Electric Upright Bass Database

I built a solid body using mehagony with birds-eye maple laminated on the top. I carved the neck from maple. The length is 41 3/4" standard "D" neck with an ebony fingerboard. The sound is a cross between the percussive standard UB but with the sustain of a bass guitar. I use a K&K pickup that fits on the bridge wing. I also built the bridge from maple using my UB bridge as a template. It sounds pretty good - even bowed. On my Englehardt UB, I have the K&K pickup with just the transducers attached to the bridge right under the strings. It doesn't pick up bowing very well, so I opted for the bridge wing transducer on the EUB.

I'm going to build another EUB solid body with 5 strings. I may experiment with routing out a little under the bridge. This one will have purpleheart fingerboard and tailpiece with flamed maple top. I think I'll use ash for the body under the maple top. This one will have the K&K Bass Master Pro pickup which is a combination of the string and bridge wing transducer.

I used patterns for the body and bought the end pin from G. Edward Luthier. I really like the end pin and foot. I drilled out the body so it retracts all the way into the body when storing or transporting. Next time I'll route out before laminating the top on instead of using long drill bits.

Building the solid body was pretty easy. I'll probably stick to that style.

Mark Carey
Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA