It's metalwork day, time to put last week's power hacksaw to use to make a bridge for my 8 string bass project. Utilizing an underutilized bass body and hacking it together as I go.
This is incredible! I'm in the process of building a 12-string bass now and the test you did for string spacing helps a lot :) Since there's no 12-string bass bridges around (at all...) I bought an 8-string bridge and will be modifying it to accommodate the additional strings. It's good to see someone else doing weird things too 👍
Yeah, I was quite surprised how close I could go, I'm still a little hesitant to put them too close together. I tested that 2mm was the closest you could get away with but I'm still going to aim for 2.5 - 3 just so that as I'm playing I can get my finger onto both strings without the thinner one kind of hiding - if you know what I mean, if they're too close then you can't get good purchase on the thinner one as the thicker one is in the way. It'll be less of a problem on the D and G courses I'm sure. Cheers, and good luck with the 12, let us know how you get on😁
@@fanbladeinstruments I'm going with 1,5mm between the strings within groups and 4,5mm between groups. As the neck is tapered, the distance is bigger at the bridge. I got the distances from a 12-string hamer bass
I actually really want to build a fretless guitar, that would be a great video!! I do like that bridge design, and that saw you made in the last video sure seemed to work great cutting those metal parts. Looking forward to seeing the full build
That's actually a pretty nice looking bridge. Easily the hardest part to manufacture diy. Loving the backing tracks btw. 👌 Re: reinforcement? Use 6063 (or 6061) aluminum flat bar on its edge. Works better for my $$, and comes in a thinner profile.
Thank you for that! I can get 6063 at my local hardware store, I was almost tempted to put in dual truss rods as I have a Rickenbacker and I'm not afraid, but it wouldn't be my first choice. Will definitely be going with the aluminum, Thanks
I owned a Hagstrom eight string bass, and the gap between the strings in each course was surprisingly small. Loved the sound of it, but it weighed so much that I couldn't play a whole set with it.
Ahh, excellent. John Paul Jones sometimes used a Hagstrom H8 before he switched to Alembic, Legend has it that he used the Hagstrom to record Achilles Last Stand and Nobody's Fault But Mine. It's a powerful sound, I hope mine even comes close - it'll be half the weight at least😆
my solution to the bridge wobble would be to find the action height you like and then install a semi-permanent shim underneath the entire length of the bridge, which would also have the supposed benefit of increasing the vibration transfer to the body
Not a bad idea, those tee nuts aren't exactly precision engineered, there's a lot more tolerance in them than I was expecting, and yes, shimming the entire bridge would certainly solve that problem. I do just want to correct one thing, and it's a thing that MANY people get wrong and misunderstand, it's this notion of "vibrational transference". Every manufacturer from Fender to Hipshot to Gotoh will use that as a marketing tool and it's total snake oil, totally at odds with how physics works. Take a look at the slo-mo string movement shot at 3:33 When you pluck a string, all of the energy is physically within the string and it's bouncing back and forth between bridge and nut/fret, and as long as the bridge is a totally solid/rigid/immovable object then it'll reflect the energy bouncing off it back into the string and it'll sustain for a very long time. If the bridge is less than totally rigid then every time the physical movement of the string hits it then it'll move slightly and absorb some of the energy, and you'll lose sustain. So when these marketing people say that their bridge "ensures excellent vibrational transference to the body", it's literally the PRECISE OPPOSITE of what anyone wants. And most of the time these bridges are actually really good solid units, but you can't sell a bridge on the line "completely prevents vibrational transference to the body"🤣 I think it's another hangover from the theory of acoustic guitars where you DO want the body to resonate as much as possible, but on a solid body it's much more important that the energy stays in the string for as long as possible. And don't get me started on tonewood, seriously, don't. That shitfight is not welcome on this channel. But in my case yes, you are 100% correct that shimming the bridge is the right thing to do, but it's right because it'll prevent vibrational loss, rather than promote it. Thanks
Being someone who saw the 3 string bass being built at the time, it's kinda sad to see it go. On the other hand, this 8 string bass is quite intriguing. I'm excited to see how it'll turn out. 👍
Oh, It's not completely going, The neck and bridge are still perfectly good, I may bolt them to something ridiculous for an April fools episode next year, something like an oil can, or graft them onto the side of a strat, or something silly. But it never gets played, it's a good instrument but it's so niche that even I struggle to find times to play it, the body will see a lot more stage time this way. Cheers
@@fanbladeinstruments oh! No complaints from me. I'm sure this 8 string bass will be something to behold. In your brief testing of the distance between strings it sounded awesome already. I just commented about the original 3 string bass because at the time it was made I found the idea very original and interesting. I also recall it was made as superbly as it was with mostly things you already had laying around. Just love stuff like this. 😁
You are correct, I didn't have enough hardware and I think I hacked it together in about 3-4 days if memory serves, I should re-watch the videos to remember how it all went down😉
Always an excellent day when we get a new Fanblade video. You've almost given me the courage to finish the guitar I started building 27 years ago. I got to the neck(Truss Rod and Fret slots) and just locked up. Now we have the double action truss rods though, so I might do one of those (couldn't wrap my head around how to cut the curved slot) and really nervous of getting the frets in the right place... I can do this!
If I can do it then you certainly can, It's simply a matter of patience and care, if you're worried about putting the frets in the right place then practice by drawing and marking it out on a sheet of paper, then drawing it all again on a piece of scrap wood, maybe even cut a few slots and bang a few frets into it. I still have my first test piece, just an offcut that I put two frets into and was so amazed at how easy it was that I ran upstairs to the wife ranting "I Fretted Something!!". She smiled, nodded, gave me a sarcastic thumbs up, and I've never been more aware of what a nerd I am than at that moment🤣🤣 But it's hugely motivating to get those first couple out of the way and realize that anything is possible, and yes, you CAN do this!
I measured the centerline of the neck (already aligned with the pickup in this case), and centered the bridge on that mark, then just made sure it was even on both ends. I tried to put the saddles about where they were before, but given that I'm making a whole new neck and I can make the scale length fit whatever I've already got then I wasn't too worried about the exact placement - as long as it's centered then it'll adjust for intonation just fine. I did make sure to put shorter springs on the bass side though, it leaves more room to pull the saddles back a bit further.
If you have a bridge that's both a top loader and string-thru and it has treaded saddles, shouldn't you, theoretically be able to double-string that? Seems like less work than designing and manufacturing a whole new bridge IMO
Your fretless guitar idea makes me think, you've been making great sounding basses and pickups, why not use your knowledge of what not to do to make the worst guitar possible? A fretless guitar, the worst sounding pickups, the worst playability, etc. That would be a great series. 😂
It's easier with a pick for sure, but if I've got some really low action and a bit of overdrive I can play those fast runs with mostly hammer-ons, it's the closest I come to actually shredding on bass - probably impossible on an 8 string, I guess I'll find out soon enough🤣 thanks.
@fanbladeinstruments just poking a bit of fun at you as a primarily pick bass player myself, since you laughed at thr picks that came with your 6 string fretless 😂
I actually play with a pick quite a lot, there are tones you can't get any other way, there's a kind of bouncy groove that I can pull out of a pick that the fingers don't have the attack for, I usually have a couple of Dunlop Jazz III XL Series in my pocket at any given time. They're a little bit strange on a fretless though, I've yet to find a way to get a useful fretless tone with a pick, but never say never😉
@fanbladeinstruments oh hey, I always have a pick in my pocket too, I'm just now learning that I shouldn't starting trying to learn finger and slap earlier, it's good to not limit yourself and use all the tools you can
