Help me customize my new guitar?

[TheFunPolice]

So for Christmas I'm getting a brand new bass guitar. It's from a company which was discontinued last year (FleaBass)and they only made about 150 basses of this model and no more will ever be made again.

What makes this bass different from their other guitars, is that it's been left completely white, for the soul purpose of inspiring creativity within the player to do their own design

And so it arrived in the mail the other day and I had a little go and it's fantastic, but now it's all wrapped up for Christmas day (the waiting is unbearable)

But now I'm contemplating what I should do with the design once Christmas comes along..Since this bass is really special to me, I was thinking I could get all my friends to sign it with their signatures, adding even more heart to it..Or I could even leave it completely white and it'll get all road worn and sexy..

I've had a few other ideas but I want to hear what all the other hilariously brilliant nerds at the escapist have to say ^_^


Here's the bass, I can't wait to hear any ideas ^_^

Spoiler

Inb4 flaming tits and lighting shurikens

 

[Wintermoot]

spray paint it pink with Hello Kitty decals and keep one part open for autographs.

 

[Calibanbutcher]

That is one sexy beast, I give you that.
Personally, I would leave it as it is and wear it out on the road.
Maybe get some signatures from some of your favourite artists over time, but until then just keep playing it and rocking it until the wear and tear finally shows.

The alternative would be to go "Black Dog" (Satriani, not Zeppelin) on this guitar:

Spoiler: this sexy beast

 

[FalloutJack]

INB4 FLCL jokes.

Duct tape a machine gun to the back of that sucker.

 

[Klumpfot]

I think the glossy white is gorgeous as is. Is that the cable port just below the bridge?

 

[TheRightToArmBears]

Buy loads of UV paints and go apeshit on it. UV paints make everything better.

 

[Quaxar]

Turn it into a ghost!
It's white and it already has two arms coming out at the right side.

 

[Shinsei-J]

It looks a lot like a tooth so you could just roll with that theme.
Then you can have tooth picks...
...
I'll leave now.

 

[TheFunPolice]

The alternative would be to go "Black Dog" (Satriani, not Zeppelin) on this guitar:

Spoiler: this sexy beast

"..ho...ly....Shit" Is basically all I have to say O_O...If I was artistic enough, I'd love to try something like that

DAMMNIT..Every idea has been great so far...Even the machine gun idea is ridiculously cool O_O

 

[disturbed_one]

I have a black Ibanez sr300dx and unfortunately it can't get that worn look cause of it's glossy paint. It has a few scratches but that's it. However I like the wooden, worn out look.

Maybe you should try getting some sticky matte paper, carve it into nice shapes and stick it on there so you don't ruin the paint, you can easily get rid of the glue with acetone later on. Maybe make a fancy "pickguard" or something.

BTW how's the sound on that thing? Never played a bass guitar with only a j pickup.

 

[TheFunPolice]

BTW how's the sound on that thing? Never played a bass guitar with only a j pickup.

I can't think of words to describe it, I guess "punchy as hell" is a good example

Here's a video which sums up the sound pretty accurately ^_^

 

[freakymojo]

whats wrong with flaming tits and lightning shurikens?

 

[disturbed_one]

whats wrong with flaming tits and lightning shurikens?

this

I'm playing with picks more because I feel like I have more control, and getting in rythm is easier for me than with two fingers, but the sound is definitely punchy. I like it.

 

[el_kabong]

Well, I've always been a fan of checkerboard pattern. With a white background, you can simply buy some black adhesive-backed vinyl. You can cut it into equal squares and plaster the back with them.


Whatever you do, I would avoid paint if possible. The chances that you are going to do a good paint job the first time is minimal (I'm not sure about your painting experience, but most people have limited experience painting/refinishing instruments because of the high cost of practice). However, adhesive-backed vinyl can be cut into any pattern and come in a variety of colors. Also, if you screw up, it's removed easily enough without the necessity of any cleaners.

 

[TheFunPolice]

whats wrong with flaming tits and lightning shurikens?

I just felt like the entire thread would be swarmed with those suggestions, seeing as the site is filled to the brim with fans of Zero Punctuation and one of his most famous quotes involves flaming tits and lightning shurikens..

And so I had to put a ban on that suggestion, as much as I love flaming tits and lightning shurikens, they're just not practical things to put on a guitar T_T

[small] I wish they were... [/small]

 

[TheFunPolice]

Well, I've always been a fan of checkerboard pattern. With a white background, you can simply buy some black adhesive-backed vinyl. You can cut it into equal squares and plaster the back with them.


Whatever you do, I would avoid paint if possible. The chances that you are going to do a good paint job the first time is minimal (I'm not sure about your painting experience, but most people have limited experience painting/refinishing instruments because of the high cost of practice). However, adhesive-backed vinyl can be cut into any pattern and come in a variety of colors. Also, if you screw up, it's removed easily enough without the necessity of any cleaners.

Hoolllyyyy crapp. That's sexy O_O....I like this idea, don't suppose you could give me a link to the stuff I'm looking for?

 

[smearyllama]

BTW how's the sound on that thing? Never played a bass guitar with only a j pickup.

I can't think of words to describe it, I guess "punchy as hell" is a good example

Sounds like my bass, a Hofner Galaxie. I just love that extra bit of punch.

OT: Cover that sucker in stickers. All the stickers.
Something like this:

 

[el_kabong]

Well, I've always been a fan of checkerboard pattern. With a white background, you can simply buy some black adhesive-backed vinyl. You can cut it into equal squares and plaster the back with them.


Whatever you do, I would avoid paint if possible. The chances that you are going to do a good paint job the first time is minimal (I'm not sure about your painting experience, but most people have limited experience painting/refinishing instruments because of the high cost of practice). However, adhesive-backed vinyl can be cut into any pattern and come in a variety of colors. Also, if you screw up, it's removed easily enough without the necessity of any cleaners.

Hoolllyyyy crapp. That's sexy O_O....I like this idea, don't suppose you could give me a link to the stuff I'm looking for?

There's several machines that use adhesive-backed vinyl. The most common that I've seen is the CriCut:

http://www.cricut.com/home/

If you want to actually craft vinyl stickers, you'll want the printer. For simple patterns (like the checkerboard I did), you can just buy the refill (bulk sheet of adhesive vinyl) seeing as though you'll be cutting the pattern yourself.

If doing the checkerboard, I recommend a paper trimmer to ensure that the squares remain uniform:

http://www.dickblick.com/items/57115-1002/?clickTracking=true&wmcp=google&wmcid=items&wmckw=57115-1002&gclid=CKnvz_DFn7QCFemiPAodHD4A3A)

I know that both my local craft shops AND Walmart both had each of these items, so they should be pretty easy to get it anywhere.

Addition: While it does take some time to get all the squares cut and stuck on the bass (mine took about 6 hours over 2 days), my customization only cost me about $20. It looks better than any paint job I could've accomplished at probably 5% the cost.

 

[Palademon]

INB4 FLCL jokes.

DAMNIT
DAMNIT. DAMNIT. DAMNIT.

Well I as gunna suggest trying to Fooly it with some way of making it glow a colour and somehow make light trails when swung...

Or paint it blue and stick a motor on the back with a starter cord.

 

[xplosive59]

Do what you want with the aesthetics, that is your choice of course. However I can help you out with addition that will help your playing:

Get Strap-locks, relatively cheap but very important for playing live gigs as well as preventing damages.
Set the bass up the way you want it, e.g lowering or raising the saddle/string height to fit your playing style.
If you tend to play songs in drop D but usually play in standard you can get a Hipshot Detuner, not essential by any means but pretty cool nonetheless.
Different strings give different tones of course, as this is a fleabass I would recommend Roundwound, thicker strings or hybrids, with those you get a nice low end that evens out the tone with the punchy sound of the bass built in.

That's all I got right now...