Clever Bass? Weird Bass
The design of the bass has been pretty much set in stone since its birth. There have been one or two notable exceptions over the years, so when I saw and read about the Orchid bass, it really caught my attention.
The bass was designed and built by Luthier Rich Toone. It has a 32″ neck, a Trapezoidal Neck Profile, and was specifically designed for it’s player, Halie (aged 16 when the bass was made).
There are certainly some weird basses out there. Check out the world’s largest bass. Actually, I’m not sure it is, as I remember someone making a massive double bass a while back, but do check out the link to Last.FM’s rebuttal of TechCrunch’s journalism on sharing user’s music data in that post. There are also some beautiful basses about, see the incredible carving on this Univox Eagle Bass.
However, it’s rare to see weirdness and clever design in one instrument, as in the Orchid. There are lots of little design tweaks, along with the very unusual body shape. See the Orchid Bass in action in this video to understand what I mean:
Nice find, Benjamin. I’d love to give one of those a try some day, or something built with similar principles.
Thanks Wulf, I have to admit I was thinking about some your conversations on bass design as I was writing this one. The Orchid has some interesting ergonomic details – even the head stock looks carefully cut down.
The Orchid looks beautiful! I was thinking about things like this the other day after reading this article about a custom made ergonomic bass:
http://www.elutherie.org/2008/02/bass-guitar-design.html
It does intrigue me how much emphasis is often put on sound quality of a bass, and then it seems little thought on how the bass “fits” people. Like, theres what, maybe two or three main body shapes that bass guitars conform to? And we expect these to be comfortable for everyone.
I personally would love to play an ergonomic bass. With my bass (admittedly bought by a very naive beginner!) the curve at the bottom doesn’t conform well to my leg, the top horn digs into my sternum and I have to really angle the wrist to reach the high frets (15-24). It needs to be designed more open down there.
Definately when I buy my next one, comforts going to be first on the priority list! 😛
Thanks, Benjamin.
There is such an amazing difference between a “conventional” bass and an ergonomic bass…it’s the difference between conforming to an awkward shape in order to play vs. just playing music and never noticing the instrument itself.
An effective design will simply “vanish” and allow the mind and body to work without distraction. In comparison traditional commercial basses feel like wrestling with a surfboard in a windstorm. An effective design should balance and never require your playing hand to support the neck.
Custom ergonomics are even more “transparent” and an important tool for those who are deeply invested in their music.
We’re hoping the work we’re doing at eLUTHERIE.org will begin to inspire musicians to demand higher quality more comfortable instrument designs.
Cheers,
Rick Toone
PS: Funny avatar. I don’t know that it exactly captures my mood, but maybe it will after drinking more coffee!
There is definitely some inspiring stuff on eLUTHERIE.org – you are right, it is all to easy to end up as a “tone junky” and not think about the design.
Thinking of design, you can set up a gravatar at http://en.gravatar.com/ – I’m sure you don’t look like that after drinking coffee 🙂
I think the bass is awesome. Designing an instrument for the user what a concept! It’s amazing that a plank of wood with a stick attached to it became an acceptable standard. Okay, so it’s easy to mass-produce – quanity above quality. Thank you for exploring and giving inspiration.
AHH that sounds great.
i cant wait to get good at playing the bass.
i use to be so useless but now im getting the hang of it thatnks to this guy. =]
http://c9c56hqgqcecxm38sr3q—nxh.hop.clickbank.net/
Try it. ;P