this will be a very long scale 9 string bass/guitar.

going with a flat surface graphite neck-through design.

string spacing will be as narrow as possible is not adjustable, but i would love to use individual string tuner bridges for each string. i have seen single bridges but none i have found are "tuner bridges". if anyone has seen any out there i would love to see it... if not i guess i could CAD one up my self.

any thoughts on th BRIDGE?

i think i will try winding my own rail style pickup. not much chance of finding a 9 string pole coil... maybe i could do the 8 pole offset though?

thoughts on PICKUPS?

i am still kinda drawn between exotic wood or some new age composition body.

any opinions on BODY physics?

Mustafa? :hiding:

Haha, my thoughts as well, barnaclebeau.

How long of a scale are you talking about? You may have trouble finding strings for rather extreme lengths. My d'addario double bass strings seem to have about enough length for a 46" scale, but you will only be able to find from low B to high C.

As far as pickups go, you may want to try something like this: http://www.windworld.com/products/lollar.htm

ABM I think are the only ones to make that kind of a individual tuner/bridge I think, mostly used on headless basses.
Go for wood, much easier to work with than graphite and other unnatural materials. Well at least until all the good looking woods disappear. :)
Good luck,
Dirk

hipshot makes individual tuners http://www.hipshotproducts.com/cart.php?m=product_list&c=24
building w/composites gets very expensive esp if you are only making 1.
why exotics? exceptional looking and sound instruments can be made w/north american woods.

hipshot makes individual tuners http://www.hipshotproducts.com/cart.php?m=product_list&c=24


Those are simply individual bridges with an intonation adjustment, not a tuner.

Asad

Greg Holmes of GK Services had some narrow-spacing ETS single tuner/bridges on hand about a year ago. You could see if he's still got them around.

If he's still got them, hopefully you can get a deal. ETS is more reasonable than ABM, but nine is a lot of tuner/bridges.

As far as I know Status Graphite and ETS are almost the only companies offering this stuff...

Aren't the Status units made by ABM? Or am I remembering wrong?

yeah, after giving it some thought i am going more towards a shorter scale and maybe more strings... going to put a headstock on the neck to go with the hipshot individual bridges and possibly going piezo on each bridge to eliminate cross/talk and add the midi option.

i think i will start with an off-the-shelf 4 string neck to get the carbon graphite body design in the working stages.

i love exotic woods as much as everyone else in here... its just that i am going for a specific look and feel with the carbon-fiber/graphite-neck combo. i think all you well established Luthiers will appreciate me leaving the gorgeous wood for you to make the super exotics out of, right?

As to bridges;
I'd simply call ETS and have them make a bridge for you.
ABM is no more as far as I know.
Pickupwise I recon you can get pretty much anything made.
Bassculture is one of many companies that make custom pickups.

if you are thinking of using a piezo bridge Hipshot now makes the Type A bridge w/piezo saddles that work w/the Ghost system (Graphtech). This is easy to install, has it's own preamp and Graphtech makes a compatible midi thingy http://www.graphtech.com/products.html?CategoryID=2
Individual string adjustment/intonation is a plus. I'ld go w/the push/pull dark/bright volume pot.

As to bridges;
I'd simply call ETS and have them make a bridge for you.
ABM is no more as far as I know.
Pickupwise I recon you can get pretty much anything made.
Bassculture is one of many companies that make custom pickups.

I believe ABM is back under new ownership. Check their site:

http://www.abmmueller.de/index2.html

allparts sells it

http://www.allparts.com/store/bass-bridges-4-string-single-string-bb-3501-010,Product.asp

I believe ABM is back under new ownership. Check their site:

http://www.abmmueller.de/index2.html

Yeah i saw it as well, once i had been here on tb yesterday.

Are tuning bridges supposed to be that expensive? I mean, $65 per tuner... :eyebrow:

I can say that the ETS units that Greg was offering a year ago were in that neighborhood.

If you get ETS to make a 9-wide single piece tuner bridge instead of individual finger bridge/tuners, it might be a lot cheaper.

Atlansia's units are very high priced, also.

since starting this thread and seeing all the GREAT ideas that ALL of you have given... the evolution of this design has taken some amazing turns.

a few would be looking at Khaler (of all places) for the bridge... in my lameness i had not even realized they were back in business 'til i started looking into bridges. so now i am thinking about their 8 string tremolo bridge. with that i will need a headstock w/ tuners but i think i can come up with a good design. i am still wanting a MosesGraphite fingerboard, but i might be going with all carbon-fiber neck-through...

a recent thought... BALSA WOOD!

i can do a hand-lay-up design of carbon fiber over balsa wood. do my shape in balsa wood, then form my carbon fiber over the balsa for rigidity and structural integrity... i am thinking that it would be great for my shaping and coupled with the carbon fiber would make an interesting sound.

obviously no one has ever used balsa wood for a guitar before, but this would now fall into the realms of feasibility.