Primal

I'm considering building a specialized little workbench/table for gluing tops. Basically, make it as small as possible, that way you can put the body on it and be able to clamp all the way around it. Another option would be to use a two piece body and glue the two sides up after the top is glued on. By doing it that way, you only have half the width to deal with and it would be possible to clamp together on a normal workbench.

A low B will more or less add the same amount of tension as a high C would. Basically, the force of the strings would be approximately 125% that of a 4-string bass. Define good trussing system. Any standard truss rod will be suitable for a bass neck. I think that is more for avoiding bowing and warpage over time. Grain pattern shouldn't have much, if any, effect on the actual glue joint.

Ouch! You do know that you aren't supposed to burn yourSELF, right?

Definitely glue the top together BEFORE gluing it to the body. As for when to cut out the body, I would recommend cutting out the body on the back first and do some shaping, then glue the top on. That way, you can just use a template router bit to trim the top. It will be easy enough to line up the center line, just pencil the center line on the edges of the body and line the top up.

Very nice

All personal opinion without knowing a thing of what you're talking about. You cannot judge that of which you do not play, simple as that. Yea, and I forgot to mention that the realm of 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 string basses is that of musical genres such as jazz, funk, etc. You RARELY see anything above a 5-string in rock and metal bands.

Thats okay, its just an SG. ;-)

I can honestly say that, in jazz band in high school, a low B string was indispensable. In fact, I wish I had had a 6 string for jazz band.

Shouldn't it be about what the buyer wants?

Any particular reason you couldn't just slap that material in between the two halves of the top before you glue it together, so they go all the way through the thickness of the top? I personally think it would look less weird...

How much are you charging him? The reason I ask is, if its going to cost him a good bit, and he's willing to pay it, it seems more likely that he would follow through with learning. In that case, I would say go for the 5-string. However, if you are just building him a cheapy, I say go with the 4-string. I don't know how skilled you are at building (not implying anything, just ignorance on my part), however keep in mind that a 5-string bass will be more difficult to build because you have that 5th string to account for. All in all, the pros of a 5 string are only significant if they get utilized. Otherwise, it just means its more expensive to change strings!

I would say that a real maple top would be a lot easier than veneer. All you have to do is clamp it well, using plenty of clamps and some pieces of wood to help distribute the clamping force to the middle of the top.

I still think that you all rag on Perry too much. Seriously, if you read through his posts in this thread, there is nothing rude about any of them. Terse, maybe. But terse does NOT equal rude, although some may think so. Perry doesn't riddle his posts with fluff, and quite frankly, if you can't handle curt responses, that sounds like a personal problem to me. I hope you all don't get as emotionally scarred when someone is terse with you in real life as you all seem to on this forum...

The bass shown is the LB75, not the BB75. For some reason, the description talks about the BB75, but the actual guitar for sale is the LB75. Again, just email Carvin, I'm sure they'd be happy to tell you.

I think that option is in reference to the neck. For one, if you look at the picture, it has a matte finish, no a gloss finish. Also, there is absolutely no mention of a maple body (other than a figured maple top) when you go you customize the bass, rather than buying a ready-to-order bass. http://www.carvin.com/products/guitar.php?ItemNumber=LB75 Probably the best way to find out for sure is to email Carvin.

Wrong Desopolis and prs man. A quick look at the LB75 bass under the custom page shows that the standard body wood is alder. Granted, with extra costs you can get different body woods. Other than alder, the only wood it could be is swamp ash, and that bass body does not have the open grain that swamp ash is known for.

The Fetzer/Ruby is sort of the "standard" circuit for this project currently. Col's circuit is still under heavy development, which is one reason I'm putting off building it. I myself have made a successful Fetzer/Ruby amp. Regarding the shielding, we don't have a set "formula" for how to shield EMI. Feel free to experiment with it, though! The dual coil design is two coils wound to 4 Ohms (as opposed to one coil at 8 Ohm) connected in series so that you are in effect driving an 8 Ohm load. Using a stereo amp is certainly a possibility, however that would just eat batteries faster. For now, it would probably be good to experiment with a mono amp first.

Someone (can't remember who) has successfully placed a driver in the middle pickup position on a Strat without excessive EMI, however EMI is still a major issue (one we are working towards fixing, among other things, in the monster thread). Yes, simply using a pickup selector to deselect the neck pickup will cause fuzz (at least in my case) because the pickup is still connected to ground (one of the electronic experts could give you a better explanation that I can). There is absolutely no reason why you can't use a magnetic core. The magnet is simply there to provide a static magnetic field for the driver to manipulate. It really doesn't matter whether or not the actual core material is magnetized or not. I again encourage you to join in on the main discussion. There is a VAST wealth of information there, far more than anyone could give you here. Plus, it means that we won't have to explain everything over and over again.

Hello bancika, and welcome to the forums. Have you checked out the behemoth of a thread over in the electronics section? If not, I suggest you go take a look. It is 125 pages long, but just about all the information you could ever want is there. I'm not exactly sure why you are under the impression that you would have to do any drilling into your guitar. Assuming your control cavity is large enough, you shouldn't have to do any alterations to your guitar. If you read the other thread, you will find out that this sustainer system is pretty much reliant on psw's thin driver concept. In fact, it's be speculated that a coil with a thickness of 3mm or less is optimal. I would urge against a surface mount system, though, because you wont be able to adjust the coil. Because it is easier to drive low strings than it is high strings, in order to get (more) even performance, the driver should be closer to the treble strings and further from the bass strings. What do you mean too far when you mentioned mounting the driver next to the neck pickup? If you mean between the neck pickup and the neck, that wouldn't be a problem at all. In fact, the closer the driver is to the middle strings, the better it works. Do keep in mind that if you plan on keeping your neck pickup (or neck and middle in the case of a strat), you will have to have some sophisticated switching to completely remove the neck pickup from the guitar's circuit. If you don't, you will have MASSIVE EMI feedback.

If I'm not mistaken, you can leave cocobolo unfinished. I've never gotten a clear answer myself on whether there are any reasons NOT to finish a fretboard other than maple, however.

What would those wavy lines be caused from? -Doug I'm guessing just slight imperfections in the shape of the neck?

That just means that it will split along side the glue joint, rather than right at it.

Personally, I would still think that vertically laminated pieces of wood would be stronger. For one, when the neck is strung up, you have the strings pulling perpendicular to the joint, creating a "peeling" effect, causing the actual glue joint to have to hold the neck together. Conversely, with vertically laminated necks, the tension is parallel to the glue joints, allowing the wood itself to support the neck, keeping the glue joints relatively stress-free. The other obvious drawback to horizontal laminates is that you would have to get your neck PERFECTLY symmetrical in order to look decent.

I remember a guy over on MIMF who made a 5-string bass entirely out of beech (or, at least the neck was all beech). Should be fine, especially since you are going to laminate it.

Vertical grain effectively gives you a quartersawn laminate, while horizontal grain is basically flatsawn.