Bass of the Week: Contriver Guitars’ Plunk is a Headless Six-String with Wild Design DNA

Luthier Brett Bailey of Contriver Guitars shared his Plunk Bass model with us, which came out of an interesting set of influences.

“The body shape, to me, is the answer to the question ‘what if we made the Parker Fly a single cut’ paired with my love for the old BC Rich Eagle Shape,” he tells us.

Bailey, who cut his teeth working at F Bass and designing acoustic guitars for other builders before striking out on his own, used a load of gorgeous materials for the build: a Northern Ash body, a Claro Walnut top, a maple and wenge neck, and a Gabon ebony fingerboard. However, his approach also incorporates tons of technical aspects to improve playability.

The neck has an asymmetrical profile to provide comfort going up to the higher frets. The Plunk has a headless design, but Bailey paid special attention to designing the “headstock.”

“This design allows for individual control over break angles at the nut. In this example, the A and G string locks are placed closer to the nut, increasing their break angles to create a more tensioned feel in the first position, aiming to better balance them with the surrounding strings,” he tells us. “By increasing mass at the headstock, we’ve shifted its resonant frequency, pushing any damping effects on sustain higher up the register—where their impact is less perceptible.”

It’s fitted with a pair of Aguilar DCB D4 pickups matched with an Aguilar OBP-3 preamp. Other features include an 18mm proportionally spaced ABM single saddle bridge design, magnetic cover plates, an Allied Lutherie Torque Monster truss rod, and a compensated nut.

Contriver Guitars Plunk Bass Specs: