Fugliest bass in the world (but I love her)

[wellREDman]

sooo, I have been inspired by the reception 999 got for his non traditional bass to share my project..

This has actually been ongoing for the whole time I've been on the outpost, alongside the baby bird, the flying Vii and the twin tele, but I didn't think this was the place for coffee table basses and was hesitant  about the reaction I would get. I was also I thinking to wait for the finished piece before sharing, but certain lifechanging  events mean I'm not going to have time for bass building for the next few years so its going to stay as it is for the foreseeable

TBH my own tastes usually run to the traditional, but .. I have a background in sculpture and always had a keen interest in the science of ergonomics so..

  It all started when I was given a load of Jazz bass chromeware(pickup and bridge cover, weird curved control plate and tuners), I had the carcass of my old Maison (copy of a bass collection ) that I wanted to resurrect because the neck is still the nicest I have ever played so the original idea was to see what that would look like oldschool chromed up. Unfortunately the body was too small to fit it all on so I set out to carve my own body.

This was the project that sent me to the wood reclaim yard where I discovered the kerua wood that i used in the flying Vii

  The build has taken me about 7 years so far, a gradual process of making it the most comfortable bass to wear. The process has been to glue wood on and carve, then put it all together and play it for a few terms to get an idea of the fit , then in the holidays strip it apart and add more wood, and carve again, rebuild rinse and repeat. Annoyingly I cant locate all of the early photos, so the pics start from about mark5, but you can get an idea from the last rework which was to adapt the head stock to accommodate a drop D tuner. all the wood used, both the kerua tonewood central spar and the random other bits I used for the rest of it is recycled junk wood.

  She now sports a chinabucker and sounds like a bird but earlier on in the build I used the J pickup from the Maison and ppl said it sounded like a Ric. the controls should be  tonemonster active preamp but I managed to kill it during the install so at the moment its just volume and 3 dummies. I'm now thinking that I might stay passive and put the J pickup back in in the bridge position instead.

  Shapewise, I know it looks horrible, but is so comfortable, having the body shaped in all 3 dimensions means it wraps around me, and the playing position and neck are exactly where I want them to be, standing up the back curl sits on my hip and the top of it is perfectly contoured for my arm to lay on. Sitting down the lower bout is exactly where it needs to be to sit on my knee. And of course the balance is spot on. the old adage about not strapping it on but wearing it really holds true, and it being so comfortable to play really helps me to play, I feel like I play better with her than any other bass

  Due to my work I often have to put my instruments down in a hurry to deal with stuff so to avoid detuning when I lay them down most of my instruments sport coathooks or drawer handles on the back of the headstocks, but for this I have the luxury of incorporating a 3d headstock design so that it lays on the floor without the tuners being disturbed.

At the moment its still primered but eventually I imagine a shiny fire engine red...

   Mark 5



Mark 6 (thrown together and primered so that i could use it for my college performances)




Mark 7 (headstock rebuild for detuner, Chinabucker fitted and string through added)





sooo,
whatdya think ? (ducks)

[Chris P.]

I'm smiling, reading and seeing this!

[Daniel_J]

That is just the awesomest bass I've seen in a while!

It's really intriguing to see that it's growing to fit your body. That's what I consider a "organic shape"!

Great work on this one!

Now we need to see a pic of her wrapped around your body... 

[slinkp]

I think it's awesome. Love to see builders doing their freak flag

[Pilgrim]

"Mad skills" doesn't even come close to describing this!  Wow, simply wow, superb work. (Not to my taste, but the craftsmanship is impressive!)

[Dave W]

Well, it's, errm, unusual, all right. But as long as it fits you and you like it, it's all good.

I'm smiling, reading and seeing this!

Don't give your friends at Warwick any ideas! 

[Chris P.]

They might do a lawsuit:)

[gearHed289]

That is WAY WAY OUT! Talk about a bold statement. Pretty cool man. Quite organic. Happy it fits your needs.

[Denis]

Weird and rad! In red it looks like some sort of odd internal organ you don't usually see!
I love the mixed use of tuners and the jack!

[slinkp]

Is that a strat jack mounted inside-out? :-o

[doombass]

Fantastic! I love the idea of making a bass customized to your own body and is ergonomic and practical in all aspects.

[Basvarken]

Haha! Well, it is different! 

[wellREDman]

Now we need to see a pic of her wrapped around your body... 

The only pics I have of me playing her don't  really show the wrap around or arm rest. maybe I'll stage some and get the wife to shoot them for me

Is that a strat jack mounted inside-out? :-o

yes it is, I saw someone do it on a cigar box guitar and thought it looked cool,It actually makes plugging in even easier that the regular way boat jack. its become a bit of a signature for me, I've used it on the last 2 builds

[Granny Gremlin]

knarly, in every possible sense of the word.

Yeah, upside down strat jack is not a half bad idea at all.

[Basvarken]

That upside down strat jack reminds me of the jack in Italia basses