Here's a question to debate. I have recently done a lot of reading and experimenting with metal vs. wood vs. carbon fiber for various parts to on the bass to improve sound. There is one school of thought that says that any metal on the bass is reducing the volume and tone.
However, this does not necessarily address the issue of sustain for pizzicato (jazz playing). This is a very different issue and it's the one I'm most concerned with.
Take for example parts on a jazz guitar. If you have an archtop guitar with a wooden bridge, wooden bridge saddle and wooden tailpiece, then you have a louder warmer sound. BUT, it's substantially "plunkier", with not much sustain. Put a modern metal saddle, bridge, and tailpiece, and you have reduced the volume, changed the tone, but increased the sustain dramatically.
The same principle would apply on bass. So if a guy, (me) is interested in exploring the boundaries of increasing sustain, then it would follow that there are some things that could be done to increase sustain but actually decrease the acoustic tone. Afterall, the more energy you allow out of the string and into the body, the more volume you may have, but it's the transfer of energy OUT of the string that is the decay process.
An all metal bass with metal bridge and parts would sustain like crazy, but probably sound very bad.
So, any and all thoughts would be appreciated. I'm thinking about fingerboard thickness issues, how would the Dr. Tomastik tailpiece affect all of this, metal vs. wooden tailpiece, tailpiece wire material, etc.
thanks
