Next Build, 2-Questions per Carl Thompson styling

[DBC]

Working on my Next Build design,
If you browse this cool link,

http://s217.photobucket.com/albums/cc269/ctbasses/

Carls bodies look very thin.
My Sadowsky jazz 5 is 1-5/8" thick.
I would like to build one about 1-1/4" and really roll off the perimiter contour to give it a really thin feel. I know I'll have to lift the neck and hardware to pull it off.

(1) Is there any one that can confirm the body thickness?

(2) In this batch of photos all of his necks apear to be (short length) glued in set necks. I dont see any screws on the back sides. Does a glued in short set neck give you a scouped mid range like a bolt on neck does?

I dont want to start a long beat to death thread about bolt on verses neck thru. My take is that a neck thru produces a full mid range. As it dependes on what sound your trying to achive.

Thanks in Advance, to the coolist forum!!!

Peace, I mean saw dust, no, ratting the pictures on the neighbors walls---Yeah!!!

Dino

[XylemBassGuitar]

Hey Dino,

I can't confirm the body thickness of Carl's basses, (I know they are pretty thin) but I can say that I just finished a 36" scale bass very similar to Carl's designs that is just a litte under 1 1/4" thick (it's about 1 3/16"). That thickness worked out very well for me...the bass doesn't seem to be lacking in tone or sustain at all. In fact, it's one of the better (and beefier) sounding and sustaining basses I have made, and it's extremely light.

You may already know what I have to say in the following, but I thought I'd share my experience anyway...

Really pay attention to the balance of the bass when you're making the body that thin. I made sure to use poplar ears (a rather light wood) on the headstock and Hipshot Ultralite tuners to help ensure against neck dive. Pay attention to how far the upper horn extends toward the headstock. Generally speaking, the shorter the horn the more potential for neck dive in such a thin bass. Also, using a nice heavy bridge will help keep the bass balanced too.

As far as the sound differences between necks go, I'm not 100% sure how the neck attachment will affect the tone. The bolt-on basses I've played seemed to have a bit more mid-range than the set necks and thru-necks, especially when they have more or thicker bolts, however I haven't played a ton of bolt-on basses.

In my experience, longer-scale necks seem to have a beefier, fuller low-end than shorter scale necks. Also, the shorter scale necks sound more guitar-y as you get to the higher registers of the fretboard.

Good luck with the new build Dino...post some pictures of it if you get a chance!

[DBC]

Xylem:
Thanks for you response and all your suggestions. I went to you're web site! Excellent!! I wish I had the money and would by both basses you have available.

It appears that your necks are glue set and leveled to the core wings, then the top glued on? Do you run your neck back to the pick up or all the way to a solid bridge connection but then stop short so it does not show from the rear?

I like the Brass inlaid in the rear of the 36" 4 string. Is it fairly deep, maybe equaling the weight of a brass Hipshot bridge? In your case you moved the weight as far back as possible giving you a better balance offset to compensate for the longer neck?

I was contemplating a 36"! The strings I have for my R&D build are La Bella "Hard Rockin Steel" Extra long Scale. I might be able to get a 36" out them, I'm going to check it out! The B and E string cores ramp up to full size at about 2-3/8" from the Ferrel, so it affects the saddle height and location in a "Hip Shot" bridge, but would get to up to size by the time it gets to the saddle in the rear inserted set up like you did.

I love how you inset the Cocobolo in the Black Walnut for your Saddles of the bridge system that you have going on! Is it moveable or once you got your intonation set as best as possible did you mark and glue it in place? Beautiful work!

I read CT's are not Glued so, Change one string at a time!

Assume!!


Any and all comments or advise welcomed and appreciated, Thanks, Dino

[XylemBassGuitar]

Thanks for checking out the site Dino!

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think you're mistaking the set neck of that bass with a thru-neck. The difference is that a thru-neck goes all the way through the body and then you just glue the body wings onto the core of the neck...it sounds like you're already familiar with this type of construction.

With a set neck, like in Carl Thompson's and my own basses, you simply route a neck pocket into a full bass body and glue the neck right into that. It's basically made like a bolt-on, except that you use glue to keep the neck in place instead of bolts.

You can see what I'm talking about in the build thread for that bass. Take a look at the early construction pictures, you can see the routed neck pocket before the bass was one piece and you can also see the neck being clamped into the body.

Again, If you already understood all of that, my mistake...

The brass string retainer is actually not thick at all...it's only about 1/4" thick! It doesn't come anywhere near the weight of a Hipshot bridge. I made the strings go through the body like that because I thought it looked cool and wanted to know what it would sound like.

Here are the things I did to make sure the bass balanced:

-Used poplar ears on the headstock and Hipshot Ultralites (as mentioned)

-Made the electronics cavity as small as possible so as to keep the weight of the body up

-Extended the upper horn fairly far up the neck

-Dialed in the placement of the strap pins on the butt-end of the body correctly

I probably could have made the electronics cavity a bit larger if I had used a second pickup or a metal bridge.

If you're going to make your next bass a 36" scale with a 1 1/4" body, you might consider using a metal bridge or more pickups as it is fairly challenging to balance a 36" with such a thin body.

The scale length of my recent bass is 36", but the wind-length of the strings (the length that is actually wound at full thickness) needed to be about 38-39" if I recall, because of the distance the strings go beyond the bridge into the body. I used Infeld strings for that bass, they were long enough.

The bridge/saddles are floating, that is, they are not glued down. This way you can always change the intonation if needed just by loosening the strings. You're right, change the strings one at a time! (heh heh).

Keep me posted on your new build...