Background Waffle... For reasons I will explain in a moment, I am seriously considering commissioning a bass. I have always liked the idea of having an instrument made for me. I first thought about it with a tenor viol (viola da gamba). Whilst I love the viol, the problem is I find it impossible to find others to play with (almost all music for tenor viol is as part of a viol consort of 3 - 6 instruments). They're also expensive at around £5k+ and long lead times from luthiers. I did c