About the Course
Sessions
8
Location
MCC Fabrication Lab
Modality
In Person
Age Requirement
18+ (14+ with a parent or guardian)
Level
All Levels
Class Capacity
10
Materials Required
Materials required (not included). Students will be visiting a local wood and gear shops to select the materials of their choice.
Total Hours
24
Build-A-Bass or Guitar!
Are you interested in channeling your creativity to make an electric bass or guitar? In this class, students will learn how to design and build an instrument from the ground up. The course will cover:
- Design
- Wood and hardware selection
- Neck construction
- Body construction
- Fretting and Adding Markers
- Body shaping
- Neck Shaping
- Adding electronics
At the end of this “hands-on” students will have an instrument of their own design and construction that is an expression of their unique vision.
Learning Outcomes:
- How to design a neck to withstand substantial constant string tension
- The principle of relief so they can create instruments without fret buzz
- How to cut and plane “square” pieces of wood to make a laminated neck and body
- How to rout channels for pickup wires
- How to join the pieces together seamlessly
- How to cut sand the shape of the body
- How to shape the neck and body
- How to use a drill press to install frets on a fingerboard
- How to dress frets (if building a fretted instrument)
- How install and adjust a truss rod
- How to apply polyurethane finish to protect their instrument from the elements (and make it shiny-pretty).
Students come out of this course with an instrument of their own design and construction that is an expression of their unique vision.
