That'd be very good of you to share all that stuff.
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WBO 23 - Creating Surreal Kaos!
- Thread starter AbnormalForms
- Start date
And if you do it here on TalkBass, you'll be helping TalkBass to remain the gold mine of useful information that it is.
New frets acquired and clipped to size. I filed down the ends a bit after squishing them into the slots, but didn't completely finish just yet due to some of the frets sticking up a bit on one side or the other. Seems I did add some radi to the board, just an extremely shallow one.... Fun. I foresee some more sanding in my near future.
However, before we get to that point, I need to get past the point of making or breaking the deadline: making sure the neck holds under string tension. And to do that, I'm going to need to attach the fretboard to the neck. This is something I wanted\should've done a couple weeks ago, but I guess I really like just pushing my luck.
Anyways, here it is. We'll find out later tonight if Lady Luck smiles upon my gamble with time or not. Definitely going to make something a lot less ambitious for whatever next build off I have the gall to enter...
However, before we get to that point, I need to get past the point of making or breaking the deadline: making sure the neck holds under string tension. And to do that, I'm going to need to attach the fretboard to the neck. This is something I wanted\should've done a couple weeks ago, but I guess I really like just pushing my luck.
Anyways, here it is. We'll find out later tonight if Lady Luck smiles upon my gamble with time or not. Definitely going to make something a lot less ambitious for whatever next build off I have the gall to enter...
There it is folks. A couple of test strings and bending only in the 5th fret higher portion of the neck. I tested the truss rod and it worked fantastically, straightening it back out, though I didn't hold it there long for fear of the fresh epoxy pulling up. I know I should test it with more than just 2 strings, and I will once I know the epoxy is nice and cured. But until then...
I know I haven't made virtually any references to the theme of this build, but I think this one fits quite well right about now:
The race to the great Runas has begun!
A lot of what I got done after removing is all preping for what I know will take the longest time to finish over these next few days: the paint (and are things that definitely could have finished last week, but no one said that I was good at managing my time, now did they?) Although, before we move on to that, I would like to point out an interesting quirk about this ALP style bridge. It seems you need to cut your strings to the exact length to were they are just barely sticking out of the hole on the other end of the winder. Too long and it stops you from tightening the string any further, like what happened on one of my test strings:
Anyways, first thing I did was get to work on the mess that was the poorly aligned "skeleton" parts, which included lots of sanding down the inside of the treble side of the "skin" and the bottom and back of the bass, after filling in several gaps to make sure that they fit together well enough that it didn't feel like I was going to break something when trying to pull them apart.
Also took the opportunity to sand the back of the neck as I don't plan on painting it (for now at least). After that I glued on the fingers that separate the wires leading to the kaoss pad.
Finally for the night, I attached the "cone of shame," a reinforcement piece that I attach to my 3d printed necks ever since the Head Snap of '19. It's a bit that wraps around the back of the head and has an opening at the top to pour resin in. I even added some CF TOW this time around. I also used a 3d pen to make sure the resin wouldn't seep out while curing.
Attachments
The sprint continues with more sanding and filling in gaps.
Using a hot soldering iron to press threaded inserts into the plastic:
Printed out a bezel for the screen and glued it on along with gluing the two parts of the skin together:
While waiting for that to dry, I made an extension cable to run from the control board to the output jack:
Finally, with all the details satisfied, I wrapped it with only one place left to go; a bath in white primer.
And of course, when theming your build after something bizarre, something bizarre is bound to happen to it at some point I guess...
The yellow coloring is seemingly eating through and staining the primer. I can kinda guess this is happening because I over sprayed in one area and I watched as the white run-off slowly turn this sun bleached yellow. Out of the several dozen 3d printed parts that I applied primer to over the years, I've never seen it do anything like this before. Gonna try some different gray primer tonight and see how that holds up. If not, then I'm not sure where I'll go from there...
Using a hot soldering iron to press threaded inserts into the plastic:
Printed out a bezel for the screen and glued it on along with gluing the two parts of the skin together:
While waiting for that to dry, I made an extension cable to run from the control board to the output jack:
Finally, with all the details satisfied, I wrapped it with only one place left to go; a bath in white primer.
And of course, when theming your build after something bizarre, something bizarre is bound to happen to it at some point I guess...
The yellow coloring is seemingly eating through and staining the primer. I can kinda guess this is happening because I over sprayed in one area and I watched as the white run-off slowly turn this sun bleached yellow. Out of the several dozen 3d printed parts that I applied primer to over the years, I've never seen it do anything like this before. Gonna try some different gray primer tonight and see how that holds up. If not, then I'm not sure where I'll go from there...
It's kinda cool having the (albeit unintention) two tone. Embrace it, call it a feature, if you can't beat em, join em! 
Kinda sorta, the blue I'm applying over it might turn out slightly more green, but that shouldn't make too much of a difference. No, what I'm worried about is it eating through the top layer as well. I sprayed some of the blue on the back to test just now, I'll post what happens when it's dry in about half an hour.
That might be what is happening here, might want to rethink my color scheme here real quick...It's kinda cool having the (albeit unintention) two tone. Embrace it, call it a feature, if you can't beat em, join em!
Hmm... The color isn't bad, but it did eat through the paint up top there. I went ahead and applied the gray primer to the front of the bass, and I'm glad I did because it already looks a lot better.
A good portion of yesterday was spent helping my roommate move out of the house, and while it did eat quite a bit of time that I could've used to work on this, it doesn't make paint dry faster. I should've figured that such a silly paint job would take more time to set up with tape, but here we are.
I've still got to add the black outline details to the blue side and add sealer on top of that. Gonna try to get what I can done today, but I'm not planning on botching the paint job for the sake of pressure. Still got a few more things to do here and there (I have an idea for the frets, but we'll see...), but if I can get through those, it should be easy enough to install the electronics for at least the bass\kaoss pad part to make noise with. I won't have time tomorrow to do anything on this due to work and it ending at 3pm where I'm at, so we'll see how much I can get done tonight.
I've still got to add the black outline details to the blue side and add sealer on top of that. Gonna try to get what I can done today, but I'm not planning on botching the paint job for the sake of pressure. Still got a few more things to do here and there (I have an idea for the frets, but we'll see...), but if I can get through those, it should be easy enough to install the electronics for at least the bass\kaoss pad part to make noise with. I won't have time tomorrow to do anything on this due to work and it ending at 3pm where I'm at, so we'll see how much I can get done tonight.
Well, here it is, the rest of my absolutely insane mad dash to the deadline. First, I started with the black outlines. Figured there would be less tape to cut and waste if I hand painted them on, which comes with it's own can of worms, which I did indeed open several times.
But I do have to say, I did still enjoy the final result. From here, I sprayed on the clear top coat, and while waiting for that to dry, whipped up a few last minute prints of a couple of hardware braces and some key caps for the midi board. After the top coat dried, it was finally time for the unveiling of the fretboard.
Well this is... A bit disappointing. Who would've guessed that eyeballing color hues would make such a discordant form. Maybe I should put the tape back on, just forget about the fretboard... No, already too far into the abyss, can't stop now. Right, onto the disasterfield that I... Mmm... possibly someone might call a fretboard.
Tried clamps and a rubber mallet to flatten them out, which worked a bit, but they're still not good. I did what I could with the bezeling tool, but after repeated slips and cringingly dragging the file over the top of the frets, I became frustrated and did the rest of what I could by hand. Namely it was just making sure that they don't cut your fingers when running over the ends, as that was most of what I could do with what time I had left.
The rest of the time was spent installing the hardware and electronics. Not going to lie, almost called it quits on the soldering, it just refused to stick to board. Or I just don't know how to properly use a soldering iron, which is probably moreso the case. But I peered further into the abyss and moved on. After all of that was secured in place (and figuring out that the pickup wire was too short to put the control board where I wanted it
) I installed a couple of stings (and not a full set because at this point I realized it was 3am when I needed to get up at 7:30 for work) and called it a night...
...but of course not after noodling with it a little bit.
(Holy crap, this thing is HOT! I only had the volume on the amp at 1 and you could hear it through the whole house!)
Is it playable? To a degree, yes.
Is it giggable? To a one off show that was somehow ordered off the black market, sure.
Is it finished? Oh ho ho, faaaaar from it, buddy. (Although it's probably not as far off as I think it is...)
I didn't quite make it to the point that I wanted to be at the end of the contest, which was stringed up with the synth stuff installed, but I'm actually kinda impressed with how close I got with how much I put it off for other life things. At this point, it's basically a weird (and unfinished) lookin Ibanez SRKP4, except they changed out the pickup for an Alumitone Bar and made the body and neck out of plastic (and forgot to level the frets). Dunno, do you guys think I should still submit this to the contest? It's nowhere near the level of some of the other entries (that Heart of Gold man, whew!), but it is rather... Unique.
I am definitely going to work on finishing this, but more than likely after I sleep for a week.
But I do have to say, I did still enjoy the final result. From here, I sprayed on the clear top coat, and while waiting for that to dry, whipped up a few last minute prints of a couple of hardware braces and some key caps for the midi board. After the top coat dried, it was finally time for the unveiling of the fretboard.
Well this is... A bit disappointing. Who would've guessed that eyeballing color hues would make such a discordant form. Maybe I should put the tape back on, just forget about the fretboard... No, already too far into the abyss, can't stop now. Right, onto the disasterfield that I... Mmm... possibly someone might call a fretboard.
Tried clamps and a rubber mallet to flatten them out, which worked a bit, but they're still not good. I did what I could with the bezeling tool, but after repeated slips and cringingly dragging the file over the top of the frets, I became frustrated and did the rest of what I could by hand. Namely it was just making sure that they don't cut your fingers when running over the ends, as that was most of what I could do with what time I had left.
The rest of the time was spent installing the hardware and electronics. Not going to lie, almost called it quits on the soldering, it just refused to stick to board. Or I just don't know how to properly use a soldering iron, which is probably moreso the case. But I peered further into the abyss and moved on. After all of that was secured in place (and figuring out that the pickup wire was too short to put the control board where I wanted it
) I installed a couple of stings (and not a full set because at this point I realized it was 3am when I needed to get up at 7:30 for work) and called it a night......but of course not after noodling with it a little bit.
(Holy crap, this thing is HOT! I only had the volume on the amp at 1 and you could hear it through the whole house!)
Is it playable? To a degree, yes.
Is it giggable? To a one off show that was somehow ordered off the black market, sure.
Is it finished? Oh ho ho, faaaaar from it, buddy. (Although it's probably not as far off as I think it is...)
I didn't quite make it to the point that I wanted to be at the end of the contest, which was stringed up with the synth stuff installed, but I'm actually kinda impressed with how close I got with how much I put it off for other life things. At this point, it's basically a weird (and unfinished) lookin Ibanez SRKP4, except they changed out the pickup for an Alumitone Bar and made the body and neck out of plastic (and forgot to level the frets). Dunno, do you guys think I should still submit this to the contest? It's nowhere near the level of some of the other entries (that Heart of Gold man, whew!), but it is rather... Unique.
I am definitely going to work on finishing this, but more than likely after I sleep for a week.
Went home for lunch and dressed it up a little more.
I am torn. Part of me wants to submit it, make it so that the late nights of rushing something that really shouldn't be rushed weren't in vain. But the other part of me knows it's exactly that; rushed and sloppy (there's a reason there's no pictures of the back
). I bit off more than I could chew and the price of not pacing myself has been paid. I mean look at it, it still has holes in the treble wing! Ugh...
Anyways, this was my first build off, and while I don't think I'll be entering the voting (not because I don't think I'll get any votes, mind you
), I quite enjoyed the experience and appreciate all the help and suggestions that were given along the way. I know that I'm an eclectic guy and am not always sure how sharp my words can be at times, but I am grateful for you guys sticking around with me on this perilous race to the great Runas. Looks like Moony beat me to it though and now I've got some debts to pay off...
I am torn. Part of me wants to submit it, make it so that the late nights of rushing something that really shouldn't be rushed weren't in vain. But the other part of me knows it's exactly that; rushed and sloppy (there's a reason there's no pictures of the back
). I bit off more than I could chew and the price of not pacing myself has been paid. I mean look at it, it still has holes in the treble wing! Ugh...Anyways, this was my first build off, and while I don't think I'll be entering the voting (not because I don't think I'll get any votes, mind you
), I quite enjoyed the experience and appreciate all the help and suggestions that were given along the way. I know that I'm an eclectic guy and am not always sure how sharp my words can be at times, but I am grateful for you guys sticking around with me on this perilous race to the great Runas. Looks like Moony beat me to it though and now I've got some debts to pay off...
Went home for lunch and dressed it up a little more.
View attachment 5005574
View attachment 5005575
View attachment 5005579
View attachment 5005581
I am torn. Part of me wants to submit it, make it so that the late nights of rushing something that really shouldn't be rushed weren't in vain. But the other part of me knows it's exactly that; rushed and sloppy (there's a reason there's no pictures of the back
Anyways, this was my first build off, and while I don't think I'll be entering the voting (not because I don't think I'll get any votes, mind you
Looks awesome, even if it's not finished! If it's playable, you should submit for voting!
HhmmmMMmMm....
Well, I guess it wouldn't actually hurt anything to do so.... They do say you are your own worst critic.
Eh, why not. Got pretty much everything here for throwing something simple up.
Generating Entry,
Please Standby...
This is my submission to the Winter Build Off 2023 in the scratch Category.
Specs:
Body: 3d printed PLA
Neck: 3d printed PLA
Nut: 3d printed PLA
Truss Rod: 21 inch
Stiffeners: Carbon fiber TOW encased in resin
Frets: Silver\Nickel Jumbo
Neck/Body Join: Neck through
Scale Length: 30 inches
Fingerboard Radius: ... maybe
Strings: Short Scale Ernie Ball Super Slinky
Pickups: Lace Alumitone Bar
Electronics: Ibanez SRKP4 guts
Controls: Vol, gain, tone, distortion switch Kaoss switch
Bridge: Guyker ALP style
Build:
I had had the idea for a "1 man band" bass\synth\sequencer style instrument in mind for a while now (as we all do in the back of our mind before we wave it off as a ridiculous idea) and saw the theme of nerds for this build off as an opportunity to put that idea into motion. I doubled down on that by deciding to also experiment with a thin neck fully 3d printed bass, as I had done a few before, but none with functioning truss rods yet. I also added on top of the theme by styling the bass in a tribute to an abstract art project posted on YouTube early last year that kicked off a spiral down the type of music I would be listening to for the rest of the year onward. With this build, I'd like to add to the rather strange style of music some day.
The holes in the treble wing are for the synth DLC that you have to pay an additional month to acquire, so we are waiting on that presently.
(Edited to fix attached pictures)
Specs:
Body: 3d printed PLA
Neck: 3d printed PLA
Nut: 3d printed PLA
Truss Rod: 21 inch
Stiffeners: Carbon fiber TOW encased in resin
Frets: Silver\Nickel Jumbo
Neck/Body Join: Neck through
Scale Length: 30 inches
Fingerboard Radius: ... maybe
Strings: Short Scale Ernie Ball Super Slinky
Pickups: Lace Alumitone Bar
Electronics: Ibanez SRKP4 guts
Controls: Vol, gain, tone, distortion switch Kaoss switch
Bridge: Guyker ALP style
Build:
I had had the idea for a "1 man band" bass\synth\sequencer style instrument in mind for a while now (as we all do in the back of our mind before we wave it off as a ridiculous idea) and saw the theme of nerds for this build off as an opportunity to put that idea into motion. I doubled down on that by deciding to also experiment with a thin neck fully 3d printed bass, as I had done a few before, but none with functioning truss rods yet. I also added on top of the theme by styling the bass in a tribute to an abstract art project posted on YouTube early last year that kicked off a spiral down the type of music I would be listening to for the rest of the year onward. With this build, I'd like to add to the rather strange style of music some day.
The holes in the treble wing are for the synth DLC that you have to pay an additional month to acquire, so we are waiting on that presently.
(Edited to fix attached pictures)
Last edited:
This turned out great and sounds amazing. Love the placement of the kaos element and the way it accents the sound.
