Paper & Pencil

OK, so it's been a couple of weeks since I updated the blog - but that doesn't mean I haven't been thinking about the next step!

I've decided that I want to cut down the body to a new shape, even if it's not a drastic change and may not lose me enough weight. I like the idea of ending up with something a bit distinctive, so this is the way to achieve it, although it's somewhat daunting and a bit risky. But then so is all of this, so nothing ventured nothing gained :-)

A few days ago I spent some time with paper and a pencil, sketching some possible new shapes for the Marlin on a traced outline of the original shape. After a few different attempts, I think what I'm going to go for is something fairly subtle, slightly offsetting the waist but without bringing it in too close to the strings. I'm also going to remove a chunk of the lower horn. Here are a couple of photos of the "final" sketch, with the original outline visible (if you click on the images and view them full-size) and the darker sketched line being what I'm going to go for:

Lower horn:

Upper horn:

One or two earlier sketches involved taking rather more from the waist, but then it ended up looking rather too pear-shaped and somewhat ridiculous. I also looked at taking even more from the lower horn, but I need to retain some balance in the shape, and enough of a curve in the waist that I'll still be able to play it while sat down. I've considered reducing the upper horn too, but I think that gives too much risk of ruining the balance of the bass when hung from a strap playing standing up.

I'm going to shave down the arm-cut a bit as I suggested previously, but that won't remove a lot. I suspect that this shape may not really remove quite enough weight, but better that than something too drastic that looks ridiculous. If so then I might have to attempt a cavity or two - another daunting prospect but what the hell!  I'll cross that bridge when I come to it though - get the shape cut down first, then weigh it and make a decision then as to whether I've gone far enough.

I'll have to sketch the final design onto the bass itself before I start cutting and carving, so at that point I'll really know exactly what I'm going for.

The next thing to do is to make a trip to B&Q this week to get the appropriate tools, and then get started. As usual, any comments or suggestions would be appreciated!