Fit Form and Function

I have got enough of the main parts of the bass cut out and shaped now to give it a trial run. Assembly by double-sided tape and it is ready to go.

Smeg!

It is now quite clear that the top part is way too big. My playing style is finger based (as opposed to using a pick) and I tend to have the strap fairly short. I don't have enough joints in my wrist to cope with a the long strap look with the guitar down by my knees - although that does look a lot better and has attitude.

My right forearm rests on the top of the body, just over the bridge. The way I had cut out the body parts meant that this top piece was around 70mm higher up than my regular bass. I don't feel that this would have prevented normal play, but it certainly would have an detrimental effect on ease, comfort and ultimately endurance.

Now is the time to do something about it. I had designed the outline on a big sheet of paper and at the time it looked fine. I couldn't play the paper version. Now the form has started to impact the functionality and as an engineer the outward form has the lowest priority of the three - though I don't want it to look too home-made like a couple of bits of plywood and a rusty nail.

So it was back to the drawing board (well the floor actually, as my plans are full size and the coffee table is only big enough to support the remote controls). As I have already cut out the walnut sandwiches (the W-plan diet?) any redesigning can only remove material not add any extra.

Lots of pencilling-in and rubbing-out later the new version 3 design was completed. Freehand sketching with curves and stuff is not something that I'm used to, but I find that eventually the bold lines start to blend together and the balance between top and bottom body parts reveals itself. I have managed to shave 40mm off without losing the essence of the look I was striving for. This leaves me with 30mm extra which can be angled to suit my forearm and should make the difference a whole lot less noticeable.

I won't be seeing these whales again until they've lost some weight...

In the meantime I got round to carving some of the headstock detailing. It will still need a bit of fine tweaking at a later stage, but for now it is about right and the tuners fit into the holes properly. At least one end seems to be going OK...