EdwardHimself Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 (edited) Orite lads and lasses i've not been on in a while due to a few reasons, the first being i'm very paranoid . The other thing is that i've taken up the drums and i'm now doing them in a band so i've been spending a lot of time on DrummerWorld. Anywho, thought you might want to see my new RatBass, sort of like a RatRod but in bass form. The idea being that it's a fully functional playable nice sounding bass but pretty messed up looking. Just need some tuners and i can string it up. Then i just need some straploks and it's done, of course i might end up getting a new body, hardware and pickups to make a new bass if i can be bothered. The existing body, hardware and pickups are from a crappy old bass (really don't ask why it's so bad). The neck is a new neck that cost me £31.50 from ebay. There are no controls because i don't really need one and i can never seem to solder in pots without overheating them, causing them to die. The output jack is a stereo jack from a dunlop wah pedal, i decided to wire the middle pickup to the left/mono and the bridge pickup to the right, should i ever decide to use it. When i get some tuners i'll string it up and post clips, nice excuse to try out my new cakewalk on some actual recordings, too [attachment=19751:P1000994.JPG] [attachment=19752:P1000995.JPG] [attachment=19758:P1000996.JPG] Edited September 3, 2009 by EdwardHimself Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MacDaddy Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 I'll be following this one Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
budget bassist Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 You're right, that does look pretty f***ed! haha And i'm not sure that your plan with the jack is gonna work because you'll be using a stereo jack with a mono lead/input into your amp, so one of your pickups won't work. You're best off soldering them both to the tip part of the output jack so they'll both work, though obviously you'll have no control tonally. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jarhead Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 Why not use two different jacks, so that you can run two amps at the same time. Then you can have two different sounds going on, or just make it even louder by turning both up to full. Zach Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EdwardHimself Posted February 4, 2009 Author Share Posted February 4, 2009 (edited) [quote name='budget bassist' post='400407' date='Feb 4 2009, 08:51 PM']You're right, that does look pretty f***ed! haha And i'm not sure that your plan with the jack is gonna work because you'll be using a stereo jack with a mono lead/input into your amp, so one of your pickups won't work. You're best off soldering them both to the tip part of the output jack so they'll both work, though obviously you'll have no control tonally.[/quote] I really prefer the sound of the neck pickup and if i really get the urge to listen to the bridge pickup i'll just use a y splitter. Then i can plug it into 2 amps. 2 jacks would be a better idea but this was the only jack i had lying around. Perhaps i'll change the electronics one day to have a volume and a blend pot or something. Edited February 4, 2009 by EdwardHimself Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EdwardHimself Posted February 5, 2009 Author Share Posted February 5, 2009 (edited) Hi again i bought some tuners and a couple of strap buttons today. The tuners are very nice black grover jobbies. So why did i decide to spend £45 on tuners when i could have just got some cheap jobbies off axesrus for £24? Well i figured if I ever decide to upgrade this to a proper nice bass (which would definetly have black hardware) then i'd have to go buy these tuners anyway so i may as well buy nice then risk having to buy twice. It might be a good incentive to actually perform such an upgrade, too. The strap buttons are some quite cheap £3 units. I don't really gig and if i ever do think i need my strap to be more secured onto the bass i'l just buy some of those cheap strap things for £1 or my preferred option, a couple of 20p washers Edited February 5, 2009 by EdwardHimself Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tait Posted February 6, 2009 Share Posted February 6, 2009 if it wasn't for the damage on the upper horn, there would be something wierdly cool about the way that bass looks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigAlonBass Posted February 7, 2009 Share Posted February 7, 2009 [quote name='LWTAIT' post='402405' date='Feb 6 2009, 09:29 PM']if it wasn't for the damage on the upper horn, there would be something wierdly cool about the way that bass looks[/quote] Having said that, a few minutes (gentle) persuasion with a hammer and small chisel, removal of the 'lump' in the middle of the damage might make it look a little 'Burns'esque. A bit of sandpaper to smooth it off, and it would certainly look unique. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EdwardHimself Posted February 7, 2009 Author Share Posted February 7, 2009 [quote name='BigAlonBass' post='402693' date='Feb 7 2009, 11:12 AM']Having said that, a few minutes (gentle) persuasion with a hammer and small chisel, removal of the 'lump' in the middle of the damage might make it look a little 'Burns'esque. A bit of sandpaper to smooth it off, and it would certainly look unique. [/quote] Yeah i'll probably do that, does seem a bit odd that lump thingie. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EdwardHimself Posted June 20, 2009 Author Share Posted June 20, 2009 well guys here's another update. Due to "problems" i had with the truss rod, the neck was rendered pretty much unusable. [attachment=27401:P1010076.JPG] Yes, it really is that bent. The trouble was that the truss rod got tightened so much by some idiot (who knows who that might be eh?) that the threading actually came off the hex key thingy. I really f***ed this one up tbh, i feel that i've really learned from this, i've sorted out the problems i was having with this and now the necks on my working guitars are straight as a die which is nice so i won't ever be doing this again. Speaking of which, the yellow box funnily enough is actually a set of 30 allen wrenches lol. I decided on getting a nice maple fretboarded neck to replace it which i promise i won't bugger up. The reason it's taken a while is because i lent it to my mate guy who only brought it back round thursday night lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
velvetkevorkian Posted June 20, 2009 Share Posted June 20, 2009 For what its worth, I had a similar problem with one of my basses- one of my local guitar shops replaced the truss rod nut for a tenner and its worked beautifully ever since. It may not work with all rods but might be worth checking if you want to keep playing it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EdwardHimself Posted June 20, 2009 Author Share Posted June 20, 2009 [quote name='velvetkevorkian' post='519305' date='Jun 20 2009, 02:21 PM']For what its worth, I had a similar problem with one of my basses- one of my local guitar shops replaced the truss rod nut for a tenner and its worked beautifully ever since. It may not work with all rods but might be worth checking if you want to keep playing it?[/quote] maybe one day but it was a cheap neck, really i'm glad i'm gonna be getting a nice neck to put on it. Not tried a maple fretboard either so it'll be interesting to see how it is and that. The other big thing that happened with this bass was one day i was unplugging it and the input jack nut thing actually got stuck on the jack plug! I actually had to buy a new jack plug and solder it on to get my cable working again and i'll have to get a new input jack for the bass. Probably a good excuse to get a couple of pots too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Foxen Posted June 23, 2009 Share Posted June 23, 2009 Heavy enough strings will straighten that neck out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EdwardHimself Posted June 23, 2009 Author Share Posted June 23, 2009 [quote name='Mr. Foxen' post='521768' date='Jun 23 2009, 03:08 PM']Heavy enough strings will straighten that neck out.[/quote] probably yeah. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jarhead Posted June 23, 2009 Share Posted June 23, 2009 Is it wrong of me to really want this? If you ever decide to pass it on, give me a shout Zach Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EdwardHimself Posted June 24, 2009 Author Share Posted June 24, 2009 (edited) good news everyone! I got the new neck and it certainly is very nice indeed. The back actually has a pretty nice figure on it which i tried to take a photo of but it doesn't look very good on there. The finish is a bit well "interesting". I might just leave it as it is but if you were going for a perfect look you might want to go over it with a bit of grain filler before putting on a new clearcoat, since there are a few pitted bits. Here are the piccies anyway: strung up and ready for me to wire up the connections and that. Finished, for now at least. And yes, i do have nickelback and blink 182 cds. But they were only a quid!!! So that's about it really, in the future i'll probably get new pickups, bridge, body, well everything else really XD. Should be not so rat-ish after that. Edited June 24, 2009 by EdwardHimself Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
henry norton Posted June 24, 2009 Share Posted June 24, 2009 I think it looks better in maple anyway (although I like everything in maple so who am I to say). Looks the mutts nuts mate - makes me want to listen to some Sonic Youth..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tait Posted June 24, 2009 Share Posted June 24, 2009 [quote name='EdwardHimself' post='522702' date='Jun 24 2009, 04:33 PM']And yes, i do have nickelback and blink 182 cds. But they were only a quid!!![/quote] oi! i have over 4 and a half hours worth of blink 182 cds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EdwardHimself Posted June 27, 2009 Author Share Posted June 27, 2009 (edited) I'm surprised no-one commented on the lack of a full set of tuner screws lol. Well okay what happened is some got sort of ruined and i had to not use them. I've ordered some more off axesrus anyway. Here's a slightly more exciting soundclip of just the neck pickup as i didn't bother with the bridge. It's only a quick one and really it's not amazing, it's just DIed off the bass amp. I did mic the cab up too but there was too much self noise as i expected so that was that idea over and done with and that . [attachment=27825:scaredbass.mp3] My playing is not the greatest i know. As for the bass itself i thought about this for a body: [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=180373338984"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...em=180373338984[/url] Funny enough, it's actually made by the same company that made the neck it seems. Looks pretty good and £65 doesn't seem too bad. Not sure how i'd go about the painting and that since you might have noticed i'm not very good . There is a bit of string buzz on the 5th fret of the "A" string (although it's not actually an A in this case) that's really to do with the fact that the string seems to have a bit of a kink in it XD. Edited June 27, 2009 by EdwardHimself Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spartacus Posted June 27, 2009 Share Posted June 27, 2009 (edited) [quote name='EdwardHimself' post='522702' date='Jun 24 2009, 04:33 PM'] Finished, for now at least. And yes, i do have nickelback and blink 182 cds. But they were only a quid!!![/quote] How much was the lion king quilt cover? Edited June 27, 2009 by Spartacus Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MacDaddy Posted June 27, 2009 Share Posted June 27, 2009 [quote name='EdwardHimself' post='522702' date='Jun 24 2009, 04:33 PM'][/quote] I like the way it is now, kinda reminds me of Vernon Reid's ESP guitars in the 90's and Steve Vai's plastecine Jems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve-soar Posted June 27, 2009 Share Posted June 27, 2009 (edited) Bruce is on downstairs, my wife can tolerate this "I'm the coach, lets play the best f***ing game of our lives, 1234, rock bollocks" but I can't, so instead, I have fallen in love with your bass. "Even if we're just dancing in the dark". eh? Edited June 27, 2009 by steve-soar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EdwardHimself Posted June 28, 2009 Author Share Posted June 28, 2009 (edited) Thanks for your comments you lot, wow i never thought this would get up to 2 PAGES i mean it's not exactly a shuker or anything [quote name='Spartacus' post='526369' date='Jun 27 2009, 10:55 PM']How much was the lion king quilt cover? [/quote] Dunno, i've had it since i were a little kid. It came with a duvet cover too, that's just the pillow though. nice one. They went for a similar effect with the James Hetfield truckster ESP too. Edited June 28, 2009 by EdwardHimself Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EdwardHimself Posted September 2, 2009 Author Share Posted September 2, 2009 (edited) one useful thing about the crapped out neck is that i can use it as a practise to shape the headstock. I want the bass to look a bit less "fenderish". So i've drawn on a shape then GIMPed it to see what it will look like. Obviously this headstock shape is slightly different than the other neck but it doesn't really matter because the part where it differs is pretty much going to be cut away anyway. The shape is not exactly what it will be, just a quick mockup to give an idea of what it'd look like. I guess it looks quite like an ibanez guitar sort of headstock, which is quite nice but i might want to make it a bit more unique sort of looking. Edited September 2, 2009 by EdwardHimself Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EdwardHimself Posted September 3, 2009 Author Share Posted September 3, 2009 Hi guys my bass has suddenly become all sandbergish: The pickup was only like £20 but i think it sounds really excellent. I'll try to get some recordings up. Also anyone notice anything? Yeah, i actually realised i didn't need a new neck after all! XD Ahh well, what a nice excuse to build another bass! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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