GregRichardson

WE DONT GET PRAWN COCTAIL HERE NOOOOOOOOO......... we also don't get watsits, hoola hoops, quavers or anything else that is full of artificial everything , they were my favorites. on the subject of food, why don't cadburys make 'Dairy Milk all fruit', they make all nut but not all fruit, lets face it the only reason fruit and nut is so good is because of the raisins in it (here they use sultanas, they are obviously raisin wannabes but they can't even get the colour right, shame on them). Just as I started making the Planktar my dad came up to me and said, "Greg, how about you and I paint the entire house" knowing that I can't stand doing anything active or anything that makes someone elses life easier, I replied no but still ended up having to do it so HOPEFULLY I'll get started today also what is the average length of the neck of a general bass guitar?

I was thinking original walkers crisps (you cant beat original), a sandwich with ham and lettuce, a frogurt and a carton of milk (good for the bones I'll have you know). You'll all be jealous when I am using my barely (if that) working planktar and you are all stuck with your crappy custom made 1000+ quid basses, So HA. I'll post more photos today some time

Hi I'm Greg I know I have already used these next few paragraphs in my first post, but there is no point wasting time rewriting a back story that I have already made... One night I woke up and thought "Hey, I want to learn how to play bass" then I went back to sleep. About five minutes later I though "Hey, I don't have any money at all" so I went back to sleep again, almost instantly I woke up and thought "Hey, I could build one". So with my non-existent knowledge of guitars, electronics and carpentry, I set to work learning how to make an electric bass and after about 3 days of trial and error I finally made a bass from some 4x2 and a piezo. So after playing with this barely-working one stringed monstrosity I went to bed happily . The next morning I woke up preparing to stroke my franken-tar, I couldn't feel anything, no splinters in my hand and no electric shock running through my body. After about an hour of looking under my bed, my mum informed me that she threw it away as she thought it was just a big piece of wood (which it was) now this would be all fine and dandy if it weren't 'bin-day' the same day. So after mourning the death of Gregtar Mark 1, I though "Hey, why dont I make a real bass guitar, one that you can actually play... (by the way I'm in my young teens so its not weird me living with my parents) So that is where Gregtar mk2 that I nicknamed 'Planktar' started its life, as an idea. since I was trying to fit this into my busy schedule of school, watching T.V and eating Doritos until a magic thing happened, something I believe you mortals call 'Weekend' this gave me time to think about Planktar. After the whole week of thinking, thinking about how I could make a bass guitar that made fender shiver in its boots, a guitar that would sell millions in the first day, I finally scrapped the ideas and started thinking rationally, I actually put what I learned in science about piezoelectric sensors and bought a piezo buzzer (which I will later use for a pickup), I then bought a plank of wood and some eyebolts and eyescrews, I then got home and found that my plank of wood (Which I spent three whole dollars on) was crap, and I also noticed that guitars needed strings, I was definitely not going to use real guitar strings because then I would not be able to say I made it from scratch. So for a week I took my mind off the project and started looking for a bass to buy. The next weekend came along and I decided to start yet again on my planktar, I bought some extremely expensive wood ($5) and a new piezo (as I smashed the other one) and some 'Trimmer line' (the plasticy string you put in edging trimmers) and some better eyebolts. Tomorrow (the start of the school holidays) I am going to start work on actually putting the planktar together. here are some photos of some of the items I am going to use (please note that this is back when I had the flimsy wood) (sorry for the aweful quality picture, my connection to the internet is slower that dial up at the moment and this is the biggest I can upload) I will post more recent photos soon I am very sorry if I am making no sense, its because I am very tired... posting late at night again

wow thanks for all the comments, I completely forgot about this topic. again I am just going to write quick comments to everything as I am going out for dinner in around 10 minutes and I need to get ready to iwtait; No... to outtoplayjazz; I live in Australia, I highly doubt you'd want to send them all the way down under, thanks very much for the offer though. to Hamster; I'm actually just using a piezo for the build, come on, I'm an Austra-English 14 year that studies 3 different forms of IT, you don't get much lazier than that, I have started making some pickups for my dads old electric guitar but I got bored after winding it about four times, you can still be impressed if you wish to Jean(etc, etc, etc, I'm not writing your full username ), thanks for the ideas but I wanted to make my own strings not buy crappy ones, thanks anyway though. to bnt; sorry, I use all my barbed wire to punish myself for my sins, I'm the Silas, the pale guy from the Davinci Code, just so you know I will write more in about an hour, thanks for the comments

I don't want to spend anything , but my budget is around $150-$200 as I have no fixed income (no income at all actually) it is just to be used as a startup bass which I am going to use until I decide I really want to play it (I'm very lazy and usually give up on everything within weeks ) sorry to sound so cheap Greg

thanks iwtait, I will try and rehearse that version. sorry, I don't really have anything to write so this is my shortest comment EVER!!!!!

To Jon No we do not have carboot sales here and that is one of the things I miss most about England, I used to go the the Hambleton booties (*giggles like a school girl* booty ) every week, its where I used to get all my bargains (I always used the line "but I only got XX pounds for my birthday, so can I have it for that amount" ) including my first game console (ahhh the Genesis, why oh why did you fail). But getting back onto the topic, the closest thing we have here to carboot sales is eBay (my worst enemy) and what makes it worse I live in Darwin the 'poo-hole' of Australia, I looked on eBay for everything being sold within 200 miles, there was an old blue rug and a plank of 4x2 . I was kinda gonna use the budget bass as a 'project bass', I would replace all the wiring and pickups (unless they surprise me with their quality) and the strings (which look very dodgy) and that is also the cheapest bass I can find even cheaper than the ones in Cash Converters (they really rip you off)... You bought a bass for 12 quid! (Don't waste the 12 quid, paint the word fender onto the head and sell it to your parters friends child for 240 quid, you'll be making a profit ) Jono, sorry, don't live in the states (and sorry for the short reply but I am going out to lunch in about 5 minutes ) rjb, I was kinda going for the cheap and nasty, and you dont ALWAYS get what you pay for, for example I paid 100 quid for a new crystal xbox about 5 years ago and they sent me the box, I contacted eBay and they said it was o.k because they didn't actually mention the console (dang), I know that wasn't what you meant by the statement but I just had to have my moment. thanks for the information prosebass, I knew it wouldn't be great hence the price tag but I'm thinking of buying it just because I'm not sure if I'll stick to bass or if I'll just give up in a year or so, like I do with everything else , I'll probably steal some a few parts from my dads old electric guitar as he has no intention on fixing it. My brother is planning on buying one of their electric guitars, so I could just wait until he buys that to see at what quality their guitars are made thanks for all the responses Greg edit: and sorry for all the smilies

Hi, Greg again. I was searching through every guitar shop in Darwin to find a very cheap bass guitar and I mean VERY CHEAP, after much searching with no success I turned to my worst enemy Ebay and there I found an obvious strato-copy by a brand called Freedom, the bass costs $127+p&P (total around $150) here is a photo [url="http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j111/ccashcon/wholesale/WEB1-RED-Front.gif"]http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j111/cca...1-RED-Front.gif[/url] the specs from ebay are: Condition Brand New Level All levels & ages Body Solid catalpa with red finish Neck Maple wood with rosewood fingerboard Style Vibrato Pick-Ups 3 Single Coil Controls 2 x Tone, 1 x Volume Strings 4 x Steel Length 1100mm Accessories Shoulder Strap, Lead Packed Dimensions (HxWxL)118x40x8cm Weight 4.665kg if anyone has ever owned or used one of these monstrosities can you please tell me how good they are, I dont care if the sound is a bit tinny or anything like that (I have a $50 amp for gods sake) but I just want to know if it will break in my hands or if it will last a good while (with good care) thanks a lot if you can help Greg

I wrote a really long good comment yesterday but my laptop overheated and I lost all of it, I am so annoyed that I'm only going to write a short message to everyone; first of all thank you bnt for reminding me of those great green day songs, I went into my loft (where I keep all my packed goods) and found my dookie and warning albums, I then listened to them over and over again for hours thanks pkomer for that suggestion, I was going to use 'edging twine' (my word for the plastic-like string you put in edgers), but yours is a much better idea. Iwtwait, during listening to warning over and over again, I got my dads acoustic guitar from the loft and messed around with it until I found something that sounded like warning, please tell me what I need to change (sorry I can't write music and even if I could I couldn't post it) G|---------------------0-0--------------| D|------------0-0-2-4----4-2-0-0-----| A|---0-0-2-4----------------------4-2-| E|---------------------------------------| etc and then I noticed that it was basically the same as picture book by the kinks and walkie talkie man by steriogram Thunderthumbs, I am also 14 and am thinking of buying a bass very soon (a very cheap one at that). I grew up listening to music that should be in the history books, and I can't stand any of it (other than my parents dire straits albums, I believe they are the greatest band that ever lived). My younger brother likes pop bands like Busted and son of dork (I know they are basically the same band) but I can't stand them (well at least its not rap). thanks again for all the comments Greg

To Chris_b Surprisingly enough, I have never heard that saying, but it is very true so thanks for that also, for anyone who wants to know I have finally started my own bass, but it kinda sucks also my dad bought a new camera so I can post photos of it, it will be named the planktar (and you will see why ) if anyone knows what I can use for strings (other than actual strings) please tell me

Hi its Greg again As some of you may know, I am making a bass guitar on a very, VERY low budget and I finally started the project today, all I need now are strings. I do not want to use actual bass strings as they would not look very good on my setup, also that doesnt make it completely homemade (and would also be over my budget) so if anyone knows what a cheap alternative to bass strings would be please tell me. soon I will post pictures of me starting the project entitled "project planktar" Thanks a lot Greg

thanks a lot for the confidence E_man and xgsjx, I will have to wait a few days to try those Punk Rock songs (to be honest I had never heard of them before) because it is weekend (this is probably the one time I am excited to go to school ) I might also try 'Longview' by Green Day because it has quite a catchy bass line. Thanks a lot everyone for your help oh and by the way dont get excited about my build, its probably going to end up a plank of wood with the bass strings , I would post photos, but my camera killed its self yesterday (just my luck) and don't ask me how because I honestly don't know. I am also having a very hard time finding a piezo element... But enough of my rambling thanks a lot Greg

I did spend about 2-4 hours with the bass before I could actually play it and I still just strum with my thumb but thanks a lot for the comment. Its hard to say which bands I really like, sometimes I just hear a song and think "Hey, thats a pretty cool song, I like it" with the exception of Dire Straight (I believe Dire Straights was the best band ever, EVER) also my taste of music varies greatly; I really enjoy Green Day and the works of Jonathan Coulton (I am a massive nerd by the way) I also really enjoy rearranged classical music such as JerryC's canon rock and Mattrach's version of Mozart's Piano Sonata No. 11, I really enjoy the bloodhound gang (but who truly doesn't?). Yes, I know that I am going to get slaughtered for my taste in music (possibly due to the fact very few of them have a noticeable bass lines and if they do, they are basically strumming the same note over and over again) but it could be worse, I could actually enjoy listening to cold play (if you ever hear me talking about cold play again, please carry me off in a straight jacket to an insane asylum) well once again I am writing forum enteries at midnight (its the only time I get from my busy schedule of doing nothing and eating doritos) Good night, morning or whatever it is up there in the 'land up-over'. Greg by the way if my sentences don't make sense, it is because I am very tired and not because I am a complete retard (although that may aide the matter)

Thanks Mr Foxen for the website, I will look to it for inspiration, but as I said before this is not going to be a fully awsomeness guitar, its just going to be a very basic music making 'toy' that you can play a song or two on. Thanks a lot Greg

Hi, its Greg again Today at school I picked up a bass guitar for the first time (It felt GOOOOOOD) and I started messing around with it, I soon found out how to play 'When I come around' by Green Day (some call it genius while others call it the internet) I basically copied this guy: [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26tph5avRSw"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26tph5avRSw[/url], I practiced it so much that my best friend stood up and left after informing me that I practiced the song so much, and by the end of the day I learned how to play it quite well (I am a very VERY modest person) and I thought "Hey, maybe if I learned another song I could annoy my friends with that", so I scavenged the internet for Green Day tabs and it turns out that all the ones I like are easy as hell to play so I was wondering which song I should learn next? By the way, my guitar is not yet finished and probably wont be for a while...

I have decided to go to the complete basics and only use very simple cheap things, for example I am going to use a $2 piezo element as a pickup. To EBS_freak: I am not going to use any sort of mechanism as I want to make it completely and utterly from scratch (and this is where it starts to sound extremely rubbish) I'm going to use eye bolts for the machine heads and knobs so all in all its going to be an above average primary school 'milk-box' guitar To S_U_Y_*: Not only have I moved to the land down under (we work in dollars and catch kangaroos to eat on the barby) but I don't even have 50 pounds (about $110), I have around... hmmmm let me calculate... about $20, and if you think that is bad, there is nowhere to buy fakes/replicas here... DARN thanks everyone for the responses though, and thanks for the fret calculator, that was a god send Tomorrow is hopefully when I get most of the fundamentals finished and then I'll have to work after school. Basically what I am now aiming at is something like this: [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4usje4ClKE&feature=related"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4usje4ClKE...feature=related[/url] so its going to be more of a noise making toy than a real bass (but hopefully I will be able to play something on it)... sorry for maybe getting peoples hopes up but the reality is I don't have the time, skill, money or artistic brilliance to make a good bass. Now I'm going to go to bed as it is midnight here Good night... or morning... or afternoon... or whatever your good pal Greg

Thanks for all the replies and feedback, I wasn't expecting a response so quickly. Benwhiteuk; glad you liked the story, I didn't I almost committed suicide when my mum told me she threw it away. I don't want to buy a bass kit because they cost as much, if not more than a basic bass guitar, I like to make things from scratch because they feel like they are mine and all mine, but thanks for the idea. I've decided that my Gregtar Mk 2 will be more the freaky offspring from a wild coke party in which Miss Bass, Mr Guitar, and Mr 'redneck' Banjo attended. It will either have 3 or 4 strings (I have yet to decide) they will be tuned either: EADG EAD ADG (because I would like to play 'When I come around' by Green Day on it) which brings me to my second question: is there some sort of Fret - necksize ratio? if so what is a good amount of frets to have?

Hi I'm Greg One night I woke up and thought "Hey, I want to learn how to play bass" then I went back to sleep. About five minutes later I though "Hey, I don't have any money at all" so I went back to sleep again, almost instantly I woke up and though "Hey, I could build one". So with my non-existent knowledge of guitars, electronics and carpentry, I set to work learning how to make an electric bass and after about 3 days of trial and error I finally made a bass from some 4x2 and a piezo. So after playing with this barely-working one stringed monstrosity I went to bed happy. The next morning I woke up preparing to stroke my franken-tar when I couldn't feel anything, no splinters in my hand and no electric shock running through my body. about an hour of looking under my bed, my mum informed me that she threw it away as she though it was just a big piece of wood (which it was) now this would be all fine and dandy if it weren't 'bin-day' the same day. So after mourning the death of Gregtar Mark 1, I though "Hey, why dont I make a real bass guitar, one that you can actually play... So to the actual point of this article: I want to make a bass guitar that would be easy to play and easy to learn and so I need a bit of help designing the body and length of the neck Thanks a lot if you can help Greg P.S I'm in my young teens so its not weird me living with my parents