Laminate tops

[Cagey]

The problem with burls and spalts is that the wood is fragile. The reason to use Z-Poxy or CyA as a filler/leveller is to strengthen it, lest it fall apart on you. Sealer won't do that. It's generally just a thinned version of final finish, which isn't very robust.

 

[Bassjacker]

Just would like to thank everyone for the informative responses and HIGHLY beneficial information.

Decided to opt for a fixed bridge rather than tremelo. Going for this http://www.thomann.de/gb/babicz_bass_bridge_nickel.htm?sid=2fcfe1b5b32497090247abe613bdc6b2
bridge which seems to have good reviews however I would love to hear some other suggestions for bass bridge.

Everything is nearly all ready for the start of the build except the bridge! Can't wait!

 

[SkuttleFunk]

loves me my Babicz bridges. they are standard issue on several of our bass models. the two Jeffs turn out a great product

R

 

[Bassjacker]

Another thing I've looked into are carbon fiber truss rods. Firstly I realize these are lighter and essentially stiffen the neck to prevent warping but could you just use a non adjustable carbon fiber rod or would you require a truss rod as well.

I've seen picks on stew mac where they have two stiffening rods (carbon fiber) either side of the truss rod. Why would this be used?

Apologizes that this isn't in another area of the forum, I just like to keep one guitar to one section

 

[bagman67]

Another thing I've looked into are carbon fiber truss rods. Firstly I realize these are lighter and essentially stiffen the neck to prevent warping but could you just use a non adjustable carbon fiber rod or would you require a truss rod as well.

I've seen picks on stew mac where they have two stiffening rods (carbon fiber) either side of the truss rod. Why would this be used?

The non-adjustable carbon fiber or steel rod is useful to prevent warpage or twisting of the neck.  Many bass neck builders use them to supplement the adjustable truss rod, since the longer stock and higher string tension result in a higher likelihood of warpage/twisting.  For a modern guitar, there's just no reason NOT to include an adjustable truss rod.  The adjustable rod facilitates setting up the instrument to play best for your style.  Without it, you're left with shimming and filing various things to make the thing work the way you want it to, or just sucking it up and adjusting your style to suit the instrument.  This is, to put it mildly, sub-optimal.

Some traditionalists - generally guitar and banjo and mandolin builders, since electric basses have pretty much always had adjustable truss rods - will omit an adjustable truss rod because it's not suited to the vintage-correct task they're trying to accomplish.  But unless you're trying to recreate a pre-war Martin as an exercise, might as well use the best that technology can offer - and have a much more stable and more easily adjustable instrument.

 

[TonyFlyingSquirrel]

I had a Danelectro, original '59 back in the 80's, with the non adjustable truss rod, and I hated it.  The neck never warped or twisted, but it still moved with no way to adjust it into a correct setup position. 
Adjustable all the way, especially if you live in an area where you really do experience more than 1 weather season.

 

[SkuttleFunk]

Another thing I've looked into are carbon fiber truss rods. Firstly I realize these are lighter and essentially stiffen the neck to prevent warping but could you just use a non adjustable carbon fiber rod or would you require a truss rod as well.

I've seen picks on stew mac where they have two stiffening rods (carbon fiber) either side of the truss rod. Why would this be used?

CF bars, when fabricated via pulltrusion or by laminating multiple layers of uni-directional tape into a single cured structure, are an excellent way to add linear stiffness to a neck shaft. this reduced the potential for warping along the neck shaft (the dreaded S bow that is common when utilizing a vintage style compression style trussrod)

CF bars that run parallel to the neck shaft centerline do not help to reduce/eliminate the potential for axial twisting caused by improper wood selection.

Stiffening rods are not intended to be utilized without a trussrod, as it's the trussrod that allows you to adjust the neck relief.

all the best,

R