Couple New Questions

[jordan]

okay so i've taken on the idea of building my own custom bass to my own specifications.

now the question i have, is if im building a neck through body how essential is a truss rod?

and what exactly does the truss rod do?

thanks in advance guys.

jordan

[aturner]

Unless you're building an upright bass you're going to need a trussrod.

The tension caused by tuning the strings to pitch makes the neck of the instrument want to bow outwards. The trussrod is used help counteract this bowing by both strengthening the neck and allowing you to correct the bowing. The reason a URB doesn't need a trussrod is because the neck is thick and short, the thick ebony fb adds an exceptional amount of strength, and the strings are traditionally made of gut which needs less tension than steel strings to tune.

Short answer, you need a trussrod regardless of the neck joint.

Also, try using the search function.

[Cherryburst]

And the ability to "fine-tune" the amount of bowing that a truss-rod gives is probably just as important as the added strength.