I do love the merle but I think it works because of the jillions of other curlicues on the body. 
With the elegance of the balance k body...I dunno.
With the elegance of the balance k body...I dunno.
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The Hossenfeffer III Build
- Thread starter Gilmourisgod
- Start date
NOBODY hassles the Hoff, Man. Words to live by. World's greatest Actor, Right? I mean, Nightrider was Oscar Level Thespianism.
If you were going to build basses full time and had to come up with a couple of headstock designs, what would they be? 
No pressure, but this is as good a time as any! 
No pressure, but this is as good a time as any! 
It's just Autiocad 2018, which I use all day professionally. I import a good qulity .jpg, scale it using known elements like scale length or bridge size, and then "trace" the photo using the Spline command, which is just drawing a series of points around the body outline, and the software automatically "smooths" between points. It's surprisingly rare to find simple radius arcs on guitars, usually some kind of ellipse or continuously variable curve, so depending on the quality of the photo, you zoom in and try to pick which pixel represents the edge, and which is background. If you zoom in really tight, any photo looks like a Minecraft model, so there is some judgement to it. It doesn't produce a perfect line, but that gets averaged out when I'm cutting the templates out of MDF. I draw EVERYTHING before I even touch the wood, saves a boatload of pain and suffering later. I'll post the enitire build drawing PDF later if anybody wants it.
I like option 3. Its size is proportional to the body and the shape is stylistically in the ballpark, and it's got rich double-take potential especially with the right truss rod cover...
The Bigsby headstock seems too big, and has the wrong sort of curlicue-ishness.
The Bigsby headstock seems too big, and has the wrong sort of curlicue-ishness.
Hossenfeffer III: The Nutsack
That's totally wrong. Funny though.
All of this! Maybe a bit less.. sacky.. of a cutout.
Warwick bridges are spendy! Are there other less upcharged options?
So is cocobolo... seems like there's not a lot of that pretty cocobolo top wood around these days, unless you're in the PRS or Alembic treasure vault.
I love the sound hole idea. I'd probably go with something totally divested of the traditional shape (f-hole) and go with something that's more streamlined with the body and less busy.
But to paraphrase, I'm not you. And I'm way less qualified than most here to critique design.
But I know what I like. If it comes out half as good as your Ric, it'll be spectacular!
That's totally wrong. Funny though.
All of this! Maybe a bit less.. sacky.. of a cutout.
Warwick bridges are spendy! Are there other less upcharged options?
So is cocobolo... seems like there's not a lot of that pretty cocobolo top wood around these days, unless you're in the PRS or Alembic treasure vault.
I love the sound hole idea. I'd probably go with something totally divested of the traditional shape (f-hole) and go with something that's more streamlined with the body and less busy.
But to paraphrase, I'm not you. And I'm way less qualified than most here to critique design.
But I know what I like. If it comes out half as good as your Ric, it'll be spectacular!
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Already got the Cocobolo bookmatch top, not as spectacular as the Alembic photo, would have had to bust the bank for that, but what i have will still look great with an oil finish. Gonna try a few more iterations, thanks for suggestions, All.
No tongue biting required. It's just too svelte for me. And believe it or not I am not a fan of Alembic designs. I've watched them from the beginning and find them too busy. But this is personal taste and opinion.
Looks great. Im excited to see it. I'd pick number two but I think I agree with others about working the tail cut out into the headstock is a great idea, even if it just hints at it.
Also Paul Bigsby easily could have been Leo if he took time off from being awesome and focused on business. I don't think he cared about that though. His Magnatone Mark 4 is one of the prettiest guitars ever.
Also Paul Bigsby easily could have been Leo if he took time off from being awesome and focused on business. I don't think he cared about that though. His Magnatone Mark 4 is one of the prettiest guitars ever.
Mark 4s also are thin waisted. Magnatone Mark IV 1957 Sunburst Magnatone Mark IV 1957 Sunburst | CPS Instruments | Reverb
If having a straight string pull at the headstock is important to you, then the 4 in line works. Otherwise you will have to bring the A and D tuners closer together, which would give you an arrowhead sort of headstock. Gibson did this once.
Open the headstock up and turn the tuners sideways for a scroll-type headstock is another way. There are many options, though (viewed all-around in 3 dimensions, not just from above) there's no such thing as "straight string pull" - there's always a break angle, and if you cut the nut with it in mind (in 3D), I'm dubious that "straight as viewed from above" makes a whit of difference.
Dude! You are speaking my language! I've taught high school AutoCAD and woodworking for 30 years. (God, that sounds like a long time when you type it out loud!) Don't sell it short; AutoCAD is a powerful tool! And I know it well enough that it is my go-to design tool. The process you describe is exactly how I trace objects. The only difference is that I will attach the image and just scale it roughly. After the outline is completed I will convert the spline and any other lines to a polyline and then scale it using a known dimension like the neck pocket or P/U cavity. And yes! No wood cutting until the plans are complete! Then I export the CAD files to Aspire and use that to create the cut path for the CNC router. No more templates. You've got a beautiful build going here! Can't wait to see how it turns out, and to see which headstock design you settle on!
I keep thinking there must be a better way to do this, but my process seems to be pretty typical of Autocad users. Often a slightly grainy image is all that's available. One great tool I use is the PDFIMPORT, for most PDF's they come right in converted to 2d CAD lines, that's how I brought in the Hipshot bridge, tuners, and Warwick bridge, which saves a lot of time. It doesn't always work, for reasons I dont understand, but usually it does. I've wanted to try learning CNC for a while, but there aren't any "Maker" spaces nearby that have a CNC for member use, I'd have to pay for a course at the local Commumity College. In the meantime, I've got the tools I need to build this Old School.
