WBO 2023: The King In Yellow

[Max Bogosity]

The King in Yellow is a collection of short stories by Robert W. Chambers published in 1895, lying somewhere between Edgar Allan Poe and H. P. Lovecraft in the weird tales continuum. The first several stories refer to a play, also titled The King in Yellow. The first act is described as banal. The second act causes violent madness in those foolish enough to read it.

The King in Yellow bass will be the unlikely and unlovely offspring of two other eldritch horrors from beyond: Danelectro guitars and the Kramer Duke. It inherits Danelectro’s masonite panel hollow body construction, and the Duke’s approximate shape and uniquely abominable approach to headless tuning hardware.

A king, of course, outranks a duke.

This will be a partial build, featuring the very cheapest bass neck from eBay. It appears to be mostly made from some variety of wood, with the exception of the fingerboard which could be laminated cardboard. It will be beheaded in service to the King in Yellow.

 

[Crawforde]

Hmmm
You don’t make this sound like it will be much of a player. Lol.
But I have faith, or morbid curiosity
The child can outshine the sire
Long live the king.

 

[2groggy]

Off with his head! Off with his head!

 

[Max Bogosity]

Off with his head! Off with his head!

Spoken like a fellow decapitation enthusiast.

 

[Max Bogosity]

Hmmm
You don’t make this sound like it will be much of a player. Lol.
But I have faith, or morbid curiosity
The child can outshine the sire
Long live the king.

It might well not be anything to write home about. To be honest, it's kind of a low-risk prototype for something else that I plan to do later with better materials and hardware. Plus an exorcism of the Duke which keeps haunting the back of my mind for some reason.

 

[Reedt2000]

Pics!


(And sub'd )

 

[2groggy]

No Woodpile pic = no WBO entry

 

[kesslari]

I've seen references to The King in Yellow in many of the usual eldrtich places but didn't know the reference. Thanks for that.

 

[Discount Bassy]

 

[H K]

Cute'thulu?

 

[Jon Clegg]

If I follow this thread, I suppose I'll need to make regular saving rolls against madness.

 

[Max Bogosity]

Here we have some scraps of maple for the internal ribs and sides, some big chunks that might be maple or birch for the neck block and bridge block, and a sheet of finest Masonite mojonium that appears to have started growing mold. All the better.

The hardware consists of various leftovers. The tuner knobs will interfere with each other at this spacing, so I'll be attempting to make some new knobs.

 

[Reedt2000]

If I follow this thread, I suppose I'll need to make regular saving rolls against madness.

Nope, madness is cool

 

[Max Bogosity]

A buddy of mine used to live in an old building with a tiny decrepit elevator where somebody had etched "The Madness" deeply into the paint. Every time I got in, I would see that and exclaim "The Madness!" And every time some passerby would hear and give me a very funny look.

 

[tpaul]

Sub'd. Also, thanks for the reminder to read the stories.

 

[KidAmnesia]

I already love this.

 

[JimmyM]

What a strange way to introduce a build.

 

[Zooberwerx]

"...the king in yellow, the queen in red" Extraterrestrial Intelligence / Blue Oyster Cult.

Riis

 

[Zooberwerx]

View attachment 4939589
The hardware consists of various leftovers. The tuner knobs will interfere with each other at this spacing, so I'll be attempting to make some new knobs.

Just fan them ever so slightly to parrot the splay of the string travel. It will look natural, complement the balance of the instrument, and shouldn't take up any significant real estate.

Riis

 

[Max Bogosity]

Sub'd. Also, thanks for the reminder to read the stories.

The collection has passed into the public domain and can be freely downloaded from Project Gutenberg, which must be the nerdiest way to read it. Having recently re-read it myself I’d say you could safely skip everything after the first four stories and not miss much.