My new Alembic concept coming soon...

[hendixclarke]

You will see the concept drawings here first... Stay tuned.

[hendixclarke]

The Mother-ship (Alembic) will build it for me...

[hendixclarke]

Allow me to be the first to present, to you:
The Toma_Hawk by Hal- (Halembic).
 
Inspired by the Native American Obsidian Arrow Heads.  
 
This bass is my concept Alembic Series I/II bass.
The wood is of Mahogany, Ebany and Maple combination with a traditional Alembic tuning crown.  
 
To put things mildly, this is my signature bass  
This bass is smaller, and lighter than a Stanley Clarke Signature. It was designed for long ass jam sessions and holding it down on the one...  
 
Designing this bass, was a labor of love, and soon these blue prints, along with my green prints (money) are headed to Santa Rosa.
 
Hey, anything without my exact measurements, is frankly, just a knockoff of pure flattery  
 
It's a free world...
 
 
I welcome all comments (good and bad...)  
 

[David Houck]

Congrats on placing the order!

[mica]

If you're going for lighter weight, then Ebony would be on the list of woods to avoid.

[hendixclarke]

As you can see...
 
The Small body 1976 is no-so-small compared to the Toma_Hawk.  
 
Small yes, but it gonna pack a punch and bite like a small Pit-Bull.  
 
DOWN BOY, HEAL!
 

[hendixclarke]

Hi Mica,
 
Thanks for the information. I will be calling you on the details. Also, I would love to get a perspective of a very light eco friendly woods for this bass.  
 
Thanks for your input, your knowledge is always welcome.

[jazzyvee]

Interesting bass style, have you considered the neck heavy properties of the SC shape basses due to the small body style. Your design looks a tad smaller so you may end up with more neck dive unless you have some way of countering it in the body. maybe a HUGE sustain block under the bridge and tailpiece... :-)  
That should give it the bite of a Pit-Bull on steroids.
 
This would be a good one to watch being built.

[hendixclarke]

Of the smallest basses I played, was a Steinberger.  
 
Although I never liked them personally, but in terms of their lightness and balance, there are great but I never been a big fan of the sound.
 
The Toma_Hawk lightness will not be counter intuitive of its shape with the neck. I think
your comments are very well taken, and will be part of my talks at the planning phases.
 
This is why I love this forum so much, because of people like you Jazzyvee... Thanks man, from the heart.

[hendixclarke]

The exact same measurements of two blocks of wood may be the same (in terms of length, width and height), but density and weight, might differ from significant, to slightly... but rarely the exact same everything.
 
Wood have their own specific gravity.  
Even a smaller block of wood could be heavier than a some larger sizes.  
 
Therefore, the object size alone is not necessarily a factor of balance. However, their specific gravity is much more of a factor.  
 
The Toma_Hawk Bass will be a challenge (no doubt) but it will be balanced and fully functional as we would expect from Alembic to craft...
 
Therefore, it will be a perfect, fully versatile bass with its own character and pure Alembic.  
 
What good is life, if everything was easy anyway?

[pacificshine]

Notice that the Steinberger bass uses a metal hook (in lieu of an upper horn) to create that good balance.  Without it, it would be extremely neck heavy and it looks like you will experience the same challenge with your design so you might want to experiment with hooking your strap closer to the 12th fret.  A very wide (4) strap will also help.  Let us know how this project goes.

[hendixclarke]

Mica, can you build this bass?

[hendixclarke]

The 12th fret? No way...LOL!!
 
This post will be a joy to review, when this bass design hits the project Manager's desk.  
 
If it requires the strap-lock to be on the 12th neck, this bass will never see the light of day.
 
A full no-go in effect, if balance is an issue. We will see... so stay tuned. This get's good.

[hendixclarke]

I left my phone number on your main service line answering machine... I await your call Mica.
 
Have a wonderful day!

[mica]

If the balance of the Small Standard body is not an issue for you, the modest modification you're suggesting is not going to impact it dramatically.  
 
Counterweights are really not an option - the balance is mostly about the upper strap attachment point.  
 
One way to move the upper strap attachment point is to imagine sliding the body toward the peghead. This will reduce upper fret access (may or may not be an issue for you). Making the body slightly longer will give more room for the electronics (gotta keep them farther from the edge than you think).  
 
Other design details that occur to me: inverting the bird tailpiece would look cool on this one. If the edge of the body is more squared, carving little scallops along the edge to echo the conchoidal fracturing that obsidian naturally exhibits.
 
I'll be moving this thread to the dreaming section later today.