Sponsored Lowe Custom Guitars Shop Notes

[DerekW]

Just read the whole thread...

I went from, "hmmm... Intersting shape... Dunno though" to "Damn! I'm really diggin that Chromasonic!!"

And also lovin the Thund-r-luxe!
Man, I'd have a hard time picking one over the the other, but the Chroma is so unique, it might just win!

Great work! Wishing you great success!

 

[BTL]

Thanks Derek...I really appreciate it!

So, I've talked a lot about how my process has evolved over the last couple of years and how I've brought a couple of new models from design to production.

I'm wondering if there is any interest in discussing any other "how-to's" that I've learned along the way?

For example, I just did a little tidy and re-org on the website.

Is that a topic of any interest?

Invalid Link Removed

 

[StuartV]

I'd love to hear anything you'd like to share on the path from design to production.

 

[jdb72]

Any sound clips in the works?

 

[BTL]

No sound clips yet, but I will have some soon.

On the design front, I think that's a fine idea...

 

[BTL]

Still thinking about how to detail my design process..I'll probably put it together on Sunday.

In the meantime, here's the latest gallery shot:

The first pre-amp harness:

 

[BTL]

I got my first industry mention in an online publication

Bass of the week on No Treble:

http://www.notreble.com/buzz/2014/07/24/bass-of-the-week-lowe-custom-guitars-chromasonic/

 

[Splods]

I saw that before on FB. Was really glad to see that. Shame that people were hating the body shape though.

 

[DerekW]

Yeah, people who don't like something seem to flap their mouths the loudest. Don't sweat it, comes with internet territory.
And hey, it's a unique look, some people ARE gonna hate it.
If you want to be normal, build some that looks like a jazz or a soundgear bass, lol

 

[MarkoYYZ]

Awesome thread. Great work.

As a guy with a design and manufacturing mindset, I really have only one suggestion I feel is worth sharing... I think you need to continue your hex theme to the tuners. I'm a huge fan of lollipops, but find them incongruous with the body hardware. I hear the people at Hipshot are quite cool ans you're already doing the custom bridges... perhaps they could do up a batch of custom ultralights with "Lowe Hex" tuner heads?

There would be a tooling cost of course, but may be worth while? That, or also offering a more rounded set of body hardware that may allow more buyers to make the decision to buy a Lowe if they love everything else, but the hex shapes aren't working for them, which would be the case for me. Very cool that they're unique to you, either way.


Hoping you have great success going forward!

 

[wraub]

Congrats on the BOTW mention on No Treble.

Major props up to you.

Respect.

 

[BTL]

The Bass of the Week post was a big surprise...completely out of the blue!

I'd love to do a run of hex keys with Hipshot one day.

I think the lollipops look a little sleeker than clovers while still maintaining a vintage vibe.

I'm guessing the minimum order is not in the budget, at least not for a while.

The hex shape is a functional aspect of the pickup ring & rout; it allows clearance for the "dog ears" on the height adjustable P90.

Carrying it over to the bridge and control plate just seemed to work well in the overall design.

Still, if one really disliked my stock bridge, the Allparts BB-3575 is a drop-in replacement.

It's what I used on my first instruments and fit the '51 P bass:

 

[BTL]

So, on the design front…when I designed the Chromasonic, I had a few basic paradigms I followed:

1. FenderBird mash-up design concept

2. 34” scale with a standard neck pocket

3. Scaled to fit a standard bass case

4. Allparts BB-3575-010 String-thru body bass bridge (’51 P)

5. No neck dive = mandatory

With that in mind, and having both a Telecaster and '51 P bodies handy, I took down some key measurements like body width, overall length, and distance from the pocket to the lower bout.

It struck me as interesting how many dimensions both bodies had in common, so I opted to incorporate that into my design as well.

I didn't spend much time fussing over the sketch; it just sort of came together over the course of an hour or two, forearm facet and all.

As a matter of fact, to do the sketch, I taped together four sheets of copier paper and laid it out using a ruler, a compass, and a plastic right triangle.

When I was finished I took it to a local copy center, had it scanned to .pdf, and that was that.

Here is the result, with all of the original measurements and layout lines:

 

[mbelue]

So, on the design front…when I designed the Chromasonic, I had a few basic paradigms I followed:

1. FenderBird mash-up design concept

2. 34” scale with a standard neck pocket

3. Scaled to fit a standard bass case

4. Allparts BB-3575-010 String-thru body bass bridge (’51 P)

5. No neck dive = mandatory

With that in mind, and having both a Telecaster and '51 P bodies handy, I took down some key measurements like body width, overall length, and distance from the pocket to the lower bout.

It struck me as interesting how many dimensions both bodies had in common, so I opted to incorporate that into my design as well.

I didn't spend much time fussing over the sketch; it just sort of came together over the course of an hour or two, forearm facet and all.

As a matter of fact, to do the sketch, I taped together four sheets of copier paper and laid it out using a ruler, a compass, and a plastic right triangle.

When I was finished I took it to a local copy center, had it scanned to .pdf, and that was that.

Here is the result, with all of the original measurements and layout lines:

Many great designs have simple origins.
Happy to see another.

 

[BTL]

Thanks!

So, the Ridler is the next design and likely the last for a while.

This design takes the established design elements…1.75” swamp ash body with forearm facet, hot dog control rout, aggressively sculpted heel contour, belly cut…and applies them to an offset mash-up body profile.

This time I saved myself a little layout work and found some ½” graph paper online.

The scale on this drawing is ½” = 1”, or ½ scale, so each block represents 1” square.

A standard bass case will accommodate a body that’s a little wider than a P bass, so this shape is stretched out a bit vs the Chromasonic.

On the Ridler the distance from the pocket to the bridge is 13” vs. 12.5”, the width is 13” vs. 12.75”, and the overall length stretches from 19.5” to 20.25”.

The waist is just a bit narrower at 8” vs 8.75”, but the overall effect results in a body the is both larger and sleeker looking at the same time.

 

[aRandomAggie]

Wow, just read through this thread and poked around your website...I really like what you've got going! Looking forward to seeing the Ridler come together.

 

[BTL]

Thanks!

I'm thinking it might be cool to compare the shapes of the Ridler & Chromasonic vs. the Thund-R-Luxe & Thund-R-Luxe NR.

All balance nicely, but have dramatically different profiles and strap button locations.

I'll see if I can get a CAD drawing that overlays each shape at the neck pocket.

I think that will help illustrate how this is possible.

 

[DerekW]

That would be interesting.
And thank you for this thread and keeping it going, very interesting and educational!

 

[BTL]

I just love this shot:

 

[DerekW]

3 guitars and a keyboard, no wonder the poor bass payer is hiding at the back, lol.