Thunderbird Bass Pre-build Study

[Prostheta]

I've ordered a Thunderbird template from Ronny and I'm just getting around to planning the materials etc. I'll start by detailing the standard Gibson specs:

- Mahogany wings joined to neck tenon using a "convex" V joint

- Neck through body 9-ply laminate of mahogany and walnut

- 20 fret 34" scale with rosewood board

The laminates appear to be 4x 1mm-2mm walnut strips with 2x 8mm and 1x 15mm in between, and about 6cm of mahogany either side. The wings are thinner than the tenon, leaving the centre tenon section proud of the rest of the body.

Now, the Thunderbird is characterised by it's deep dark growly sound. Looking at the construction, we can discount the wings for now as it's a big-ass neck tenon (12-14cm wide?). I presume the walnut is purely for strength and cosmetic purposes as 1mm-2mm isn't a huge amount! I prefer wider stripes on necks, so I'm proposing two 8mm walnut lams in place of the 8mm mahogany lams and pinstriping the walnut with some 0.7mm dyed black poplar veneer.

Will this drastically change the tone of the instrument? The strength will be greatly improved (I would have thought) but hopefully not to the detriment of the sound.

Also, what would be the best way to cut a 40mm V groove into the neck tenon either side to accept a V on the body wings, and also how to accurately cut the Vs onto the wings? I haven't seen any router bits large enough to carve a big 40mm wide 20mm deep V vertically, or horizontally guided in two passes. At worst, I'll go for the common or garden straight joint but curiosity has me on this one as you'd be increasing the tenon to wing contact area by say, 25-33%? Surely that contributes more to the overall mass and coupling of the instrument, and therefore tone....?

Just brainstorming.