Maude

Finally, a bit of of bleedin' progress 😁. After shamefully ignoring this for a while, persistent quizzing by @andy67has guilt tripped me into making a bit of more of an effort. This was all your fault to start with anyway. 😂 I'm joking of course, but thanks for the nudge, I need it sometimes. Well the issue was that the contrasting end grain woods in the body sides would look terrible if the back and sides were just stained. It would be far easier to just go for a solid colour for the back and sides, but I wanted the wood grain on the back to be visible. Lots of scenarios to run through, not least was I going light or dark wood. Although I liked the light colour in the previous pictures my original plan was dark wood. I'm sticking with dark because the pink sparkle is a lot darker in real life and the darker wood goes better with it I feel. The sparkle is rose gold and has more gold/brown tones to it than silver, which would work better with a light coloured back. If you imagine bright silvery pink with white and chrome, compared to darker coppery pink with brown and gold. I masked the back with foam about 5-10mm in from the the edge to allow me to prime the sides and slightly onto the back to cover the different grains on the sides and the edge of the back piece. The foam tape gives a softer edge to the primer so as not to get a step. I used black primer as that should work best with what I have decided to do. I'll stain the back wood to a colour I like and then spray a sunburst effect with a paint that matches the stain, then lacquer it all in. Foam masking and primer. Once demasked I gently sprayed a slight sunburst with the primer to further soften the primer edge. The easiest thing to do now would be just black ink to stain the back and lacquer it but the black is a bit harsh for what I want. A dark brown just works better. Primer flatted and ready for stain. I'm using calligraphy ink, @Andyjr1515's recommendation which I really like using as you can re-wet them and work and blend them, even remove them to a degree. This had a wipe of sepia ink a while ago but it was very brown with no gold tones to it, so was wiped off with a wet cloth, which has left it slightly darkened. Below is around a 50/50 mix of sepia and yellow ochre. The wierd patch is a mix sunlight and the ink drying. Then a wipe over with just the sepia. It has a more golden hue in the flesh. I did toy with the idea of rather than trying to paint the sides to match the back, doing them a different colour like bronze but I think it would start to look tacky if there's too much going on. Next step, match the sides. 🙂👍

Don't know, it's only ever been used for The Foundations.

Embarrassingly, no. I might actually make a concerted effort to do some on it tomorrow as I have an unexpected day off. I'm still just not sure what I want to do with the back of it. I don't just want to do the easiest thing and then regret it.

Incoming! Not in my sticky mitts yet but soon will be. An '85 BB1100S fretless. (Sellers pictures) Very kindly @Len_derbyoffered to go out of his way and collect it for me from Coalville. He's heading down my way(ish) in a weeks time so I'll drive up and meet him. Can't wait. 😁

He has! He did them last weekend. 😂

Ray Spex, or X-ray Sex

Ting New Oder (I know it's spelt wrong but it sounds good/bad) Ex Pistols The Damed The Lash

Tube it is then if you've already got some. I do like the idea of an old crate/cage being a cab. Definitely do a little build thread if/when you build it. 🙂👍

If weight isn't an issue then go for solid bars if you're worried about them being hollow, I can't imagine hollow would cause a problem though. Solid bars are quite possibly cheaper than pipe due to being less involved to make.

The nut looks to be wider than most on the Musicvox, it might not be but the neck doesn't appear to taper hardly at all. I'd imagine that would make it harder to play if the three stings in each course are spaced wider.

The string courses are reversed from most 12s aren't they? It's hard to tell in the photo but it looks like Eee rather than eeE.

Right, last attempt.😁 Cut the top of the headstock off just above the tuners, glue on a pair of triangles and cover the entire face with a black pickguard to get the Hamer headstock shape. Cut both body wings off to leave a cricket bat style bass, glue two new oversize wings on and shape to a Hamer(ish) shape but with enough top horn to balance. The important central part of the Musicvox with all the hardware will be completely unchanged.

Ah, that won't work then 😁. Does that Musicvox neck taper at all? It looks huge at the nut.

Get @Andyjr1515to rework the Antoria neck pocket to take the Musicvox neck, mount the Musicvox hardware further back on the Antoria body to get correct scale length and achieve better balance. Simples 😉.

I've just managed to delete a lengthy reply. 🙄 Short version, Variax, glitchy, Aesthetics, I agree, Schecter DP looks decent, but wrong. 😁

Buy a Variax and use the 12 string setting. 😁

Yes, looking at pictures, there's probably not a common 5 string that has a long enough headstock.

I really like the look of of that, kind of an Aerodyne vibe going on. I don't know what the standard of finish is like, but it would be an excellent base to mod, if needed. Tuners, bridge and a pickup wouldn't cost much, and then give it a fret level and dress and roll the fingerboard edges. You would have a seriously nice bass for very little outlay. As I say, if it even needs it.

I know not really related to this but I picked up a second hand Harley Benton telecaster as I need the body for a project. The neck which I don't need is a lovely roasted maple one like the P bass above. The HB is only around £170 I think. Crazy! The above bass looks great.

She's Crafty - Beastie Boys

My, frankly unconventional, brain is starting to make stupid noises again. If you want to commission, and are happy to fund, a proper 'tribute' bass then I totally get that. But if keeping costs down come into play, could an existing bass be converted? I don't know the kind of neck dimensions a 12 string has but if bigger than your average four string could a five string become a doner? Plug the machine head holes with dowel, veneer the headstock and re-drill for 12 tuners. Replace the nut and bridge and Bob's your proverbial. You could then take it as far as you want. Pickups could be replaced with rail/blade types if pole pieces are an issue, even fill the pickup cavities with wood blocks and fit a suitable pickguard, or veneer the entire body face, then route for your chosen pickup type/placement. The body could be chambered under the new top for weight saving although would probably upset balance. Basically there's allsorts that could be done to an existing bass to save costs. Or it's a stupid idea and you can ignore me 😁.

Maybe I've misunderstood but I'm struggling to see a problem here. Has a seller listed a bass on Basschat for sale and got it for sale through a shop? If so then there will likely be two different prices to reflect the prices incurred in either transaction. I've currently got some things for sale on the both Facebook marketplace and eBay. The price on eBay is higher to reflect the cost and time involved in packing and posting the item and ebays fees, against someone from Facebook just turning up, paying and taking the item. The only other two scenarios I can see in the OP is that either the shop is lifting the sale post from here and re-advertising in their shop, hoping to buy the bass from here if they get a sale in their shop. Pretty risky and probably unlikely. Or they've bought a bass from here and are selling it through their shop at an increased price. That's just how a shop works.

Monkey Man - Toots

Pop black in eleven years, he might've replied. 😉