Ive seen all Ibanez Basses with three or more lams... sorry, I may be wrong. mind you these companies probably do keep their wood stacked somewhere for a while before using it. I personally wouldn't try though.
Ahhhhhhhh-haaaaaaa! Ibenez - the pinnacle of bass lutherie!
guess this means that Fender, Lull, Sadowsky, Warmoth, USACG, etc ... have it all messed up, eh?
I think I'm starting to see where you're coming from T2W ...
as for keeping their wood stacked somewhere for a while, even Ken Smith (a regarded expert in multi-lam necks) chooses to age his neck woods for more than a few weeks after they're out of the kiln.
please explain why you wouldn't try building a neck from a single flatsawn or quartersawn piece of wood. what
factual basis do you base this on? or maybe it's just a personal opinion that is biased by your dislike for any building technique with the faintest scent of 'old school' tradition?
me personally, I use both 1-piece (flatsawn or quartersawn as requested) and multi-lam necks as suits a particular design and/or client. both work well when built utilizing good wood selection and techniques. both have advantages and disadvantages in their use. both sound and play great. both are stable when a solid design and building technique are utilized.
but ... if you have poor design or building techniques you will see it in a 1-piece neck sooner/easier than in a multi-lam neck IMO/IME. poor building practices are much eacier to hide in a graphite reinforced multi-lam neck. sure, you can see a sloppy glue joint quite easily - but I am specifically talking here about structural deficiencies that will affect the neck down the road.
NYBassMan - if you can establish good design and construction workflows with a 1-piece neck, you can build a solid multi-lam neck with ease. like all things that require learning and skill, root yourself first in the fundimentals and then venture out from there. in doing so, you'll be able to more easily recognize how small changes you make to a design impact the overall neck stability. without this foundation, you'll always be left guessing (and many times guessing incorrectly) why a certain neck performed differently than another of like dimensions. this is what separates someone like a Mike Tobias or Ken Smith from other builders who hack and experiment, but never turn out a
consistently outstanding bass of exceptional quality. think of this foundation in building as being similar to the foundation layed with a given language - you start with a foundation of the basics and specific simple phrases and move on from there ... nobody starts a language at a college professor level, and nobody truly communicates deeply with that language unless they first understand how to properly structure each of the working parts. once a level of mastery is reached, the doors of communication are wide open for working at that level ... and one should always be looking to increase their comprehension and skill with that languange, as this leads to an even greater ability to communicate more efficiently and gracefully.
after all, all of our instrument building is really just simply communicating with wood
all the best,
R
Yeah Ibanez do a couple of nice muti-lam ones at a pretty good price point too. As Giel said, it's all about choosing a good piece that's properly dried.
