I think that the building of a double bass deserves its own account, and this is it. I'll update it whenever anything significant happens, and try to keep things chronological and more or less complete.
I was quite taken aback the other day to find that I'd written the date on the template for the front: March 2003. That is ten years ago, almost exactly. What happened? No wonder my friends send me ironic pictures of stand-up basses that are in fact liquor cabinets, as well as other good-natured reminders that progress is quite glacially slow.
The bass under construction is made from full-size plans supplied by the late Peter Chandler; his measurements were taken from a bass most probably made by Matteo Gofriller c. 1720. Chandler’s accompanying book, “So You Want to Make A Double Bass” is a straightforward “how to” book, and when supplemented by additional on-line resources (You-Tube can be especially useful) it seems to be an adequate guide, although we won’t know until we finish the instrument—and even then there may be some faults that only age reveals. (I say this because Chandler basses have a few critics among professional luthiers—but on-line forums are not always known for their objectivity.)
