Much to ponder there Jim! I don’t quite get your first paragraph, perhaps a drawing?
The whole design concept is fascinating and as far as electric guitars go, there are not many different designs for the amount of years they have existed. The telecaster is 70 years old and still current as are many others, Les Paul, 335 etc etc. Either we are mostly conservative (with small c) or they got it right way back when. Like other items of longevity such as shotguns, (my personal collection has items from 1937 to current that have interchangeable parts) the guitar is fundamentally a tool that needs to fit a human being. The form is almost inescapable, so the design becomes ornamentation along with improvement to usability, output, performance etc. Look at cars from a century ago and the only real change is cosmetic and performance, the concept remains the same. With classical guitars the pinnacle was reached and it is accepted that the design is what it is.
Back to the TV, the shape originated from a tracing of a telecaster, the lines running back were taken from the waist point, the upper then continued to the neck join and the lower kept the horn and consequent access to the upper frets. The material lost and gained by this process was about equal. This, hopefully explains the somewhat stubby look to the arrowhead shape, but is in keeping with my personal brief for the size and weight etc. As Simon identified, there was an unfortunate result from this amalgamation in that the horn took on a dominance that it does not have in a regular telecaster. I intend now to reduce to version 3. I hope that when the scratch plate and hardware is fitted I will achieve a balanced appearance. The headstock is a regular V which I do not as yet intend to alter. I was quite taken by Sonic’s photoshopped picture, (now there’s a man who can design, his most recent offering actually made me want an offset, and I don’t like offsets!!) that is dividing the parental difference by the centre line, maybe a future build?
I too have been questioning design, it’s an interesting area and keeps the old grey matter turning over, who knows where we will go next? I thank you and all other members for your support, comments and interest
