Monster Meets the Orchid Bass
Luthier Rick Toone and “Monster” take us on a demo of the Orchid Bass guitar covering its sculpted ergonomic bass body, the unusual trapezoidal profile neck and the piano-like clarity of its sound.
In Monster Eats Orchid, Toone notes that…
Although Orchid was designed to ergonomically fit a petite player, watch Monster chew on the bass. He’s 12″ taller than Halie and outweighs her by 110 lbs. Because the bass also comfortably fits him, I would characterize this body shape as successful.
Overall, it’s quite an impressive bass.
Read more in Toone Guitars’ Orchid Bass, the follow up The Orchid Bass Sprouts An Unusual Neck and from the guitar maker himself on TOONE GUITARS.
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported License
I see Monster has mysteriously invaded BTEG, as well.
Seems nowhere is safe.
@Rick: Monster is everywhere! 🙂
I can’t see the picture at all no matter what I try. Everything else on this site is visible except for this one. Is there any nudity involved ?! 😉 😉
@Mats – No offense to Monster but thankfully there’s none involved. And besides, we’re a family friendly site. 😉
It’s a Youtube video so it should show unless Youtube is being blocked on your network.
Well, all others YouTube videos around here I can watch, but when I actually went to THE YouTube Site I could search it and watch it from there. Not on this one though. The bass wasn’t naked, no explicit notes, and no parental or puritan advisory involved… 🙂 The volume knob and neck profile strikes me the most. Fascinating. It seems to me to be more of a sitting kind of bass. It defies the Ed Friedland notion of that the neck and fretting hand/arm should always be at 45 degree angle. Now, which one is best for ergonomics and not being fatigued?
Mats, thanks for your comment.
I initially designed Orchid primarily for standing performance. But I realized much studio & composition work is done seated. So the task I set for myself was to create a design that does not alter its relationship to your body as you transition from seated to standing and vice versa.
I had to cut quite a bit of video footage to meet YouTube criteria, including bits where Monster transitions and talks more about the various playing positions. When you view the next to last segment, entitled “Assessment,” Monster is standing. Note the angle of the bass.
One thing he said he liked about the instrument is it would balance wherever he positioned it…tilt the neck to any position between 90 degrees and almost vertical, and it stays in place, due to its center of gravity.
Hoping to do another video soon.