Starting in July 2014, it took about five months to refine the CAD designs of the various components with iterative 3D printed models of the various components, create silicone molds for each component, and then figuring out a process to create accurate and fully functional carbon fiber versions of each. Every step of the way involved experimentation, failure, guesswork and more than a little frustration. Finally in December 2014, the first complete kit of components making up Ridgewing prototype #1 was assembled, strung up and played. Scott’s bridge pickup and electronics worked perfectly. The above bench setup was used to take some nice frontal pics of the completed instrument, but none of them came out as well as this picture, which was taken off-handedly from the side after the frontal studio pics had all been taken in order to document the lighting setup. This picture reminded me of the scene in the movie “2001 A Space Odyssey” where the scientists approach the uncovered alien obelisk on the moon for the first time. We realized that we had succeeded in reaching through the looking glass.