Hi, it's the new guy. Just want to join the discussion so you can all laugh at me. BTW, I'm a bass player, so I hope I'm allowed among you six-stringed folk. Anyway, here's what I got.
From humble beginnings (what I own or use currently):
Squier P-bass (my first bass, I got it in that pack with the amp and stuff.) I do use it on stage though, mostly out of necessity, but I like it, it's not bad. Right now it's tuned C,G,C,A (my guitar player plays baritones and tunes very low, even lower than me).
Schecter Scorpion (on loan from my guitar players friend. As she says, "I'm not in the band, but my bass is!"). Tuned C,G,C,D#
Dean Dimebag Razorback Bass (just bought it and not even 2 days later my guitar player/roommate knocked it over and broke the head stock. I can't blame him though, he is blind, seriously). Would have been tuned to G at some point, but I didn't even have it long enough to change the strings.
Bridgecraft (?) I never heard of it, but it was cheap, and i wanted a bass in the house that was in standard tuning just for messing around. That and it has a P+J pickup configuration which I love and plan to use it as a test bed for new pickup purchases for future basses I have planned.
Fender 15 watt bass practice amp (the one that came with my Squier.)
GK Backline 250 head (my guitar player at one point will trade me his 300 watt version, but for now I'm stuck with 150). At home, it's going through a Behringer BG412H guitar cab (left over from my guitar players V-amp rig, but he just sold that head and since i dont have a cab yet, this will have to suffice). On stage we just plug our heads directly into the house speakers. Good thing we don't have a drummer. But we don't have a car either, so even if we had the cabs, we couldn't get them to gigs if we wanted to. Oh, and as a channel foot switch, I'm using a foot pedal from a sowing machine (we think). What can I say, it was lying around and it works.
Floating around here somewhere is a left handed Jazz Bass neck (maple w/ maple fret board and black block inlay). It will be used for something.......eventually......
I occasionally mess around with my guitar player's DOD Grunge pedal and Rocktron Black Cat Moan Wah pedal.
Onward, to the future............ (stuff I want or have planned to build):
The "Dr. Frankenstein" (pronounced Fronk-en-shteen. I'm not Eddie Van Halen, you know). Basically it will be a Fender P-Bass (not the Squier I have now, something that I know what wood the body is made out of at least). Not sure what color yet. I want to put a neck with a Tele-style headstock on it. P+J (ish) configuration (I'm currently leaning toward a Lace Aluma-P and an Alumatone soapbar or transensor J. Although if lace ends up making Alumatone Jazz bass pickups, then one of those). I also want a Sharp Concepts aluminum pickguard (I was thinking of the diamond plate one, but the more I think about it, the more i think it's not right for this one). A Bad Ass II bridge (or Bad Ass III if I make it a string through, which I probably will). I've also had an interesting wiring idea, though I have no idea how to make it happen, but I will. I want to have the jack (routed through the bottom, not the front like most p-basses) have a stereo output, the p-bass pickup to one side, and the other pickup (soapbar/j-bass) to the other. Each pick up will have it's own volume and 3-band active eq (I hope I can fit all that in there). So I'm thinking in order to do all that, I can get away with all that using 4 concentric pots. Now there is a reason for all this work, I want to send each pick up to different amps and effects (most likely one being clean and the other being distorted). I'm aware there are other easier ways of doing that, but I want this bass to have that eccentric feel to it, and I just want to do it this way.
The "Frankenstein's Monster" A fender p-bass (preferably a '51 style with the slab body, string though, and tele head stock that will end up on the "Dr. Frankenstein"). It will be green (kinda obvious, I guess), but I'm gonna beat it up so bad (the finish, not the body) so it looks kinda like i found it in the garbage. My Jazz bass neck from before will come into play now. Bad Ass III bridge (possibly with a bridge cover, because that bridge will probably be the nicest looking thing on here, and we can have that on this). Either a custom '51 or '55 style pickguard, or a broken pos pickguard, or maybe even no pickguard (letting the wires show and stuff like that). The knobs and tuners will be all different styles and kinds (possibly missing knobs. If I can make it work where it looks like a tuner handle is missing, that would be awesome. almost worth the bitch it would be to tune!). Now for the monster bit. I want it to be a triple humbucker bass. However, they will be all different (my guitar player even suggested that the middle pick up should be the DiMarzio DP127 split p pickup. Each half is an individual humbucker and still gives me the "thrown together with spare parts" look). Now sure what the other 2 will be, but I plan on one being covered and the other not. Not sure on the eq or any of that just yet (no stereo stuff on this one).
The "Blackest Beauty" Basically, I want to build as close to a bass version of Jimmy Page's guitar as I possibly can.
I also would like to one day find (and hopefully afford) a Univox Stereo Bass. Basically, I want a Ric, but i'm not shelling out 2 to 3 grand for a bass at this point. At least if these other basses that i plan on building cost me that much in parts and stuff, thats ok, because it will be "MY" bass. But that much just so it says Rickenbacker on the headstock, i don't think so.
As for future amps, I'm still looking. I want something with tubes, but I just keep ending up back with the GK's (both on price and the distortion).
As for pedals, the Digitech Whammy looks like it could be a lot of fun, the HAO Rust ride sounded cool, maybe a Big Muff (I actually can't wait to try out the new Bass Big muff and the Bass Blogger they just came out with), maybe if i end getting a clean tube amp with no distortion i might get the diesel dawg cuz i love the gk distortion, some form of bass synth pedal, a wah pedal (the last pedal that I tried and really liked was the Cry Baby from Hell, I liked it even better than the Bass Crybaby. However the one I really wanted to try and it's not available in America anymore is the MSD Earthquake II), I'm sure there are others, but I can't think of them right now.
Yeah, so thats it for now. I think I should get some sleep (since I've been up all night and I'm going on stage in less than 12 hours). Hope I didn't bore you guys.
T.B. Player
Bassist, Experiment 667 (myspace.com/experiment667 Sorry, had to work the plug in somewhere)
