After some soul searching and feedback from others I've re-imagined the original (v 1.0) shape of the Gumdrop (can anyone think of a better name?) and took some Merlin inspiration.
Here are the two together:
And on top of each other, Merlin at the bottom:
After seeing the pictures there is still some room for modification so this is close but not quite the final shape.
This is the walnut body from the back (because that's what you'll see):
And the mango top with a section removed to make the matching headstock and the electronics cover:
And routed the truss rod and carbon fibre rod channels:
The neck is the reject (because it was so not square) neck for build #014, the fretted Merlin for Matt, maple with two wenge stringers. Should be fun.
And yes, there are slots for 4 carbon rods. Why? Why not! Well, the rods come as 100 cm units so I have plenty of shorter offcuts and thought I might as well use them stabilising the transition from heel to actual neck.
I think this will be just a normal bolt-on, nothing fancy. Not sure about the board (most likely Birdseye maple) but definitely fretted - already have a fabulous v1.0 fretless.
Regards,
Michael