Bass Guitar
Model of a bass guitar inspired by ESP F-104, with an amp based on Marshall MB4410.Free building instructions available
Datasheet:
Completion date: 30/05/2024
Power:none
Remote control: none
I was quite excited to see LEGO releasing the 21329 Fender Stratocaster set back in 2021. I loved the idea as well as the execution and it seemed to me only a matter of time until LEGO followed with more guitar sets, seeing how many various and iconic guitars are out there. But by 2024 there were still no news of a follow-up set of any sort, so I’ve decided to try submitting my own guitar model to LEGO Ideas, and being a bass player (or wishing to be one, at least), I went with a bass guitar model closely based on my own ESP LTD F-105, except that I used four strings to make the guitar look more like a regular bass guitar, which effectively made it a model of the ESP LTD F-104. I’ve paired that guitar with a model of an amp that I’d love to own but can’t afford, that is Marshall MB4410.
Sadly, LEGO Ideas being LEGO Ideas promptly rejected my submission stating that it “overlaps with the 21329 Fender Stratocaster set”. Meaning, in other words, that they won’t accept any guitars whatsoever because a single LEGO guitar set already exists. This is obviously a very logical decision, comparable to not allowing any cars because LEGO already makes cars, or any buildings because LEGO has released one or two of these already. Seriously, I hope this was actually a preventive measure as LEGO is preparing to release a line of guitar sets of its own, but it remains to be seen whether that will be the case.
Both the guitar and the amp were built without using blueprints, just by eyeballing the real objects. The thing I didn’t like about the LEGO Stratocaster set was the 2-studs-thick guitar body which just looked too thick to me, so I made it my goal to keep my guitar thinner. To this end, the body is built using a single layer or bricks with two layers of plates on the front, making it 1 and 2/3 studs thick, which isn’t much less than 2 studs, but using plates on the front allowed me to sculpt the edges of the body. These edges are tapered in the real ESP guitar, and by making the plates not reach all the way to the edges I was able to at least remotely approximate that tapered edge look.
My other goal was to keep the guitar’s neck accurately shaped. In the LEGO Fender set, the neck had a square cross-section, being built of layered plates, but the correct shape is rounded on the bottom, which I achieved with curved slopes and inverted tiles. That makes my guitar’s neck more fragile than Fender’s, but actually not by much.
The amp was essentially an empty box – I didn’t feel the need to build the inside too, like in the LEGO Fender set, because it didn’t seem that important and because I had no clue what the inside of the real amp looks like. One functionality I was able to include was a cradle switch in the amp activating a light brick that illuminated a red “LED” on the amp’s front panel.
Free building instructions for the guitar and the amp are available here.
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