the rediculous BTF bass project.

briefly bounced it here ... but kept thinking about it.

this is something that is gonna require some input and suggestions, some donation, some voulenteer work and some trust on everyones part who participates.

lets build a bass!

so that is where it needs to start ... input and suggestions from everyone. how shud we organize this? whats required to participate? membership? dues? who does what? who has what do donate to the project? when do the participants get to play said bass? for how long? who ends up with it? raffle or contest? what kinda bass?

remember ... all donations are accepted and appreciated (i got a box full of parts in my basement).

i'll get the ball rolling ...........

there must be a min / max dollar value to participate. i'm thinking $70 - $100. not a rediculous amount of money but enuff to make a group project worthwhile.

shipping will kill us. iddid be tuff to participate if your not in the continental us.

bass? beggars cant be choosers. i think thats kinda the idea tho ... lets take a pos and make something cool out of it! it must have the realestate for a kahler and a sound neck. it cant be re - routerized and full of holes. personally, i'm thinking a yamaha RBX.

my financial obligation? i'll either buy a yamaha rbx or similar equivalent and get the ball rolling or go in on a kahler for said bass with someone.

my voulenteer obligation? kahler installation, paint / finish.

someone is going to need to do pickups.

someone is going to need to do electronics.

someone could put a drop tuner on it.

if someone here does fretwork ... thaddid be awesome.

what else?

so what do you guys think? wanna try this?

I really have no money I could donate towards this thing, but I do know how to wire electronics and do fret work, so I could do that if need be!

I like the idea. I can't afford to pitch in any money and I don't have any woodworking/electronics skills, but I really dig the idea.

I also like the idea, but I'm afraid that I also lack the funds to be of any real help.

WELL.... since the out of country people are out...and the USA members are broke, so the "shared" idea is kinda dead for now, how about doing what we were talking about in the other thread...I'll send you my red partsbass body and a gold kahler, and you repaint it black ...

make this......

LOOK LIKE THIS:


I would really like to have the similar bass I traded out to get the crackle.
I do have all the pots and pups sitting in a bag when I took the thing apart, so once I had it back I could put it back together in a hour and jam on it

you know I'm STILL TRYING TO DECIDE ABOUT THE CRACKLE WITH A GOLD TREM .....

Here's my two cents, madmike:

How about let's save this idea for a day when we can make it a reality? Right now, it seems that few of us who would contribute to the project aren't in a place where they can afford to do so. If the rest of the people here are in the same boat that I am, they would be in on this project in the blink of an eye, but it can't happen because the money isn't there.

Let's not rush into this. In a year or so, this board will probably still be here, as will all of us. Furthermore, many of us will probably be able to afford to chip in what they would like to in the not so distant future. So, let's bide our time and wait for this rainy day to pass. That'll give us the time to plan this out thoroughly, figure out who will be able to pitch in, and time will tell how realistic this undertaking will be, no? I can certainly see this project coming to fruition, but I think it would be best if it would happen when we have a) more member and b) more members who are able to afford it.

'Cos I for one would love to see this thing come to life!


If I were you, amimbari, I'd leave the crackle as it is. It seems rare enough already. Why not put the gold Kahler on one of your bolt-on Charvel model series basses, like that red 2B there? I think that'd look better and be more practical. The crackle with the huge gold bridge would be very busy looking, but maybe that's what you're going for? I don't know...

well, I do think of the rarity only to the point of saying "what if"

I would REALLY have to be convinced to toss one on the TBX, but on anything else, not as much apprehension about it and killing any value it would have, but ya I have enough bolt on's to do it with in the first place

boots,

no money now ... no money later. i dont think you would have any trouble finding a dozen people who will say they got no money. guess what? i dont have any money either ... me and amy just bought a house and 99.9999999% of my money usually goes to that ... or my own bass and rig. i dont think its a difference of who has money or not, but more of who has the willingness to make a small sacrifice to participate in a community activity.

wait till people have money? i cant wait around for everyone to hit the lottery. not realistic.

i dont think everyone read my original post too well anyway. almost everyone skimmed it over and saw, "gotta put up money". truth is ... you wanna participate? you just gotta put up something. i'm sure, between all of us here, we all have enuff parts, necks and bodies that we'll never use to put together 4 or 5 basses collectively.

but there will be a point in time where something would need to be spent.

amimbari,

sure, we can have a conspiracy on this. lets make something wild!

lemme do some research and post some cool finishes that i can do. black with what other color "crackelin" thru ... blue? red? gold metallic?

ya, since the trem is gold..black/gold crackle would work and it for sure would be a one of a kind....
hell, I would even use the tommyGun signature black electrical tape x on the front if it was appropriate to do so..hahaha
let's just say, that this red partsbass has been sitting in the case for a while ever since I did some parts swapping, so however long it takes would not affect my use of the item.
AND your in PA, so shipping stuff would not be as much as shipping to WA/CAL...etc...

I would just give you my lefty body, but once this project is done if it comes to the point of selling it sometime in the future, I would rather use a righty body so someone else ( ya I'm talking about all you righty's ) can just open the box and enjoy it....

madmike wrote:

boots,

no money now ... no money later. i dont think you would have any trouble finding a dozen people who will say they got no money. guess what? i dont have any money either ... me and amy just bought a house and 99.9999999% of my money usually goes to that ... or my own bass and rig. i dont think its a difference of who has money or not, but more of who has the willingness to make a small sacrifice to participate in a community activity.

wait till people have money? i cant wait around for everyone to hit the lottery. not realistic.

i dont think everyone read my original post too well anyway. almost everyone skimmed it over and saw, "gotta put up money". truth is ... you wanna participate? you just gotta put up something. i'm sure, between all of us here, we all have enuff parts, necks and bodies that we'll never use to put together 4 or 5 basses collectively.

but there will be a point in time where something would need to be spent.

amimbari,

sure, we can have a conspiracy on this. lets make something wild!

lemme do some research and post some cool finishes that i can do. black with what other color "crackelin" thru ... blue? red? gold metallic?

You're probably right, but I can only see it from my point of view, you know? I don't have any outstanding luthier skills. I can hack at wood with chisels and I can solder as well as a five year old, and I haven't got any parts that anyone in their right mind would want to use on anything. However, I am all for seeing this project work out. I'm broke now, but in a couple of months, I'll probably have a job and money won't be an issue. So now, I can't offer anything, but ask again this summer and my answer will be "**** yeah"!

Well, I know I'm going to be saving my pennies.

that was an awesome statement boots!

" ... and I haven't got any parts that anyone in their right mind would want to use on anything."

ok, i can buy that one.

ya know, i just got into serious rennovation and some luthier work 3 years ago. i dont have a ton of stuff thats great ... but i do have some parts that have accumilated.

i'm also not looking at this community building a bass in 3 months either. i'de expect something like this take 2 or 3 years ... so like mick sez, "ti i i ime is on my side".

Haha it's true! I've got some knobs, pickup rings, screws, and springs, and a handful of electronics that are on their way in to something or another or were just torn out. Broken preamps, anyone?

That sounds like a reasonable time frame. Until then, we can decide on what pickups we want in it (I'd be more than happy to get them), the finish, hardware, controls, and everything else.

I just remembered that i've got a 4 black individual bridges that I don't use!

NoobOnRoad wrote:

I just remembered that i've got a 4 black individual bridges that I don't use!

There's just something so wrong about a bass trem fanatics bass with a fixed bridge

I know, I know, but when you don't have the cash for one or the bass can't accomodate a trem, you must go the fixed way.

Awkward.... hahaha

If I don't sell the extra 7410 gold bridge, maybe I'll donate it to the cause......?

tekkentool wrote:

There's just something so wrong about a bass trem fanatics bass with a fixed bridge

OK....actually....I do have my old Yamaha RBX 24-fret neck laying around doing nothing. I even still have the Sperzel locking keys for it! I think it's missing the nut. If you Guys think you can use it, I'll toss it into the ring.

awesome!

neck.

trem. (sorry noob ...its gotta have a trem if possible)

if i dont have a graphite 1.5" nut, or the yamaha needs a different size, they are cheap. i'll throw it on the next order for parts i place when building begins.

i've become quite the expert soldererer in the last year. this summer, i can swing the electronics, pickup, pots, cap (i got orangedrops left) as well as mechanic work (routing) and finish if thats what we want / need.

we'de need to agree on a pick up and / or configuration. i've really enjoyed the split p in the mid and humbucker @ the bridge. i'de wire it differently than i did the p with the pickup pan and have individual caps and tone for each pikckup ... or something like that.

3 people participating and we're 50% there! just a few more parts and iddid be on!

DiMarzios would be awesome! Could I contribute some knobs or pickups or anything? For the electronics, I'd like it if there was a toggle switch.

For knobs I suggest some metal dome knobs like on Jacksons? They're practical, durable, and look good on almost anything.

And Madmike--if you want to practice routing, I am looking for someone to work on my Hamer...check the "stuff wanted" section if this board.

Maybe I could do a body?

What kind of body do we want?

maybe you guys know more than me about neck / body configurations.

eric sed he'de throw in a yamaha rbx neck ... i just went looking for a rbx body from yamaha (just to see how much and whats available). it seems that yamaha offers evry part for a complete rbx except for a body. i imagine if i call them, they could hook me up with something.

i just assumed with an rbx neck, we'de do a rbx body. i mean ... rbx's are cheap decent basses.

or is this the kinda neck that falls into the infamous "fender speck" neck pocket shape?

my 2cents ... no fender designs. we're trying to do something interesting here. p basses are pretty pedestrian. nice, i play one, but ordinary none the less.

and boots ... i think its across the board, here on this board ,,, ,,, that dimarzios are the prefered pickup. i think a toggle switch from one pickup to another is a great idea.

I would say yes to find and/or build an rbx body since my brother in law have one, so I could plan the body, neck pocket and pickup position based on the RBX.(it's a 260)

Also, I would vote on a double P configuration. 2 Dimarzio's, hell, that would sound badass.

That's the best I can do with Paint and 15 minutes.

And, Eric will be in heaven, No string angles!!!!!! Direct to the tuners!

NoobOnRoad wrote:

And, Eric will be in heaven, No string angles!!!!!! Direct to the tuners!

Once you ditch the string tree.

Badarse. I love the angled tremolo

NoobOnRoad wrote:

I would say yes to find and/or build an rbx body since my brother in law have one, so I could plan the body, neck pocket and pickup position based on the RBX.(it's a 260)

Also, I would vote on a double P configuration. 2 Dimarzio's, hell, that would sound badass.

I 2nd this. Sort of a John Entwistle configuration

Chowderboots wrote:

DiMarzios would be awesome!.

Or, I could make the pickups myself
















If I ever get around to it...

Though if I had something to do with the pickups when I'm done I'd be more likely to actually do it.

NoobOnRoad wrote:

And, Eric will be in heaven, No string angles!!!!!! Direct to the tuners!

Yep! I have to say that this is one reason I liked my RBX. No tuning issues whatsoever when using my trem. And Martin is right. Off with the string tree!

Noob, you did a fantastic job rendering the bass using Paint. But what happened to the Kahler? It looks like you ran over it with a car!

Hey guys, you know almost any body will do. You can just re-route the neckpocket to fit the new neck (of course, you might want the body to allow for access to the upper frets without having to cut out more of a horn ). If need be, I have the tools and know-how to put the neck in the correct place in relation to the bridge. Hell, I think I even have some righthanded Gotoh tuners lying around somewhere that could be used! Oh and my offer to do the the fretwork still stands as well.

tekkentool wrote:

IT'S A GLITCH IN THE MATRIX

HOLY S*** YOU'RE RIGHT!

So, Mike/Amimbari is actually part of the conspiracy?

Actually, that's not too unbelievable!

EricHaven wrote:

So, Mike/Amimbari is actually part of the conspiracy?

Actually, that's not too unbelievable!

Why else would he play a right handed bass Upside down?

tekkentool wrote:

Badarse. I love the angled tremolo

That's for better action on the low strings!

oh I can't believe your comparing the pics cause both have headsets on
I actually sold that SG copy bass in 2009, and that pic is from 2007 - almost 3 years now !!!!!

and yes having the E on the bottom is extremely advantageous in everything but slap-bass style because I can keep my hand flat against all the strings AND when reaching for the knobs, they are closer to me so I don't have to reach over all the strings to turn them .

( you ever hear what 5 string players do? they anchor against the B string since it is not used a lot, well I anchor against the G string as it is not used a lot )

EVEN WHEN PLAYING WITH A PICK

.


HOW DID THIS PERFECTLY ON-TOPIC THREAD GO SO SOUR?

amimbari wrote:

HOW DID THIS PERFECTLY ON-TOPIC THREAD GO SO SOUR?

That's how we roll here, Mike.

yes, I know

It's not just the headset your facial structure is exactly the bloody same!

And yes i understand what you're saying about anchoring, i always use my b as a thumb rest except when i have to throw in the occasional D or C.

, cartoons are still cartoons.

a few years back I did find my twin after all these years. No relation whatsoever.
He is the guitarplayer of "can a bus dream", a band out of Arlington TX and there are pics of him all over the site with the band on their myspace page.

he is 10 years younger, and reminds me of me in my 30's totally with the face and body, the type of partying materials he likes, clothes and gear wearing, and he loves pointy guitars after many chats and calls with him and the band.

here's one pic off the myspace..
oh, and did I mention he looks like me?

.

this doesn't change the fact i can no longer look at one of your post's and not think of team fortress 2.

mike ... thats rediculous!

i havent yet found my doppelganger.

still looking into the crackle finish bro. so far, what i found is how to do it on furniture. its done with latex paint and elmers glue! thats great because its easy but ... even tho i'll probably put like 8 - 10 thin coats of laquer on top ... i'm not ok with putting latex on a bass body.

i'll figure it out.

NoobOnRoad wrote:

That's the best I can do with Paint and 15 minutes.

would you like me to redo it in photoshoop?

Yes please! Photoshop it when you have time!!

is that bass body real?

it looks very much like the Charvel Eliminator from the 90's:

sorry about the screenshot from one of my videos, but that unit was only purchased to jam on one time to make sure everything worked, and resell to another TB'er...


.

madmike wrote:

mike ... thats rediculous!

i havent yet found my doppelganger.

still looking into the crackle finish bro. so far, what i found is how to do it on furniture. its done with latex paint and elmers glue! thats great because its easy but ... even tho i'll probably put like 8 - 10 thin coats of laquer on top ... i'm not ok with putting latex on a bass body.

i'll figure it out.

I thought they just painted, then sprayed enamel over the lacquer or lacquer over enamel ?? before it cured causing the topcoat to shrink, then cleared over the whole thing...I guess not.

and as far as my "brother from another mother"...the band actually found me from my youtube videos, and then I knew he existed.

amimbari wrote:

is that bass body real?

Very much so, Mike. It's a Yamaha RBX.

I.C Eric... gotcha....

a mass produced bass manufacturer is a mass produced bass manufacturer. some are better than others ... like these guys ... but being one who strays off the path for something different, and i dont think i'm alone here, these are the kinds of responses i receive repedidly .........

from our friends at yamaha .........

Hello.

Thank you for your inquiry. Unfortunately, the item that you are looking for, RBX body, is not available for purchase through Yamaha. I'm sorry that we were not able to assist you with this request. If have any additional questions, please call our parts department directly at (888) 892-6242. The telephone lines are open from 8AM to 5PM PST Monday through Friday (closed from 12:00pm to 1:00pm PST). Please be sure to have the model number of your Yamaha product available so that the agent can provide you with accurate information as quickly as possible.

Best regards,
Yamaha Support
Yamaha Corporation of America


..... i'll find us a bass.

And so, we march on.