C18Q1 Bridgehouse's Tragedy Bass Rebuild - Abandoned

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BridgehouseBridgehouse Frets: 24579
edited January 2018 in Making & Modding
I bought this a little while ago - a Yamaha RBX A2

It cost buttons. 

It's comedy enough as it is - white top, battleship grey back and neck, passive, but a 9v battery to power the comedy volume and tone LED lights. 

However, it has two things going for it:

- stupidly light. Must be 7lb ish
- pickups are decent and sound good. 

So - I'm going to go for a rebuild. Why comedy? Cos it's painted in what appears to be spray on plastic UPVC window material - I suspect it will be an utter bitch to remove. 

No more flashing LEDs so I will have to fill the holes somehow. 

Apart from the fact its not a solid body and it will no doubt look shite when the crappy paint is off, it should be a doddle no?

It's stripped and ready for some action:






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Comments

  • BridgehouseBridgehouse Frets: 24579
    Not so much comedy.

    Yamaha clearly coated it in some sort of powder.

    Random orbital sander and 15 minutes (!) and it came right off the neck..

    No more battleship grey for this..


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  • FunkfingersFunkfingers Frets: 14323
    Yamaha clearly coated it in some sort of powder.
    That explains a lot - including the white lines on the table cloth. =)


    Be seeing you.
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  • WezVWezV Frets: 16547
    edited January 2018

    Apart from the fact its not a solid body and it will no doubt look shite when the crappy paint is off, it should be a doddle no?
    they are solid.... solid balsa with a hardwood* veneer front and back.   The sides may dent very easily once stripped.   the bridge mounts from the back as the screws would pull right out the balsa core

    very light, very resonant and a bit different.  I applaud Yamaha for trying.... i don't think they were that far off with these, they just didn't sound that great




    *okay, balsa is technically a hardwood, a very soft and light hardwood.   the veneer is maple i think.
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  • BridgehouseBridgehouse Frets: 24579
    Heh. Well I stripped it anyway. 

    I figure once started.. 

    Bit more to do yet on the body but it's close.




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  • BridgehouseBridgehouse Frets: 24579
    Did a bit of comedy reprofiling of the neck pocket as it stuck out a bit. Might have gone a bit far. Oops. Oh well at least it's even lighter now. I have no idea how much the paint weighted but it was a thick coat. 
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  • BridgehouseBridgehouse Frets: 24579
    Just weighed the body. 

    1.14kg or 2lb 8oz approx. 

    I may may well have to turn this into an ultralight build...
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  • BridgehouseBridgehouse Frets: 24579
    Put most of the parts back on to check fitting and see where else I need to remove the remaining paint. 





    Some more sanding to do and some more minor paint removal needed.

    Gave it a weigh in with most of the parts on and it's 6lb 1oz
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  • TTonyTTony Frets: 27346
    That's looking quite good.

    Which prompts me to ask where's the comedy in "comedy bass rebuild"?
    Having trouble posting images here?  This might help.
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  • BridgehouseBridgehouse Frets: 24579
    TTony said:
    That's looking quite good.

    Which prompts me to ask where's the comedy in "comedy bass rebuild"?
    Believe me - if you saw it when I got it you would think it was a comedy bass. 

    Its the bass thats comedy, not necessarily the rebuild..
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  • JezWyndJezWynd Frets: 6021
    Looks good, Danish Oil finish?
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  • m_cm_c Frets: 1211
    TTony said:
    That's looking quite good.

    Which prompts me to ask where's the comedy in "comedy bass rebuild"?
    Believe me - if you saw it when I got it you would think it was a comedy bass. 

    Its the bass thats comedy, not necessarily the rebuild..

    And there was me thinking the comedy was the player..
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  • BridgehouseBridgehouse Frets: 24579
    JezWynd said:
    Looks good, Danish Oil finish?
    I think given the rather weak sandwich sides and the fact it's a bit ugly round there it will need a proper colour spray.

    I am tempted to do a car paint spray job just to see how bad they are..
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  • BridgehouseBridgehouse Frets: 24579

    m_c said:
    TTony said:
    That's looking quite good.

    Which prompts me to ask where's the comedy in "comedy bass rebuild"?
    Believe me - if you saw it when I got it you would think it was a comedy bass. 

    Its the bass thats comedy, not necessarily the rebuild..

    And there was me thinking the comedy was the player..
    That goes without saying..
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  • m_cm_c Frets: 1211

    I am tempted to do a car paint spray job just to see how bad they are..
    Generally as bad as the person doing the prep and spraying..
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  • BridgehouseBridgehouse Frets: 24579
    m_c said:

    I am tempted to do a car paint spray job just to see how bad they are..
    Generally as bad as the person doing the prep and spraying..
    Probly about the same as my usual nitro efforts then ;)

    Either that or it's a stain finish, but I do want to protect those sides a bit!
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  • WezVWezV Frets: 16547
    there is a reason it had a thick finish on it originally
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  • BridgehouseBridgehouse Frets: 24579
    WezV said:
    there is a reason it had a thick finish on it originally
    Indeed - shame it was pretty ugly. 

    To be honest I don't mind a bit of natural relic ;)


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  • WezVWezV Frets: 16547

    I coated a guitar version in copper leaf.   I just keyed the existing finish rather than totally strip... although its good to see the construction underneath here


    If I were you I would take this opportunity to inlay some wooden disks where the control holes are  - allow you to use normal controls rather than the recessed cups

    See if you can get someone to wind some new pickups too

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  • BridgehouseBridgehouse Frets: 24579
    WezV said:

    I coated a guitar version in copper leaf.   I just keyed the existing finish rather than totally strip... although its good to see the construction underneath here


    If I were you I would take this opportunity to inlay some wooden disks where the control holes are  - allow you to use normal controls rather than the recessed cups

    See if you can get someone to wind some new pickups too

    I was thinking about some wooden disks. I'm not sure I have anything to cut them with. I may be able to use a cutter I have as it will need to have a central hole for the pot shaft anyway. 

    I might try the pickups again again and if not I might get them rewound. 

    Still tempted to stain it and see what happens too
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  • m_cm_c Frets: 1211
    Probly about the same as my usual nitro efforts then ;)

    Either that or it's a stain finish, but I do want to protect those sides a bit!
    In all seriousness, modern water based automotive paints are slightly harder to work with. The biggest problem is they run far easier, and take longer to cure, so as long as you're aware of that, they're not that bad to work with.

    And the only difference between gloss, satin, and matt finishes, are the thinners used. I needed some matt paint for a tractor bonnet a few years ago, and I was surprised to learn all it involved was using a different thinner when mixing the paint.

    How about gloss black sides, then something satin/opaque for top and back?

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