Bass design.

[popinfresh]

Hey guys, just thought i'd share and get some advice on a bass i sketched up.

I'd really like to make something like this, don't know on the balance issues though? Would the top horn need to be longer? Bottom smaller?

I duno, just any generall advice.. And I know it's sexy, but no stealing of my design

Cheers, Shane.

[Frank Martin]

Hmm...

I don't see how you'd have any balance issues with that. That's a perfectly designed airbass.

[popinfresh]

loooooool! Helps if I remember to link it eh?



And ignore the doodling in the centre neck peice.. Don't know what I was doing...

[klocwerk]

in general, the easiest way to balance it is to ensure that the top horn where the strap connects is around the 12th fret.
You can balance it other ways, but that's the rule of thumb.

[deathbloomslife]

Uh.. I wouldn't really call it "your" design to begin with.. No offemse but that's really nothing new. CT has been doing that kind of stuff since the 70's.

-ryan-

[Greg Johnsen]

well, I see some problems that will come about with balance. The lower horn is out too much, as is the upper horn. The body should be wider than the horns, and the upper horn should go to the 12th fret. This needs to be drawn to scale in order to get it to come out right. The body should be under
14" wide, so checking that will help.

Looks pretty good besides those things.
Greg

[callmeMrThumbs]

Originally Posted by Teh Fleaz0rz

well, I see some problems that will come about with balance. The lower horn is out too much, as is the upper horn. The body should be wider than the horns, and the upper horn should go to the 12th fret. This needs to be drawn to scale in order to get it to come out right. The body should be under
14" wide, so checking that will help.

Looks pretty good besides those things.
Greg

+1

I'd actually probably shoot for 12" or 13" wide at the widest section, but that's assuming it's more of a standard shaped body. All of Teh FleazOrz' comments are great for a decent, basic body shape. Those curls on the horns shouldn't change much, so you'd be fine with these specs.

Oh yeah, and ALWAYS draw to scale...even if you're just sketching. It gives you an idea of where things need to be and helps to avoid problems.

-Josh

[callmeMrThumbs]

Here's just one example of a Carl Thompson.



In comparison:



-Josh

[deathbloomslife]

I was just commenting on the scroll design, not saying he ripped off the entire body...

..Not too mention that TB member "TOON" is also building basses with similar body designs.

-ryan-

[popinfresh]

lol! I know it's CT influenced.. I'm not an idiot. I just liked the idea of putting a scroll on the bottom as well. Not many other ways you can do it without it looking silly IMO. If the top scroll doesn't have that claw kinda look to it then the bottom one doesn't look right I don't think. If you want to talk CT ripoff's then go bag (:O) Ritter or that dude with a shop in Vegas

Anyway, onto the actual point of the thread.

Thanks fleazorz and mrthumbs for the tips on the body. So make it thinner, and extend the top horn further out to the 12the fret? Then make the bottom horn a bit smaller. Should that be better?

[Frank Martin]

I wouldn't put a scroll on the lower horn (though if it was to be mine, I wouldn't put one on the upper one, either)
It's just an ornament. The lower horn has to be the compromise of upper fret accessability and balancing on your leg when sitting. Now this just introduces more problems. If it's too pointy, you might be uncomfortable fretting the last frets, maybe even scratch yourself.
My advice is to just go with a simple lower horn. Less hassle, more functionality.

Now for the other parts.
The body looks quite wide. That will add some weight; also, fitting into a gigbag or case would be harder this way
Oh and as the others said, make sure to extend the upper horn to the 12th fret. I did this on my new bass (it even goes to the 11th), and despite having a heavier neck and lighter body than my Corvette, this improved the balance and 3-4-hour rehearsal comfort-factor significantly.

[popinfresh]

Originally Posted by Frank Martin

I wouldn't put a scroll on the lower horn (though if it was to be mine, I wouldn't put one on the upper one, either)
It's just an ornament. The lower horn has to be the compromise of upper fret accessability and balancing on your leg when sitting. Now this just introduces more problems. If it's too pointy, you might be uncomfortable fretting the last frets, maybe even scratch yourself.
My advice is to just go with a simple lower horn. Less hassle, more functionality.

Now for the other parts.
The body looks quite wide. That will add some weight; also, fitting into a gigbag or case would be harder this way
Oh and as the others said, make sure to extend the upper horn to the 12th fret. I did this on my new bass (it even goes to the 11th), and despite having a heavier neck and lighter body than my Corvette, this improved the balance and 3-4-hour rehearsal comfort-factor significantly.

Yeah, I just wanna try do the lower horn in a scroll like shape cos i've never seen it done before and I quite like the look of it alot.

I don't play up high in my band (which it'll be used for) and it'll prob be a six string anyway, so i'd rarely need to travel that far up the neck. I won't make the bottom horn mega pointy anyway it'll be rounded and contoured like the rest of the bass

Thanks for the help!

Cheers.

[deathbloomslife]

You know.. if you took the neck off of that drawing, it kinda looks like a crab claw... pretty cool! I'm anxious to see an actual carved body on this one, should be interesting.

-ryan-

[callmeMrThumbs]

lol! I know it's CT influenced.. I'm not an idiot. I just liked the idea of putting a scroll on the bottom as well. Not many other ways you can do it without it looking silly IMO. If the top scroll doesn't have that claw kinda look to it then the bottom one doesn't look right I don't think. If you want to talk CT ripoff's then go bag (:O) Ritter or that dude with a shop in Vegas

Sorry, I didn't mean to say that your design wasn't original. I was actually pointing out how different your entire body design is from the CT. Yours is much more square at the bottom while the CT is more rounded and angled like a Jazz. Really, the only thing they have in common is the scroll on top. I actually really like your idea, though. I'd just like to see a good scaled drawing. THEN you'll have somethin goin!

-Josh

[popinfresh]

Originally Posted by callmeMrThumbs

Sorry, I didn't mean to say that your design wasn't original. I was actually pointing out how different your entire body design is from the CT. Yours is much more square at the bottom while the CT is more rounded and angled like a Jazz. Really, the only thing they have in common is the scroll on top. I actually really like your idea, though. I'd just like to see a good scaled drawing. THEN you'll have somethin goin!

-Josh

Oh no, that's cool. Didn't mean my post towards you.

I wasn't having a go at anyone anyway, i've just got a big sense of humour

I'll get to drawing a proper one out today/tomorow hopefully.

Death blooms - Yeah, that's kinda where the idea came from.. The whole crab claw lookin' thing

Cheers guys.

[full_bleed]

some questions... Is the darker area just supposed to be a top wood and the line outside of that is the actuall body lines or was the line around the outside supposed to be dismissed?

If it is supposed to be there you may have more problems with the upper horn I think. The amount of mass that there is on that upper horn will cause it to have even more weight over the center of the bass which will give you more problems with balence than if you left the horn at say the 16th fret. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong. I think your bottom claw would probably be out of harms way unless you have huge hands but it's hard to really tell until it's been scaled to size. An Idea for for the bottom claw that I thought of if it doesn't leave enough room for your hand once it's been scaled is to just put a slight angle on the top in that claw shape to give the visual apperance of the claw without it digging into your hand when you play them high notes.

[Greg Johnsen]

hey, no problem. When I started drawing stuff (WAY out of scale mind you) I got help from these guys, so it's my way of pssing the knowledge on.

You also need to move the upper horn closer to the body. This will naturally elongate it, and fix any balance problems that come about because of body width.

here, take this, and erase the body shape I drew, and the headstock. The take a measure from the nut to the 8th fret, that's around 13". Compare that to the body width when your done drawing it on the paper. If it's wider, then you need to fix up the drawing a bit. I'm sorry it's a 6 string template, but I love 6ers.

Greg

[deathbloomslife]

I really dig the crab-claw looking design... I absolutely love Jean Baudin's bass!!!

-ryan-

[popinfresh]

Originally Posted by full_bleed

some questions... Is the darker area just supposed to be a top wood and the line outside of that is the actuall body lines or was the line around the outside supposed to be dismissed?

The darker area will be a top wood (blackwood to be exact), but because it's not to scale, it does seem quiet a bit off (this was just a rough sketch in class).

As for the bottom 'claw' thanks for the tip. I was thinking that as well, though i'm not too worried about it as I can shape it as I go anyway if it gets in the way of my fingers.. I'll just make sure to leave room to work with

Oh, and BTW.. What's the best method of drawing a bass to scale?

Cheers.

[sublimate]

Originally Posted by popinfresh

Oh, and BTW.. What's the best method of drawing a bass to scale?

Take a bass of a similar approximate size and shape you want and trace it. Then start modifying the lines to what you want.