Rick Toone | Luthier

Eleven String Bass With A Twist

This bass goes to eleven. Really.

IMPO (in my professional opinion) if you're going to build an eleven string bass, you might as well give it a Torzal Twist. And fanned frets. It's like cooking with gasoline. What's the point of restraint?

And if you're going to play an eleven string bass, you must absolutely play the theme from Super Mario Brothers. Using two-handed tapping. Under florescent lighting. In an office. But why stop there?

(reaches for garlic and chipotle)

As a challenge to all you inventors out there — and I know you're listening — we need to figure out a way to run this baby into Guitar Hero via midi. Then let the Jedi Master challenge all comers to a duel.

Imagine if you could play an actual (walnut, titanium) instrument in realtime, have it interface with the video game, then jam against the kids as your screen visually recreates what you play. After you've trampled their little egos, toss the gauntlet toward your local Guitar Hero expert for a more meaningful thrashing. Does anyone besides me smell burning plastic?

Well, just a thought.

Anyway, someone needs to step forward and claim responsibility for building Jean Baudin's baaaaaaaaaaass beauty. He or she can't hide forever. PS: Thanks Gethyn for the link. And please don't anyone tell Monster about this bass.

Orchid Bass

Designing and building Orchid ergonomic bass has been a life changing experience. As an independent luthier — and inventor — it is an example how one pivotal idea can transform a business.

Orchid was the first instrument I built that brought global attention to my work. It is both exciting and slightly terrifying to have something as personal as a piece your art clinically analyzed, dissected and critiqued by tens of thousands of musicians — on different forums, websites, in different languages — around the world.

As well as appreciated:

Hi, Rick!

I have visited your site — this is really 'something different'.

My name is Dasha. I'm from Russia, Moscow. I wold like to translate some information from your site into russian language — about you and your project, and then put it into russian bassplayer community.

Don't you mind?

And please, say — what do you realise, think, feel after all these years of making such a project?

I would like to know — what is inspiring you to make all this work — making design and build every instrument by hand?"

Dasha Karandasheva, bassist for ZEN-ZEN-ZEN

How could you not love an email like this?

Orchid was the first instrument I built specifically to fit a woman. Our collaboration presented challenges due to Halie's smaller — and female — anatomy. Because she had not acquired ingrained habits from years of practice on conventional basses, we were able to take design chances a more experienced player would likely not have considered. Trapezoidal Neck Profile was the result, leading also to my first patent application.

Orchid is the most gratifying instrument I've built so far. I found it incredibly rewarding to provide a developing musician with a tool that — by deliberate virtue of design choices — resulted in an immediate improvement to her playing:

The bass is nothing short of magnificent and I am so honored to call it mine. It's motivating me to be the best player possible and to have so much fun with it. I'm really excited to find Orchid is a killer slap bass machine!! I already have the hang of being a better slap and pop bass player.

The bass looks like it belongs to me and I can tell it's going to be a part of me. I brought Orchid to my lesson today and my teachers were so in awe! When I commented on how beautiful the curves of the bass are and how I felt it was petite and almost feminine for me, they responded by ensuring me it was not feminine at all but a good heavy bass. It has a balance!! It's amazing and feels almost aero-dynamic. It's light to the touch and fun to play."

Halie, bassist & Orchid's owner

Orchid, and the subsequent contacts I've made from people who have kindly written to me with comments or questions, reminded me how much I love to teach. My masters degree is in education but I've turned away from the classroom because the lure of the shop is so much stronger. I finally realized my path involves combining these two passions.

I love this video of my good friend Monster playing Orchid. He had only seen the bass early in its construction, so it was fun to just hand him the completed instrument with video camera rolling. I edited several hours of exploration down to the ten minutes seen below. Have a look.

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported License

Rick Toone | Luthier

Website: www.ricktoone.com Email: Rick Toone Phone: 908.996.4815 P.O. Box 471 Milford, NJ 08848 USA
Bespoke. Strings for musical explorers. Every instrument I make is an original design, hand built to meet your specific needs as a musician. Simple instruments begin at $6,000 US — limited only by your budget and imagination. Each one is a singularly individual piece of fine art. I work in the spirit of pre-industrial artisanship, where a skilled master is responsible for every outcome. I survive by the quality of my instruments, and by the quality of the relationships I build with my clients.
Without risk. An instrument will only leave my shop after I am fully confident it is an integrated, functional organism. The nature of our collaboration is intense, detailed, and openly documented for clear communication. Every aspect of your instrument will be known to you. Please expect to play the instrument for one month to give yourself time to acclimate to your unfamiliar and unique new tool. If after one month some aspect of the design or sound displeases you, we will negotiate a win-win solution toward restoring your delight, and confidence. In the unlikely event we are unable to agree upon an equitable solution, I will purchase the instrument from you — at full price — provided the instrument is returned in perfect condition. My objective is always to delight you.
Collaboration. We will walk through this design process together. Details determine the success of a design for you: size of your hands, physical build, style of music played, preferred tunings — all have a profound impact on the design. Details are where our collaboration becomes critical in shaping the design and voice of your instrument. (click images to enlarge)

Gorilla Glue vs. Titebond II (& III)

I've been on a quest for many years to find the perfect glue, a series of ongoing experiments.

Titebond II (aliphatic resin) has served me faithfully for about 15 years, as it is very stable throughout temperature changes and highly resistant to moisture, including sweat. It clamps nicely, sands smoothly when dry, and is quite strong.

During seasonal changes however, it sometimes has a tendency to move independent of the wood — perhaps the glue itself is stable, but often the glue line can be felt. A subtle thing but noticeable and not always appropriate on a musical instrument.

Titebond III displays the same properties as Titebond II except I find the dried glue more "rubbery" during sanding, and the glue line more pronounced. For this reason I prefer Titebond II.

Hide glue is on my list to try, but I seldom need to disassemble what I've built.

Lately I've been exploring Gorilla Glue (polyurethane). Different from Gorilla Wood Glue, which I have not yet tested. Foaming action during bonding requires some getting used to but is not an obstacle to success. To avoid over-sensitization I use gloves, eye protection, ventilation and a respirator — the fumes affect my eyes.

I am very pleased with the strength and tightness of the joints. Glue lines are invisible.

During testing I submerged a cutoff walnut & maple scrap from Cupid's neck structure (body glue-up progress below) in water for 36 hours. Note the brown tint to water as color leached from the walnut between start and completion of testing.

Even after 36 hours submersion and subsequent return to room humidity, the glue line was never apparent. Just as impressively, I could not break the joint. Immediately after removing the scrap from water, I bridged it (with the grain) and bounced on it using my full 185 lbs.

Zero damage.

LEARN MORE: Cupid