GALAXY FIVE    Aluminum, maple, poplar, ebony, coloured lacquer finish    2011

The sculptural work Galaxy Five shown here is a five string fretless electric bass guitar composed of wood and metal.

Bass guitars with their long scale lengths and hence long necks tend to be heavy and unbalanced. To address this an assemblage of lightweight component parts including wooden neck, body and control box are mounted securely on an aluminum backing plate. A unique semi-hollow laminated maple neck with carbon fibre reinforcement and custom truss-rod was developed.  To compliment the design, one EMG-X active magnetic pickup with volume and tone controls was selected. These controls, along with the input jack and 9V battery are neatly condensed into a small round box. Attention to these details resulted in a fine sounding musical instrument that is comfortable to play.

Galaxy Five makes visual reference to celestial bodies in outer space. Crescent moons, orbiting planets and constellation maps set against a midnight sky are contemplative images.  The composition of these aesthetic elements in this work also serves practical purpose. The white crescent moon provides a beveled arm rest, the orbiting planet as the control box and the ‘constellation’ dot pattern inlay identifies the fingering positions in the absence of frets. One could also imagine the sculpted metal knobs and strap buttons, even the triangular plate to be satellites and rocket ships.

A detachable leg support piece coming soon.  This will allow for comfortable playing in the seated position.