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Factorbird Fretless

#21
JIO said:
Might as well show all my T-bird related basses - this is my Sauderbird - Epi T-bird body, Wilkinson buckers, Fender/Kubicki 9v pre, Hipshot Supertone bridge (string-thru) and a late 80's Saunders P-width neck and 80's Fender small-plate big-clovers tuners. The Saunders neck was made at the just began FCS as a commission to get his biz started. Saunders made a couple of basses but I've never seen one. The biz either never went into production or just ran out of steam. I bought it for $80 (I think) NOS on eBay, taking a chance and wow- it's been a great neck! (I cut a brass nut for it) This bass roars like a Factor - it's h-u-g-e :D... a total R&R animal!

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I carved the back of the upper horn for ergonomics like I did the FB.
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Again, you can see how I adapted my control cover to accommodate the high-rise circuit board. Sort of like when Magnum would drive Robin Masters Ferrari and his head was higher than the roof! (removable roof panels off!) :laugh:
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A friend etched a GEO logo I came up with on the neck-plate
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Hey Jio what's up with that pickguard? My dad and I have been trying to find a piece of that leopard-tort large enough to fit a '72 style tele and are coming up extremely short.
 
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#22
T_Bone_TL said:
Hmm - so being the isolated trombone-playing hick I am at times, I had seen that Kubicki headless bridge/tuner setup before but never knew what it was. I suspect I though it was a Steinberger, until I looked at Steinbergers and said "But this is not what I remember??"

With a patent date of 1986, it should be out of patent protection since roughly 2006?
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Yes, the Kubicki tuner/bridge is unique as far as headless basses go. Before I got my parts Factor, I tried to buy a bridge from Phil which was on his parts sale-list, but at that point he told me he only had enough to finish the basses he had and wasn't likely to have more produced. I didn't know it then but I think he was winding it down due to his health problems at that point. It worked pretty well but was a bit fussy sometimes and at one point I sent my very-used '86 bridge/tuner to him and he replaced one of the wheels which was slipping. With 2017 technology, a new version could be made and probably a bit better.
 
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#23
scourgeofgod said:
Hey Jio what's up with that pickguard? My dad and I have been trying to find a piece of that leopard-tort large enough to fit a '72 style tele and are coming up extremely short.
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It was one I got on eBay from a British pg company (the sheet of plastic) - I cut it myself. They are probably still there and they had a lot of wacky stuff along with the usual suspects. Go on eBay and type in "pickguard blanks" and hopefully they will come up. Not sure if they will have a sheet large enough for a Tele Bass (I've made a few of those also) but it's worth a try. Good luck!

updated: Blank Pickguard Sheet scratchplate material 44 x 29cm various colours 1 3 4 ply | eBay
 
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#24
JIO said:
I get frequent requests to post details about this bass so I decided to create a thread for it so I don't keep high-jacking threads! It does have a story and this is my chance to extrapolate - I'm always welcome to any comments or questions. :)

I've owned a few Factors over the years and bought this lined fretless neck from Phil in '94 for my '86 Ex-Factor. (since sold with its original fretted neck) The unique Kubicki tuner/bridge was off another 'parts bass' Factor I found on eBay long ago. I've been a T-bird player since the 70's and own a '64 II which I still perform with. As a dyed-in-the-wool T-bird devotee I wanted to make my own bass based on one. So this was my first foray into creating my own bass in the late 90's. (in this case a hybrid) I used exact specs from my '64 making this 3 piece Koa body with help from a skilled woodworker friend. As far as ergonomics - my version is all about that and when I design basses it's a top priority always. It's currently strung BEAD. Needless to say, no neck dive.

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In this detail you can see the V-joint which mimics my '64 construction. The wings are tapered to match my '64 - unlike any T-bird since.
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I scalloped/beveled the upper back horn as I ride my birds with the upper part of the body against my body. T-birds were not designed with ergonomics in mind and I've adopted a few ways of comfortably playing them. I scalloped the lower neck area to help getting to the higher frets w/o changing the original outline of the body. T-birds are very restrictive there. I also radically tapered the lower bout as seen in this and the next pics.
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The FB started out with EMG J pu's/pre and over time I went to Wilkinson buckers and finally to G&L L-2000 pu's/pre. Had to create a non-recessed control cover that allowed space for the deeper electronics as the body like my '64 is very thin.
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Love the guitar but my hand likes a headstock.

The popsicle stick neck is gorgeous. Always liked those, kept one from years ago from a Tiesco guitar. Put it on a partsCaster.
 
#25
Ross W. Lovell said:
Love the guitar but my hand likes a headstock.

The popsicle stick neck is gorgeous. Always liked those, kept one from years ago from a Tiesco guitar. Put it on a partsCaster.
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? - are you referring to the Kubicki Ex-Factor neck? :cautious: It's the furthest thing from a Teisco guitar, although - the multi-lam rock maple construction Phil Kubicki used was not revolutionary as it was used on those inexpensive guitars/basses from Japan in the 60's. Maybe that was what you were referring to...
 
#26
Some more recent T-bird/Kubicki reference builds - Teiscobird - L, TeiscoT45bird - R (both have Epi Goth T-bird necks) The middle one is in progress and I'm developing a Kubicki-like capo for it right now. I call it the XD (eXtended D)

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#29
And lastly, a (stalled) project Epi Goth solid mahogany body that I routed to house an active lighting system with plans for a translucent sheet of dark brown lucite over the upper section and the space for it's controls under the pg. The Guild Darkstar PU is a consideration for it - would do two of the hot singles. Just need to get motivated to continue work on it.

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#30
JIO said:
? - are you referring to the Kubicki Ex-Factor neck? :cautious: It's the furthest thing from a Teisco guitar, although - the multi-lam rock maple construction Phil Kubicki used was not revolutionary as it was used on those inexpensive guitars/basses from Japan in the 60's. Maybe that was what you were referring to...
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Just referring to the construction style, no offense meant.
 
#31
Ross W. Lovell said:
Just referring to the construction style, no offense meant.
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No offense taken! :) I thought that's what you meant. I was at the bar of a club my band played at last Thurs night and I ordered a scotch with one rock (ice-cube) The bartender said he didn't have a rock, and asked if one ice-cube was ok. I thought.., ok fine - not wanting to complicate matters. Later, I saw a product called SPARQ - "the original soapstone whiskey rocks"... and it's possible this is what he thought I wanted. Even in person communication can be tricky! ;)
 
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#34
gjohnson441496 said:
I like it. That headstock gives the bass an extra dose of WOW.
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The Saunderbird? Yes, I was drawn to the funkiness of it's shape, the crazy wood grain and the bold 'futuristic" graphics. Took the concept of Fenderbird to the next level! :bassist:
 
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#36
gjohnson441496 said:
I was referring to the Factorbird fretless. The Saunderbird is cool, but I dig the heck outta that Factorbird especially because of the headstock.
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Well yah, that is the design genius of Phil Kubicki. The Kubicki Ex-Factor is an iconic modern classic.
 
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#38
JMacBass65 said:
That Factorbird is simply one of the coolest things I have ever seen!
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:) Thanks man! A woman bass player at a show I played it at came up afterwards and asked where she could get one. This is one bass that would be difficult to reproduce, mostly because of the Kubicki Factor parts.
 
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