``This is just meant to be, dude,'' said an excited Patrick Dillmann, co- owner of Yosemite Studios, on a recent walk-through at the 24,000- square-foot site. Dillmann and his partner, Eric Zakin, are trying to buy the warehouse, now being used by a furniture wholesaler.

The outlook for the local music scene is bleaker than a bomb shelter, which was the original function of the building that now houses Yosemite. Dillmann and Zakin built their 35-room facility from an empty shell. They now have one of the tidiest, most respectable rehearsal spaces in town, with grateful tenants such as Box Set, the Del Bombers and newcomers Creeper Lagoon.

Turnover at Yosemite is negligible. ``They'd rather keep their studio than their apartment,'' said Dillmann, a former musician. ``They can crash with friends, but they can't find rehearsal space.''

Yosemite is just around the corner from Downtown Rehearsal, the huge Hunters Point studio space that was recently sold to a developer. Five hundred bands were evicted. Add further closures , and the local music scene has suffered a compound fracture.

Dillmann believes the San Bruno space might provide some solutions. A mechanical engineer by day, he noted that the place is already outfitted with all the things he would need to build 100-plus rehearsal studios under one roof.

There's one thing he still needs: money. Dillmann said he has collected $500 deposits from about 35 bands through a signup sheet he posted on www.sfmusician.com. But the current owner wants $3.5 million for the warehouse, and Dillmann, who is considering making the business a nonprofit, needs $1.5 million more to build it out.

Several well-known San Francisco musicians have spoken out in re cent months about their dismay at the rehearsal crisis. If ``giving back'' has become the mantra of the enlightened celebrity, Dillmann would like to issue a challenge to some of San Francisco's.

``Les,'' ``Stephan,'' ``Kirk'' and ``Joe'' -- he mentions them by name. That would be Les Claypool of Primus, Stephan Jenkins of Third Eye Blind, Kirk Hammett of Metallica and guitarist Joe Satriani. The list of rock stars who once shared space with the Bay Area's rank-and-file musicians is endless, really, from the Summer of Love gang to the pop- punk revival of the mid-1990s.

``I'd like to see musicians fund this so it's all about music,'' said Dillmann, who is developing lofty proposals to make the space a kind of clearinghouse -- a CD duplication service, a T-shirt business, management and marketing advice.

``I've never been in a studio that offered anything more than a door and a lock,'' said Bob James, drummer for the Del Bombers and a manager at Yosemite. ``When I first came here, I went, `Oh, man!' ''

Outside the warehouse sits a little courtyard with benches and trees. It's a tiny oasis on a block dominated by auto-repair shops.

``The meditation garden is a big selling point for me,'' said James, a big guy with tattoos on his neck. He flashed a gold-tooth grin. ``You wouldn't believe the amount of internal band fights I've been in.''

AD-LIBS

``Elvis -- The Concert'' plays Feb. 1 at Flint Center in Cupertino . . . Fatboy Slim spins Nov. 10 at Ten 15 Folsom . . . Los Amigos Invisibles headline Nov. 18-19 at the Justice League . . . Buffalo Tom plays Nov. 29 at Slim's . . . Footage from David Gray's recent Fillmore appearance is in his new video for ``Babylon,'' directed by Mike Figgis . . . Michael Jackson was spotted last weekend at a collectibles show in San Mateo. Eyewitnesses claim he bought ``kids' books, old toys'' and one dealer's Michael Jackson dolls.

E-mail James Sullivan at jamessullivan@sfchronicle.com.

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