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FrankenBass! Pics!!!!! Finished!!!!

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(@trguitar)
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Well, my son has a 8 string bass. He hates one thing about it the most. Active electronics and they are way too hot. He wanted passive and he wanted rid of the extra strings. For those who may not know, an 8 string is not like a 5 or 6 string bass. It is like a 12 string guitar except the extra strings are a set of guitar strings tuned E A D G along with the bass strings. He really liked the feel of the bass so he wanted to make a Frankenstien Bass out of it. I was like ... ARE YOU SURE! It was a cheapo Rogue bass that cost less than $200 so he said "Yes, I want to play it and as an 8 string I won't". It had a real funky bridge and tail piece. Wish I had taken pics prior to deconstruction but I didn't. :oops: It has a brass nut that he didn't want to part with. Keeping it makes the strings a little off center at the top but he insisted. It's his bass. We put a new milled bridge/tail piece on it. He ordered gold to match the brass nut. (You don't want to know what a brass one cost) We stripped the pickups and electronics. He went with a single humbucker at the bridge position. A real one! EMG HZ (passive as opposed to active, that is the HZ ... AKA high impedance) There is a cavity under the bridge from where the old TOM styled bass bridge was. No pickup in the mid body, just a vacant hole. This is a FrankenBass after all. We put in a pair of new full sized 500K pots and a gum drop cap. We had 3 control knob holes to fill. I creatively did that tonight after a trip to the automotive section of Wal-Mart tonight. You will see in the pictures. We still need to fill the holes from the guitar tuners. I'm still shopping there. Not sure if we will fill the space under the bridge or not. I think the old battery compartment would make a great place to store pics. By the way, it plays and sounds awsome! OK ... pics .... OH, the red tape is just holding the allen wrench in place so we don't lose it til we get the new strings and I set the intonation.

With holes .....

The fix!

Let us know what you think! Not pretty .. it's a FrankenBass .... sounds and plays fantastic!

"Work hard, rock hard, eat hard, sleep hard,
grow big, wear glasses if you need 'em."
-- The Webb Wilder Credo --


   
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(@s1120)
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Joined: 16 years ago
Posts: 848
 

OK, first... Ive never heard of a 8 string bass!!

This is a prime example of how a nice low price guitar [err or bass..] can real be a good investment. A few bucks.. a little tinkering and your good to go!!!I like the idea with the little chrome filler buttons... he'll have everyone wondering what he has in there to need all those pushbuttons. :D

Paul B


   
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(@jwmartin)
Noble Member
Joined: 17 years ago
Posts: 1435
 

Looks great so far! I love Frankenstein instruments. I'm working on a Frankenbass right now myself. It's an SX from Rondo that had a regular neck on it originally. I swapped that with a fretless neck. Now, I'm swapping to a fretted blocked and bound neck, changing the pickguard, and rewiring with new pots and knobs.

I have one of the Squier '57s everyone was buying and modding a few years ago. I swapped out the pickups on it and didn't really like the pickguard, so I just left it off. The neck pickup is a tele style and you can see the hole around it. A friend who is an incredible guitar player and has played professionally for 25 years was over the other day and wanted to play it. He kept saying how much he loved it and how good it sounded. I told him I had about $160 invested in it and he couldn't believe it.

Bass player for Undercover


   
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(@trguitar)
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Topic starter  

Tie up the loose ends ... might still flame out the truss rod cavity though! Stay tuned!

"Work hard, rock hard, eat hard, sleep hard,
grow big, wear glasses if you need 'em."
-- The Webb Wilder Credo --


   
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(@trguitar)
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Joined: 17 years ago
Posts: 3709
Topic starter  

Note the treatment we did around the pickup and bridge to cover the holes. Need to take another pic but he took the truss rod cover off and painted that cavity in the flaming orange as well. Looks cool!

OK ... Took it!

"Work hard, rock hard, eat hard, sleep hard,
grow big, wear glasses if you need 'em."
-- The Webb Wilder Credo --


   
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(@s1120)
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Joined: 16 years ago
Posts: 848
 

I noticed that trim around the pickup,and bridge. What did you use for it?

Paul B


   
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(@trguitar)
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Topic starter  

Plastic stuff from automotive at Wal-Mart. Temporary fix for broken rear view mirrors.

"Work hard, rock hard, eat hard, sleep hard,
grow big, wear glasses if you need 'em."
-- The Webb Wilder Credo --


   
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(@hbriem)
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Joined: 22 years ago
Posts: 646
 

That is a beautiful looking bass.

--
Helgi Briem
hbriem AT gmail DOT com


   
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(@trguitar)
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Joined: 17 years ago
Posts: 3709
Topic starter  

Notice the orange glow from the cavities? That is cause it is filled with molten lead, the heaviest of the metals ..... Yeah we are full of crap but it does sound cool doesn't it?

"Work hard, rock hard, eat hard, sleep hard,
grow big, wear glasses if you need 'em."
-- The Webb Wilder Credo --


   
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(@rahul)
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Joined: 18 years ago
Posts: 2736
 

OK, first... Ive never heard of a 8 string bass!!

How about this?


   
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(@s1120)
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Joined: 16 years ago
Posts: 848
 

OK, first... Ive never heard of a 8 string bass!!

How about this?
That's pretty crazy!!!!!!

Paul B


   
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