I've been browsing and searching for opinions on the subject in this forum and others and I'm still scratching my head after 2 hours of reading....:help:

I'm planning to build a 6 strings bolt-on neck bass.

Wich is better :

1 - One truss rod with carbon fiber rods

2 - two truss rods

3 - anything else not listed above

By the way, the neck will be birdseye maple with lacewood fingeboard.

one truss rod with 2 cf rods imo is your best bet for strength and stiffnes, 2 truss rods is there mainly for more control over the neck

id say 1 truss rod no cf rods. the neck is gunna move if you put in 2 truss rods and a thousand cf rods and have 1000 laminates anyway so if you make it easy to adjust you'll probably be happyer.

on my 6-string necks, I use a pair of graphite stiffening bars (GRB4's from LMI) and a dual action trussrod from StewMac.

two trussrods in the neck only add weight and set-up complexity without any additional value other than marketing hype IMO ... I mean you did choose your wood carefully and orientate the grain properly right?

to those who swear by a dual trussrod neck - more power to you. in all of my single trussrod 6-string fretless necks to date I've never once needed a second trussrod. never.

all the best,

R

I built mine with 2 trust rods and they adjust perfectly for over 10 years. I put One graphite bar up the middle on one of them. From the answers it looks like there is more than one way to do it. Ive noticed some of the current designs have the body attach to the neck further up I bet that helps with stability. As far as wieght make sure the bass ballances well. a heavy bass with great ballance to me is more compfortable than a light bass with lots of neck dive or one that I have to keep adjusting because its akward. I made the top horn longer on my heavier bass and that made it balance perfectly so it doesnt seem heavy to wear. Good luck and have fun building

I haven't made any 6's yet, but on a hand full of 5 strings, I used 2 truss rods with a CF bar between them.

The necks rarely require any adjusting after 14 years.

I haven't made any 6's yet, but on a hand full of 5 strings, I used 2 truss rods with a CF bar between them.

The necks rarely require any adjusting after 14 years.
No surprise, that'd make one hell of a stiff neck! It'd love to try one of those basses out.. how about a 6-stringer next time? :D

No surprise, that'd make one hell of a stiff neck! It'd love to try one of those basses out.. how about a 6-stringer next time? :D

Ironically when I started getting into building seriously it was because I wanted a six string. But I ended up make a 5, and stuck with that. :hmm:

Thanks for sharing your ideas and experiences.

I think I'll give a try to 1 truss rod and 2 CF bars.

Anyway, if something goes wrong, I guess I could make another neck... That's why I decided to do a bolt-on 6 strings...:D if the neck goes crap, make another...