Lot of unsubstantiated opinion there.
And before you shout hater at me, I've owned 5 of them in the past.
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Build for maximum sustain
- Thread starter lucas303
- Start date
And before you shout hater at me, I've owned 5 of them in the past.
Nothing is better at sustaining bass notes than the Moog Taurus. If you want an electric bass to compete with the Taurus, build it with depleted uranium.
neck through fretted bass, with multi laminate hardwood neck so that there aren't any dominant resonances which cause either dead spots or sustain loss.
active? optional, because CERTAIN active preamps (rather rare ones) very very slightly compress the tone (but most don't).
My tongue in cheek answer: sustain is usually something I'm muting away when I'm playing. 
More serious answer from my several dozen scratch builds experience: sustain is hampered by resonant vibration. So anything in the body that resonates at the same frequency will draw energy from the string vibration faster. The best way to prevent this is to make an extremely stiff frame such that the string has very little sympathetic resonant vibration drawing it's energy away through the witness points (nut, fret, bridge). This way the string can vibrate for the maximum period before it's energy dissipates. So a thick, heavy nut, immovable backbone and heavy fixed bridge. The less they can absorb the energy from the string, the better. Speaking of strings, having a solid string would probably vibrate longer as well, as the wrap and core design would eat up some of that vibration through microscopic mechanical motion.
More serious answer from my several dozen scratch builds experience: sustain is hampered by resonant vibration. So anything in the body that resonates at the same frequency will draw energy from the string vibration faster. The best way to prevent this is to make an extremely stiff frame such that the string has very little sympathetic resonant vibration drawing it's energy away through the witness points (nut, fret, bridge). This way the string can vibrate for the maximum period before it's energy dissipates. So a thick, heavy nut, immovable backbone and heavy fixed bridge. The less they can absorb the energy from the string, the better. Speaking of strings, having a solid string would probably vibrate longer as well, as the wrap and core design would eat up some of that vibration through microscopic mechanical motion.
JeezyMcNuggles
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- Feb 23, 2018
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My old keyboardist has a Taurus once. Inconsiderate woman sold it not thinking that I might want to use it again one day. I've looked at the S/H prices and can't afford one. Might have to try to make the pedals and a MIDI interface to my keyboard. Yet another project...
Craziest sustain I've ever had is from a Pbc/ Bunker bass the tension free neck was awesome I never should have sold it
It wouldn’t really matter either way, unless the uranium bass came with a lead bodysuit, whomever is playing it will still be glowing long after whatever sustain is achieved, finally fades away…unless you could figure out how to somehow couple the bass and the mass of the lead suit so the suit sets up a sympathetic vibration to match that of the bass.
Another advantage to such a bass is after you play it a couple times you can ditch the flashlight you use to maneuver on a dark stage during setup, and what better stage outfit than a warm blue glow with no worries about batteries dying mid set.
Surprised no one has mentioned this: turning the amp way up and playing with the lightest possible touch---I barely brush the string with my fingertip---results in maximum sustain with any bass. The harder you play, the greater the initial attack of the note and the lower the apparent duration, regardless of the construction of the bass.
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If you face that amp and get close enough you can achieve infinite sustain. Yeah, yeah, some call it feedback, who cares.
An old pic of me with my Kramer DMZ 5000. The sustain on this beast was insane, I swear it could last a week. Black Walnut body, ebonol fretboard and the legendary aluminum neck structure/inset. It was, however, very heavy - got to be hard on the shoulder for me over time, but make no mistake, this puppy cut through the mix! I Googled ebonol and found an interesting TB thread, way back from July 23, 2010.
In my experience composite necks offer the most sustain and the monocoque Steinberger design takes it to the limit. I have never played any bass that has such precise, even and almost endless sustain as the Steinberger L-2. As others have said, that much sustain can be a liability and it does make you change the way you play.
I've owned 3 metal necked Kramers. Build what you want, but one of those will give you what you want. Yes, I've played Steinbergers - they were OK, but a lumie (aluminum neck Kramer) has more sustain than a Steinberger. The other cool thing about a Kramer is no truss rod issues ever - the neck simply doesn't care what gauge strings you put on it, it always has the right relief.
