idea for a buildoff?

[Beej]

yeah, sorry, geeked out there for a sec.

 

[ardgedee]

Anyway, what the heck was this thread about again?...

I believe somebody was soliciting ideas for how to argue on the internet.

(fwiw, whoever edited that Wikipedia entry seemed to take pains to make it as difficult as possible to understand by anybody who hasn't previously administered a Usenet server. My comment was meant as a joke and I didn't really realize that it didn't look like a joke until I reread it this morning.)

 

[RichterScale]

You mean a comment that implied "even I" could understand how it worked?
Yeah, I took it lightly, if thats the comment in question.
However, I still looked at it and had no idea what it was. So, you were wrong, joking or not.

 

[Flamingo21]

What?

 

[RichterScale]

What?

Huh?

 

[BishopJP]

We may have collectively moved on from this point already, however...

My issue with a budget challenge like the $99 build challenge idea is I don't think I would want to own the bass that I built for $99. Then what am I going to do with a bass that even I don't want to play?! Burn it?

I like the material limitations; I think that promotes creativity and forces you to try new things. Time limits and budgets just encourage corner-cutting... anyone ever worked on Government projects? just sayin'...

"So, this was a $99 bass, but I have this Change Order..."

 

[Max Bogosity]

I kind of like the idea of ridiculous, stupid constraints.

When I was a kid, my dad and uncle and I went to the Newport wooden boat show and watched the Quick And Dirty Boat Building Contest, sponsored by an adhesive company. You had limited time, limited materials, all the epoxy you could use, and had to race your boat at the end. The point was not at all how good the boats were.

 

[Flamingo21]

My issue with a budget challenge like the $99 build challenge idea is I don't think I would want to own the bass that I built for $99.

That's a very good point you're making. Come to think of it, I do want the things I build to be played. Not become an ugly wall hanger with a cool story.

 

[Beej]

This bass is almost all recycled except the the cheap preamp and frets and would come in right around 120 bucks not counting the value/cost of the recycled things. $99 is a bit of thinking challenge, but doable.

One thing that has been demonstrated already through our build off history here is that the more open themes draw in more participants. The more restrictive build offs produced less contestants and less finished instruments. Part of the approach being taken right now is to increase wider appeal to promote participation. With over 50 in the 2020 Spring Fling and over 40 with our current buildoff, it appears to be more appealing.

 

[BishopJP]

This bass is almost all recycled except the the cheap preamp and frets and would come in right around 120 bucks not counting the value/cost of the recycled things. $99 is a bit of thinking challenge, but doable.
View attachment 4616150 View attachment 4616151

One thing that has been demonstrated already through our build off history here is that the more open themes draw in more participants. The more restrictive build offs produced less contestants and less finished instruments. Part of the approach being taken right now is to increase wider appeal to promote participation. With over 50 in the 2020 Spring Fling and over 40 with our current buildoff, it appears to be more appealing.

Certainly not implying that you can't build a decent bass for little money; that you built that one for so little $$$ is amazing!

 

[Flamingo21]

And it's pretty.

 

[BishopJP]

And it's pretty.

...yes, and it's pretty!

 

[ardgedee]

This bass is almost all recycled except the the cheap preamp and frets and would come in right around 120 bucks not counting the value/cost of the recycled things. $99 is a bit of thinking challenge, but doable.

Yeah, I had been thinking that I don't think I could build a bass I wanted for $99 -- I'm not fussy about wood and have a few chunks of SPF that are flat and knot-free for decent bodies, but I don't have any wood for neck or fingerboard yet, and I don't have a box full of pulled electronics and hardware to pick through; Even nickle-and-dime shopping online is probably going to run me about $50 for pickups and pots, $60 for bridge and tuners, and $whatever for a couple feet of straight maple at the hardware store because the recycled wood shop here closed up about a year before the pandemic, and the nearest one now is about $20 worth of gas away (and climbing).

$150 might be possible.

 

[Max Bogosity]

Maybe keep the theme broad, but add some secondary bonus prizes for fastest, cheapest, lightest, weirdest, etc.

 

[dwizum]

I think the closest we've come to a dollar limit was the "use what you have laying around" buildoff we had at the beginning (I think?) of the pandemic. That was a lot of fun, but I suppose by default it limits the buildoff only to participants who have lots of stuff laying around, i.e. not beginners.

Maybe keep the theme broad, but add some secondary bonus prizes for fastest, cheapest, lightest, weirdest, etc.

That's a great idea. You could even make the special awards informal. You could leave it wide open. Or make it democratic. Every participant gets to come up with one special award and nominate one other participant for the award. That lets everyone build out of their own motivation and aspire to be recognized for it.

 

[TinyE]

It seems like my idea was pretty unpopular. I was really thinking along these lines:



I agree with everyone who is commenting that a time-limited contest isn't the best setting for producing a highly custom bass with lots of special details and a high level of artistry. I guess I was thinking more from the "wouldn't it be fun to do this for the sake of doing it" - purely because it would push us outside of our normal styles/approaches!

Maybe that's the core difference in perspective here. Why do we do build offs? Do we do build-offs to give ourselves a showcase for the instruments that are more or less what we would all be making anyways? Or do we do build-offs because they're enjoyable in and of themselves, as a challenge and a way to push ourselves outside of our normal style or process of building? I guess I saw this thread as exploring the latter while lots of people seem to be saying they prefer the former.

At the end of the day I guess I'm an equal opportunity build-off'er. I'm more than happy to enter in a build off that lets me build things similar to what I would normally build anyways and be able to focus on building the "best" instrument I can. I also think it would be fun to do a build-off with strong limits that would lead me to build something very different than my norm. I also think it would be fun to do both!

You pretty much nailed what i was thinking. i know some of you guys are professional build quality guys, i was just wondering if it would be fun to throw a wrench in the normal way to do things and have a little fun bending corners. I get it that it isn't everyone's cup o tea. same as the $99 (or maybe it was $100) build challenge. Although, after building that thing, i used it at a gig, and we (my band and I) nicknamed it "Thunder"

 

[Flamingo21]

Maybe keep the theme broad, but add some secondary bonus prizes for fastest, cheapest, lightest, weirdest, etc.

@Sushi Box FX is going to get busy