I started making furniture before CAD and CNC so I watched the initial development in the furniture field. The machines and CAD process started out very cost prohibitive, now many shops have CNC and CAD drawing is standard practice. Even though the machines and process have gotten better and cheaper a machine to carve a bass top would be a substantial investment. With woodworking equipment the larger, heavier the better, big powerful motors can handle hours of production. Entry level machines are lighter duty using routers instead of powerful cutting heads. I would look around in your area for a CNC shop/woodworking company. The scanning method I mentioned in the above post seems archaic (I saw this machine scan a 2' x2' panel that took several days to complete). There is probably a lazer/light scanning process similar to a desk top scanner that would scan an object in a fraction of the time. As for not liking CNC or CAD, it is really nice having a full size CAD drawing that is accurate to a thousand of an inch. Once you had the scan you can create a mold for a plywood top or carve solid wood. Keep us posted
