Kiwi

[quote name='Mr. Foxen' timestamp='1339755939' post='1693743'] The lack of stiffness in the structure (and other resonant properties causing damping etc) is what effects the vibration of the string. [/quote] Yes. It affects the sustain and frequency response.

The bass, simply as a structure, will vibrate if it isn't 100% stiff. Build a bass out of granite. A granite bass guitar might be 95% stiff. It'll vibrate still but not to a degree that it will impact on the sound that can be heard. It would be a pretty efficient structure. A granite mountain might be 99.999999999% efficient. It will still vibrate but not to a measurable degree. Conversely, build a bass out of stiff foam rubber. It'll make a sound but a very dead sound with no sustain. Which is attractive? It's subjective. But just because a material is structurally efficient doesn't mean it will sound attractive. Dampening is pretty important. Rob Green knows this. He's gone from MDF cores in his Stealth I instruments to epoxy foam in his Stealth II instruments because the epoxy foam has more attractive dampening properties. Not a piece of wood in sight. But damn fine sounding instruments all the same.

String vibrates because its part of a stiff structure. The structure can be made of any material. The degree of stiffness influences how much sustain there is. All materials have a resonance. This resonance can be at a frequency that coincides with the vibrations of a string or not. It depends on the harmonics in the resonance and the harmonics in the string at the frequency it vibrates at. If the resonance is at a frequency which is lower than the lowest frequency of the vibrating string, then this results in a more consistent sound and no deadspots. The two mix in unpredictable ways sometimes. The more uniform the structural material is, the more predictable and consistent the resonance characteristics will be. Graphite composite is a very consistent material. The results are fairly consistent if the same construction techniques are used. This is what Alembic and (I guess) Status aim for. Whether their instruments sound attractive is a matter of taste (and in some cases signal chain). Where wood is concerned, it is very inconsistent. When supporting a vibrating string, the resonance characteristics of wood will vary according to density, weight and mass. These properties will vary not only between wood from trees of different species but also between locations on the same tree. For example, wood nearer the root will typically be denser than wood further up. It is possible, in principle, to find wood from different species and different locations in a tree that have similar properties also. So a piece of alder can have similar characteristics to a piece of mahogany. The main value that a CUSTOM luthier will bring to a bass building project is their ability to predict the resonant characteristics of a piece (or pieces) of wood BEFORE they build the instrument and understand what that means, in terms of tone, to the customer. Imagine how many instruments it would take, for example, for someone to understand the full spectrum of character that...say, maple necks and alder bodies have. I'd suggest it would probably take about a hundred to a hundred and fifty instruments to become confident. Assuming those instruments were all built the same way and with the same woods. With luthiers who provide custom instruments of whatever wood configurations the customer requests it gets really complicated. How many instruments would it take for them to predict the tonal characteristics of all the different woods selected, in various applications as neck lams, wings, tops, fingerboards, etc.? Thousands? There's a lot to be said for setting limits. Wal did this with their mahogany bodied instruments and sycamore/hickory necks. They ended up with a very consistent product. ErnieBall/Musicman, Alembic, Celinder, Tobias and Ken Smith have too. Bass making is like cooking. You can add yeast, water and flour together consistently and get a relatively consistent but boring product...bread. Add the same ingredients but use wholemeal flour...or brown sugar...or brewers yeast to replace one ingredient. How much difference does that make? These are like woods. What if other flavouring ingredients were used, like onion, herbs or seeds? These are like electronics, pickups or strings. The important thing is to find someone who makes something consistently first, and secondly something that sounds attractive. So much of what I've tried has been inconsistent between instruments. I believe predictability is the most important quality for a bass guitar. Otherwise, go into a music shop and try something. If you like it, buy it. Don't expect any other instrument ever made in the history of creation to sound as good. You pays your money and you takes your choice but none of us are there to fund a luthiers' training.

Nice looking set up there - love how its colour coordinated too

Unfortunately I have only 4 days of annual leave at the moment and my house is bleeding me dry financially. Maybe for 2013 though.

[quote name='waynepunkdude' timestamp='1339707604' post='1693259'] Beat me to my Audi quip. [/quote] [i]"Hisssssss!"[/i]

Awesome, do you have any links?

Wish I could go, I already had one chance to meet Lee Sklar whipped away due to bad timing...

[url="http://gizmodo.com/5918087/we-love-rock-music-because-it-makes-us-feel-like-cavemen"]http://gizmodo.com/5918087/we-love-rock-music-because-it-makes-us-feel-like-cavemen[/url]

Interesting story, thanks for that. There's going to be more of a difference given the wood is being used in the neck also. I'd expect there to be lots of mids also, which will be perfect for fretless. I'd be interested to see how much treble response there is though with the ebony fingerboard.

If you can provide a link to the product, you may get some more insightful answers.

OK, we're talking to Ben about it now. Are still waiting for a response.

[quote name='jaydentaku' timestamp='1339413557' post='1687994'] I feel like criminal. [/quote] anything u want to share?

Mahogany/wenge would be a seriously interesting wood combo - am really interested in knowing what it sounds like

We already have it covered in the affiliates section. Anyone who has something to sell can post there. Maybe we need to rename it...?

Its interesting though, isn't it? People can criticise the US for many things but they're culturally VERY open to innovation.

Go to settings in your control panel, click on manage my prefs [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?app=core&module=usercp&tab=core&area=ignoredusers&do=show"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?app=core&module=usercp&tab=core&area=ignoredusers&do=show[/url]

I ended up getting pedals for patches that sucked up all the processing power in my MPXG2 or stuff my MPXG2 couldn't do. eg. unibass, synthbass and two inputs (EBS Microbass).

Which is the one I can see. Press CTRL+ F5 and refresh your browser.

Nice site and lucky that he has so much support from manufacturers. There's a stark contrast between the US attitude to promotion and the UK here too. Clearly in the US, manufacturers identify someone who is an opinion leader and support them as best they can. Over in the UK I get the impression similar people aren't taken seriously...yet. For example, Shep, one of our mods is probably an equivalent to Juan. I don't see effects pedal manufacturers this side of the pond flocking to him so he can review their products. Another example - Tombowlus, manufacturers were throwing gear at him, at one point. Don't recall the same happening over here with some of our collectors.

I agree, but that isn't going to be anything to worry about. Its not going to affect the sound of the bass at all.

At some point I'll be getting some of these: [url="http://guitargrip.com/prod_GS%20Ladies.htm"]http://guitargrip.co...GS%20Ladies.htm[/url] Apparently they can be used as guitar hangers too.

I thought it was an Eclipse too but it doesn't have the arched top. It's either a Status Energy - they were made originally with graphite necks and then wooden necks before being discontinued. But I've never seen one with an exotic top. Alternatively it could be a Series 1 but I've never seen one with a one piece body. My money is on it being a Series 1

Fair point...hooray for the manufacturer not the brand then...?