FINALLY! Gonna build a custom bass trem!

OK....more funny stories. The other night, as my drummer Doug and I were doing some more recording, he picks up my bass to fiddle with it for a bit. Let me preface this by saying that he has been really open-minded with my tone, and he has admitted on several occasions that it has made the original Alien Probe music sound so much bigger than even he imagined. But even with this, he has been going through an adjustment period with having a bass player like me using distortion and such. But then, he starts messing with my bass. And after about ten minutes, he turns to me and goes "dude....this is really friggin awesome! I'm liking this tone a lot!" So then he tells me that he wants to convert his fiver that our guitarist Andy built for him to stereo, and he wants to use a custom humbucker that Andy made by hand. The pickup currently sits in one of Andy's custom guitars that he never completed. So it sat un-used in Dougs house for the last few years.

As it turns out, the beater guitar in question has a custom tremolo system on it that Andy decided not to use. And I'm eye-balling it for a bit before I ask Andy if he ever wants to use it. He says no. So then I ask him about converting it to a bass version, and he tells me "f##k yeah, dude! That would be easy! You want to go for it?" Of course, I said yes! So then, the question became about what bass to drop it into. Ah!

Easy enough! Andy has an incomplete old homebrew bass that he built/slapped together, and he has given me full reign to make it complete. So now, we're going to work together to make the bass complete, add my stereo wiring AND convert the trem he has from the old beater to a bass design.

Of course, I will post pics once the surgery is complete.

PICS OF TREM NEEDED NOW

I fully agree with Tekken on this one! We want pics of the trem!!!

we're such a PIA.

we want pics of all the franken-parts ... thru completion eric.

i'm real curious about the trem too, but more curious about using stereo wiring for bass. i've been fiddeling around with 2 channels, effects / clean, shrinkwrapped channels in the processor, lf crossover and all the doo-dads that my equipment offers splitting the channels post ... but i dont think i'de be happy with it if it were truely, purely, one pickup going to one bass rig and the other pickup going to another bass rig.

since recording, i've talked to a lot of people about it. someone who is recording wants different signals to work into the mix, from separate di or preamp channel and separate amplified rig, one channel clean and the other w/ effects, to make it sound full and big ... but ultimately ... a true stereo rig miced and di'ed is what they want. (mmmm, 4 channels)

all this complicated stuff... I miss the days where you got the headphones on in a room by yourself with your bass, a cord, an amp.. there was a mic in front of the cab only and the guy said ready, set, go and the headphones came on

I hear you, Mike. I also miss the old simpler days.

I will try to get some pictures tonight, but it depends on if we're jamming at Doug's or at Andy's. And the bass, the guitar, and the trem are all in different places, since they will all have different outcomes. But I'll do what I can!

EricHaven wrote:

I hear you, Mike. I also miss the old simpler days.

I will try to get some pictures tonight, but it depends on if we're jamming at Doug's or at Andy's. And the bass, the guitar, and the trem are all in different places, since they will all have different outcomes. But I'll do what I can!

You better!

Awesome, man! Hope it turns out well!

Wow, that sounds great. Can't wait to see how it turns out.

More funny stories from the Alien Probe camp.

The last couple of times we've shown up at Doug's for practice, he's been beating the crap out of his fiver that has now been wired in stereo with the custom humbucker that Andy built. Andy had taken the bass, and routed the pocket for the pickup. Ever since, Doug hasn't been able to put the thing down.

We'll walk into the studio, and there Doug will be pounding out bass lines with the distortion going. He'll stop and turn to us with a grin and go "Duuude!" What's so funny about it is that it took him a bit to get used to having a bass player that uses so much distortion, and now he swears that any time he does any bass stuff, he'll never be without it! I tell him "so, I have finally brought you over the the Dark Side!"

Then we'll sometimes spin the original tunes, doing a comparison between the original tracks, and the ones I did. Andy and Doug just shake their heads and go, "this stuff has never sounded so frickin' HUGE before!"

I fell pretty good about that.

Sweet. It feels good to be appreciated.

Eric is trying to out-do that wolvenhousen whatever his name is from MUSE with the distortion....

amimbari wrote:

Eric is trying to out-do that wolvenhousen whatever his name is from MUSE with the distortion....

lol

If he were really trying to do that, he'd need a superfuzz, or better yet, one of these:

Mmh...Leeds...

But back to the topic of the OP:

I'd like to see what both basses--your drummer's and the guitar turned bass look like when they're done!

amimbari wrote:

Eric is trying to out-do that wolvenhousen whatever his name is from MUSE with the distortion....

i actually was more impressed about his use of status basses, i nearly **** myself when i saw him on TV with one of these.

I hear you, Martin. I still have to take pictures.

Doug's bass was an easy mod since it only involved opening the pickup routing a bit, and doing the wiring. The bass that Andy has for me is a bit more involved. We have to route the trem cavity, re-build the trem, re-do the pickups, paint the body, and do the setup. And since we've been jamming over at Doug's, I haven't been able to get a picture of the bass since it's over at Andy's.

The other night, Doug went in and recorded a quick tune using a run he came up with. He did the drums, the guitar, and the bass. It's amazing how much it sounds like the three of us!

With Doug having so much fun playing his bass, I asked him if I needed to learn to play drums! He just smiled. But I'm not worried. Doug is a very simple player, and can do only enough to "get the job done". So I'm not worried about losing my job.

I'm sure you wont lose the bassplaying job over there just yet.....

i propsed the idea of me, dom and shaun switching spots and playing a rediculous song.

we tried it ... jammed on something real easy ... sounded kinda cool ... me on guitar, shaun on bass and dom on drums ... then, me on drums, dom on bass and shaun on guitar. it was fun!

i stated that maybe thats something we could work into the set.

i was suprised ... you'de think i asked those guys to clean my bathroom or pay my taxes. they were totally against it.

eh.

madmike wrote:

... you'de think i asked those guys to clean my bathroom or pay my taxes.