My goal was to build a short-scale bass that was easy to play while lounging on the couch, compact enough to pack into a standard guitar case, and still delivered a huge sound.

The inspiration came from my brother, who plays a classic Gibson RD. It's a beautiful bass, but it's also notoriously heavy and really built to be played standing up. It's size and weight are just cumbersome enough to dissuade him from carting it back and forth between his practice space and San Francisco apartment. I had no interest in replacing or competing with the RD. My intent was simply to create a good home and occasional travel option.

This being my third instrument build, I felt ready to tackle a few new features to meet those design goals. I landed on this spec list early in the process:

• Headless design (for balance and travel-size)
• Multi-scale (32" E to 31" G)
• Active pickups (for that huge yet versatile sound)
• Carbon-reinforced neck 
• Stainless steel frets