ACG (AC Guitars) Sona 6 String

[eude]

This build diary is WAY overdue, as it approaches the last leg of the journey.

As most of you know, I'm a HUGE fan of Alan's work, having played nothing but ACGs for over 15 years now!

I have nipped and tucked a lot of what I need and want in a bass, as I've gone along, and as I've developed as a bassist.

I've settled on 31.5" scale as my preferred scale length, having gone 34", to 36", to 34" to 33" on the way, and I'm officially a 6 string player, who dabbles on 4.

 

Anyway, as with a lot of my more recent basses with ACG, this started as a sketch.

I'm a huge fan of Alan's Finn SC Classic shape, having owned several, but I felt that it was a little large for a shorter scale, so the crayons came out >>

 

The spec then started to creep >>

 

And here's the spec we came up with >>

 

Sona 6 String

31.5" Scale

Hidden Set-neck Construction

Spalted/Flame Sycamore Top

Mineral Stained White Limba Body

Wenge Accent Veneer

Ash/Wenge 5 PIece Neck

Plain Wenge Fingerboard

Body and Neck all stained Black, with a kinda of reverse linear black burst on the top

ACG RFB Pickups in 40mm casings, bridge pickup in a measured "sweet spot", neck pickup, not too far forward

East Uni-pre 4K Preamp

Hipshot Type A Bridge - Black

Gotoh Resolite Tuners - Black

50mm Wide Nut

16.5mm String Spacing

Flat/0 Radius Fingerboard

 

Work commenced early 2025.

More to come.

 

[eude]

Top wood chosen, Splated/Flame Sycamore >>

Edited Monday at 13:54 by eude

[eude]

Body shape cut and rough edge contouring >>

 

[eude]

Body and neck >>

 

Getting everything lined up nicely >>

 

Body meets neck >>

 

 

 

 

Edited Monday at 14:00 by eude

[eude]

And now some colouring in >>

 

 

[Richard R]

I love ACG basses!

[eude]

43 minutes ago, Richard R said:

I love ACG basses!

They've incredible instruments, Alan is such a talented luthier!

[WinterMute]

I was so impressed with Alan's willingness to chat endlessly about ideas and alternatives, completely happy to alter his existing designs to accommodate whatever mad ideas I might have had.

 

My Krell fretless has a mahogany central block and ash wings, an idea that came from my MM 20th Anniversary SR5, Alan just said "sure" and got on with it.

 

The quality of his work is second to none.

[eude]

7 minutes ago, WinterMute said:

I was so impressed with Alan's willingness to chat endlessly about ideas and alternatives, completely happy to alter his existing designs to accommodate whatever mad ideas I might have had.

 

My Krell fretless has a mahogany central block and ash wings, an idea that came from my MM 20th Anniversary SR5, Alan just said "sure" and got on with it.

 

The quality of his work is second to none.

Absolutely, Alan has always been more than happy to entertain ideas on further customisation, something that is only possible due to him doing EVERYTHING without CNC.

Many luthiers out there use CNC for a lot of the work, then finish things off by hand, which means they can only build from templates and are way less flexible - nothing like that happening at ACG Towers!

[SpondonBassed]

There is convergence between traditional luthiery and semi-pro hobbyists.

 

Then there's @rwillett...

 

On 04/12/2025 at 12:13, eude said:

they can only build from templates and are way less flexible

 

...who uses CNC but who also designs from scratch using digital modelling.  There are many examples of flexible CNC based builders who can.  These Build Diaries demonstrate this.

 

I am just stating this for balance.  I think there is room for new tech AND traditionally skilled craftsmen.  I like ACG designs purely for their appearance.  I may actually play one some day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[eude]

1 hour ago, SpondonBassed said:

There is convergence between traditional luthiery and semi-pro hobbyists.

 

Then there's @rwillett...

 

 

...who uses CNC but who also designs from scratch using digital modelling.  There are many examples of flexible CNC based builders who can.  These Build Diaries demonstrate this.

 

I am just stating this for balance.  I think there is room for new tech AND traditionally skilled craftsmen.  I like ACG designs purely for their appearance.  I may actually play one some day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Good point, but I did say, "many luthiers", not all
I believe Warwick, for one example, are entirely CNC these days too, however, they are more than happy to accommodate extra custom work, they just create new CNC files as per the need, their custom shop prices certainly cover it...

I was just trying to state that It is rare for small builders using CNC to veer heavily away from their norm is all.

[rwillett]

2 hours ago, SpondonBassed said:

There is convergence between traditional luthiery and semi-pro hobbyists.

 

Then there's @rwillett...

 

 

...who uses CNC but who also designs from scratch using digital modelling.  There are many examples of flexible CNC based builders who can.  These Build Diaries demonstrate this.

 

I am just stating this for balance.  I think there is room for new tech AND traditionally skilled craftsmen.  I like ACG designs purely for their appearance.  I may actually play one some day.

 

 

I think you are confusing me with somebody who has an inkling about what he is doing. Honoured that I am mentioned in the same sentence as real luthiers and semi-pro hobbyists, but these people know what they are talking about whereas I am merely one page away from disaster on each build. I am in awe of some of the builds on this site. No sarcasm, no irony, no snide comments from me, there are fabulous designers and builders here and I would love to have 1% of their talent.

Thanks

Rob