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Time Machine Bass Project - Build Thread

#61
Latest mock up here. The location of the flux capacitor and year display are final, the rest of the design could still change.

Not sure about the stripes on the back of the neck.

IMG_1775crop.jpg
 
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#62
Flux capacitor is now complete except for the brains. Richard is still working on the circuit board. There are four LED's in each leg. They are clear when off and red when on. Color coding of the wire denotes position of LED. Innermost is gray in each leg, next is blue, then green and yellow is outermost. Black is common for all. The twisty ties will be replaced with a cable tie-wraps (probably black or clear if we can find clear).

IMG_1780.JPG


IMG_1779.JPG


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#66
Solarmist said:
I'm intrigued - it would be really cool if the LEDs were on a chaser circuit. bookmarked.

I never missed an episode - great show with a cool theme song!
Click to expand...

Of course! See post 65 above. The destination year will also be selectable via up and down buttons like on an alarm clock. Now that the flux capacitor is done my son is working on the circuitry for that (he's an engineering student).
 
#71
A beautiful mess....

Here's the numbers for the year display lit up and the related circuit board.

There will be four push-button momentary contact switches to chose destination millenium, century, decade, and year.

I don't know how we are going to fit all the electronics into the body.

IMG_1814.JPG
 
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#72
Dustin Owens said:
I hope you can incorporate something from one of the best time travel movie of all time:

View attachment 675054

edit: I'm having difficulty thinking of anything other then maybe an old worn phone booth number pad or an antenna of sorts.
Click to expand...
One of? Hands down, finest of them all, no question. I'm glad I decided to read through the thread before posting more or less what you did. I think the old payphone keypad idea's on track, maybe recessed into the body or something. It'd be WAY cool to throw the keypad guts away and have some of the buttons physically actuate pickup selector buttons a la Music Man Big Al, it'd be doable. I guess you could also make a miniature umbrella 'antenna', you could 'fix' it with a blob of epoxy putty or something painted pink for the bubble gum. Maybe like a little plaque that says 'don't forget to wind your watch', or a 'Wyld Stallyns' sticker, haha!
 
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#73
Thegrandwazoo said:
One of? Hands down, finest of them all, no question. I'm glad I decided to read through the thread before posting more or less what you did. I think the old payphone keypad idea's on track, maybe recessed into the body or something. It'd be WAY cool to throw the keypad guts away and have some of the buttons physically actuate pickup selector buttons a la Music Man Big Al, it'd be doable. I guess you could also make a miniature umbrella 'antenna', you could 'fix' it with a blob of epoxy putty or something painted pink for the bubble gum. Maybe like a little plaque that says 'don't forget to wind your watch', or a 'Wyld Stallyns' sticker, haha!
Click to expand...

I have never seen that movie or hot tub time machine. Guess I should. I like the keypad idea, but the real estate on the body is going to get really crowded. It will be a struggle to get all the essential circuit boards, batteries, etc in so there probably won't be room.

One backup Plan B idea to expand the real estate on the body would be to use the sidecut area on the bottom / treble side by running a piece of wood straight across from the tip of the horn to the controls area and using the area in between for something. That could potentially look goofy but it's an option. We are already planning to mount the battery for the electronics (a 7.2 volt RC racing pack) on the outside of the body to save space.
 
#74
Doner Designs said:
I have never seen that movie or hot tub time machine. Guess I should. I like the keypad idea, but the real estate on the body is going to get really crowded. It will be a struggle to get all the essential circuit boards, batteries, etc in so there probably won't be room.

One backup Plan B idea to expand the real estate on the body would be to use the sidecut area on the bottom / treble side by running a piece of wood straight across from the tip of the horn to the controls area and using the area in between for something. That could potentially look goofy but it's an option. We are already planning to mount the battery for the electronics (a 7.2 volt RC racing pack) on the outside of the body to save space.
Click to expand...
I typed that before I saw that you'd more or less settled on the basics of your design, and in semi-joking response to someone else's post. Also, if you've not seen Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure, you've got to rectify that situation immediately. Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey is nearly as good, but not as vital.
 
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#75
Another video here.

Richard Doner finished the last of the time machine electronics today (power supply circuits and battery hookup). This video shows the flux capacitor working and the destination year at it's default setting which is 1985. Each digit will be adjustable with it's own pushbutton switch (similar to how an alarm clock is set).

 
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#77
We have been meaning to take a new version of an old photo with a line of guitars and basses. Also Bergantino wanted to feature us on their Facebook page so we killed two birds with one stone. The pair of Bergantino HG310's also made a nice platform to display the time machine parts in progress. The Bergantino Facebook post was shared to Bass Musician Magazine's page so that was a nice bit of free publicity for us. :-)

Here's the new one...

IMG_1845 crop smile.jpg


And here's the old...

With First Two Themes.jpg



And here are a few more versions of the new. Bass face, action and gear only.

IMG_1846 crop badass.jpg IMG_1855 crop.jpg IMG_1857.JPG
 
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#78
We live about an hour away from the Volo, Illinois auto museum. They have a nice collection of movie cars including a Delorean time machine car.

If Richard is in the area when we finish, maybe we'll make a run to Volo and get a picture with the car.

1984 DeLorean Time Machine | Volo Auto Museum
 
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#79
Doner Designs said:
We have been meaning to take a new version of an old photo with a line of guitars and basses. Also Bergantino wanted to feature us on their Facebook page so we killed two birds with one stone. The pair of Bergantino HG310's also made a nice platform to display the time machine parts in progress. The Bergantino Facebook post was shared to Bass Musician Magazine's page so that was a nice bit of free publicity for us. :)

Here's the new one...

View attachment 2783935

And here's the old...

View attachment 2783940


And here are a few more versions of the new. Bass face, action and gear only.

View attachment 2783928 View attachment 2783927 View attachment 2783926
Click to expand...


Beautiful work, congratulations.

I would like to make a suggestion and please don't take offense because it's not the intention.

You should take the photo far away from that cables and wires on the wall. It just doesn't look like a "clean" image. It distracted me from the basses, and maybe I'm not alone on this.

Just a suggestion off-course. English is not my native language, so if my post sounded arrogant, please note that the intention is the exact opposite.
 
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