Hip Hole
At 6'2" 185 lbs. I'm not exactly "bony" but I notice most electric guitars and basses rest — or bang if I'm jumping around the stage (not that I would do that) — against the upper part of my pelvis. My Iliac crest, to be precise.
Oh, agony! Why should I suffer like this?!
(not really, but you get my point)
Women have it worse. By happy accident of nature, they tend to be the ones who bear children, and thus — as a compensatory mechanism — possess a pelvis suitable for accommodating a fetus. Even a nine pound squirming one, as my sister-in-law just experienced. When mixed with bipedalism, one ensuing result is the female Homo sapiens sapiens has an even more prominent Iliac crest than the male.
As you know, the solid body instruments I build tend toward sculptural. I'm always playing with the form, in an effort to wrap the instrument around the musician's body. In conceptualizing Dove, I thought it might be interesting to create an additional cavity on the concave back of the instrument specifically to accommodate the pelvis.
Ah, heck — why not really experiment — and continue the cavity through to the front of the instrument? Make it an aesthetic feature as well. Differentiate the abstract dove's "wing" from her "body."
A structural hole. Hip hole.
DOVE SERIES:
Dove Takes Flight
Dovetail
Hip Hole
"Black & White" vs. "Shades of Gray"
"Explosive, sustained action!"
It's like my Visual Basic teacher told us when I was going to school for programming - you have to keep everyone in mind when making the software, -er anything (actually he peppered it with many explinatives - this is my PC version of events).
A hip hole is great for most, but then I am not everybody - I am 6'-2", 275# (really) and I haven't seen my hip bone in years (I still can see my feet though ^_^).
As always, I love your forward thinking approach to being a luthier, but my issue would be that taking wood away from a guitar or bass also may taking the all important tone away from the finshed product. Although I must note that you haven't produced a single instrument yet that lacks in the the 'tone department'.
I remember reading about EVH and his Kramer with the 'V' cut in the back and tackle put in to make a look and style statement. This modification inevitably killed the tone of the guitar, he couldn't get 'the brown sound' and the guitar became a nice hood ornament (I'm reaching on the hood ornament thing).
It is also a point of personal taste as I also hike up my strapped bass position so my arm lays on top of the body so my forearm almost lines up with the neck for pop/slap action. With my spare tire mid-section, this would negate 'my' need for a sculptural point as a Hip Hole.
All said, it's still a great idea and a touch of forward thinking design. And without experimentation, we'd still be living in very overcrowded caves. Maybe I'm getting to damn 'spartan' in my old age.
What the heck, if Vai can have a handle in the body of his guitar...
Bravo
Posted by: The Incredible Bulk | May 23, 2008 at 01:58 PM