x B500k) $0.56
Capacitor : $1.79
Volume & Tone Knobs : $1.90
Pickup : 4 String Humbucker : $9.99
Output Jack : $0.59
Maple Stain : $0.50
Gilly’s Restoring Wax $0.50
TOTAL: $47.05 (Australian)
Thanks for the input on the bass neck, plus the string and tuning information is very helpful. Not to bad on the cost to build either, good for me is the box cost here in the US is much less.
Thanks,
Bruce
Hi Bruce,
Lots of string tension, even with only 2 strings. So without a truss rod, laminating a pair of 1x2's vertically with a good hard wood fingerboard should keep it from bowing.
Best bet is to make it a "thru-box" style, so the strings are running through the tail, over the bridge (which is supported by neck inside box) and up to the head/tuners.
Here is a pic of a walking stick bass I made for my dad. It will give you a visual idea of what I mean about strings running thru tail...it has dual piezos under the bridge...just add a cigar box for looks.
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