weaponepsilon Posted September 21, 2005 Report Share Posted September 21, 2005 Okay. I was doing my regular brainstorming when I suddenly decided I needed to build a bass trem. I was looking at the costs of simply buying one outright, but they are in the $200 - $300 range. I had thought that perhaps own could undertake building a trem system. Well, I have a spare bridge plate handy... and I can pick up springs and such from Stew Mac... Now, am I just crazy for trying to save a few dollars or has anyone else tried this before? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goth_fiend Posted September 21, 2005 Report Share Posted September 21, 2005 it gets more costly, I was going to make an 8 string floyd rose bridge, I wont say how much it was going to cost in machining costs and materials, but lets just say i could have almost had an 8 built for me for what it was going to cost. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
weaponepsilon Posted September 21, 2005 Author Report Share Posted September 21, 2005 it gets more costly, I was going to make an 8 string floyd rose bridge, I wont say how much it was going to cost in machining costs and materials, but lets just say i could have almost had an 8 built for me for what it was going to cost. ← Well, heres, the deal, I have a drill press and grinder plus saws and files. Pops liked to do a lot of aluminum work and such. I figure drilling a few holes in the center of the bridge plate and bolt on a flat piece of steel about 1/4 or so thick for the springs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goth_fiend Posted September 21, 2005 Report Share Posted September 21, 2005 its worth a shot man, if you can do the work yourself its cool, im no good with metal work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickguard Posted September 21, 2005 Report Share Posted September 21, 2005 I say go for it...the worst that can happen is it doesn't work, right? But if it does work, then it'd be really cool... Maybe you could buy a couple of bigsby springs and hide them under the bridge plate...no trem arm, you just push on it with butt of your hand... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
weaponepsilon Posted September 21, 2005 Author Report Share Posted September 21, 2005 I say go for it...the worst that can happen is it doesn't work, right? But if it does work, then it'd be really cool... Maybe you could buy a couple of bigsby springs and hide them under the bridge plate...no trem arm, you just push on it with butt of your hand... ← I dunno, I kind of like the idea of a trem arm...Then you can do dive bombs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neocon58 Posted September 21, 2005 Report Share Posted September 21, 2005 I say go for it...the worst that can happen is it doesn't work, right? But if it does work, then it'd be really cool... Maybe you could buy a couple of bigsby springs and hide them under the bridge plate...no trem arm, you just push on it with butt of your hand... ← I dunno, I kind of like the idea of a trem arm...Then you can do dive bombs. ← Yeah, dive bombs on a bass. If you get it to work, record a soundclip of it, it would be cool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marksound Posted September 21, 2005 Report Share Posted September 21, 2005 I have a mental picture of a bridge plate kinda like a vintage style Fender trem with the anchor screws at the back. The plate sits on top of a cavity with idch's Bigsby springs inside, and maybe a Kahler style palm pedal on top. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattia Posted September 21, 2005 Report Share Posted September 21, 2005 Unless you've got metalworing experience and skills, I'd say you're a bit crazy to go there. I wouldn't do it, personally, because I don't have the skill set, and I'm not terribly interested in developing it. This said, I have seen a home-built, bearing-loaded floyd copy that looked pretty fantastic. Built by a trained machinist, though, has to be said. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frank falbo Posted September 21, 2005 Report Share Posted September 21, 2005 If you have a baseplate, I'd recommend using a tongue and groove fulcrum, similar to the old Ibanez Powerocker trems. Except Ibanez used a bull nose rounded front and a rounded receiving block. A long knife edge would be better. You don't need precision return to pitch like with a Floyd equipped guitar. The scale is so long and the strings are so thick, that micro movements won't put the bass out of tune like they do on a guitar's G string for example. Instead, you need strength and stability. The Kahler was probably the best one made because it used ball bearings to pivot. But I would think you could make a pretty usable trem out of standard bass saddles, a standard floyd or strat trem block, and all you'd have to mill would be the long knife edge pivot and it's receptacle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickguard Posted September 21, 2005 Report Share Posted September 21, 2005 Unless you've got metalworing experience and skills, I'd say you're a bit crazy to go there.← I think that depends on the results he's hoping to achieve --unlikely he'll get something that looks production-perfect, but he may come up with some very cool nonetheless... Actually if you only work on the underside of the base plate, the homemade part doesn't necessarily have to show.... Okay, so you want to divebomb, eh? In that case, how about a combo--you have your bigsby springs (because they're heavy duty) providing downward support...then you weld a three or four hooks into the bottom of the plate, and you attach Fender style springs to them...this way you'll get the best of both worlds.... I'm just assuming that since they're bass strings you'll need heavy duty springs to handle the stress. You don't even need to weld-- you can also drill through the plate and bold something on.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
weaponepsilon Posted September 21, 2005 Author Report Share Posted September 21, 2005 Unless you've got metalworing experience and skills, I'd say you're a bit crazy to go there.← I think that depends on the results he's hoping to achieve --unlikely he'll get something that looks production-perfect, but he may come up with some very cool nonetheless... Actually if you only work on the underside of the base plate, the homemade part doesn't necessarily have to show.... Okay, so you want to divebomb, eh? In that case, how about a combo--you have your bigsby springs (because they're heavy duty) providing downward support...then you weld a three or four hooks into the bottom of the plate, and you attach Fender style springs to them...this way you'll get the best of both worlds.... I'm just assuming that since they're bass strings you'll need heavy duty springs to handle the stress. You don't even need to weld-- you can also drill through the plate and bold something on.... ← Excellent suggestion. I was just trying to figure out which springs to pick out. I am already forming a mental picture. Ma and Pop always told people that only their son would attempt such a thing... Heh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickguard Posted September 22, 2005 Report Share Posted September 22, 2005 Ma and Pop always told people that only their son would attempt such a thing... Heh ← Mother is the necessity of invention. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevenhoneywell Posted September 22, 2005 Report Share Posted September 22, 2005 It may even be worth "patient"ing your design. It could be the making of your fortune Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rhoads56 Posted September 22, 2005 Report Share Posted September 22, 2005 yeah, you'd just have to start with a small fortune first... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hughes Posted September 23, 2005 Report Share Posted September 23, 2005 i asked about the same thing and a forum member named thedoctor gave me this picture and said he would send me plans https://welddoctor.sslpowered.com/pics/IMG_0041.JPG but he never got around to it, so maybe PM him and asked him how to make a similar trem (without the big exaust pipes) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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