About: Beau Leopard & BL Design
Playing Bass 037 in the BLD Woodshop
My inspiration to start BL Design stems from my childhood. My father and I spent a great deal of time building skateboards and ramps, and many other woodworking projects. I also spent many hours drawing, building models, and listening to music. When I was 14 some friends needed a bass player for their band. I decided to try it out and fell in love with the bass. This quickly evolved into a fascination with all things bass related and the desire to try to build one.
In 1991 I built my first bass with the help of my father and a few people local to the Rochester, NY area involved in furniture making and guitar repair. The first bass was a success and it became my main instrument for many years.
During high school I continued to build several instruments in the schools’ woodshop and in my parents’ garage. My fascination with the bass then led me to attend Hampshire College, Berklee College of Music, and the Roberto-Venn School of Luthiery where I was able to study music, acoustic and electric bass, audio engineering and guitar building and repair.
Me in 1993 with the first bass I built, my Guild B-30, and three six-string basses in progress in the background
In 2005 I began to acquire tools necessary for building bass guitars and started "BL Design" in a 1920’s cold storage building in Ontario, NY. My father had been renovating and repurposing the building for small industrial businesses. By helping with the renovation, I was able to secure space for a woodshop.
BL Design Woodshop in 2007 with bass #012
BL Design Bass #013 Front - This is my personal bass made in 2007 - maple burl top, ash body, maple/wenge neck and a goncalo alves fretboard
BL Design Bass #013 Back
In 2007 I completed what I consider to be my first batch of high-end handmade custom basses. After several batches of entirely handmade instruments, I started to become interested in incorporating a CNC machine into my workflow. In 2014 I acquired an obsolete CNC router and spent several years rebuilding it to modern standards and teaching myself CAD/CAM. Though CNC has become a significant part of my overall build process, BL Design instruments are still largely handmade, with upmost care and keen attention to detail.
Nearly 20 years later in 2024 I'm still at it, producing a handful of high-end electric bass guitars per year. To date, I have made fifty instruments in small batches that take a year or two to complete. The batches are comprised of custom orders, inventory instruments and prototypes for evaluating new ideas.
BL Design Woodshop in 2015
Resawing bookmatched sets of quilted maple…
the results…
Eventually, I would like to expand BL Design from a one man shop to full manufacturing with several employees. This would include a line of high quality yet affordable bass guitars based on my custom designs and a few other products in the works. Who knows, maybe I'll make some electric guitars as well…
Bass 038 Marozi 5-string with a quilted maple top, ash body, maple neck and macassar ebony fretboard
I would like to thank all of BL Design's clients over the years for trusting me to create their one-of-a-kind dream bass. Throughout the build process and afterword, many of my clients end up becoming my close friends. I am incredibly grateful for this.
I could not do this work without the love and support of my amazing wife Amy.
If you have any interest in a BL Design Bass the best way to get in touch with me is email or a phone call.
Thanks for visiting,
Beau
585-615-6219