Quote:
Originally Posted by Anton Hasias
I have some questions Ken;
In order to obtain a smooth mellow tone with warm mids. on a 25th Anniversary 5string fretless, is it a 5piece laminated neck more appropiate than a 7piece?
Is it the same for the body (Bubinga T&B with mahogany core)?
Is it possible to have the 25th Anniversary fretless bass with oil finish instead of the current lacqueur Elite finish?
Thank you and best regards
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I have to break this down..
The 5 or 7 piece neck sound depends on the woods used to make it, not just the number of pieces. We have made our 7 pc necks at least 3 different ways up until now and a 4th way is the current spec replacing Bubinga with Shedua. The sound and feel is less of a difference than the look as these are two related species with similar properties.
In the Body as with the neck you can only compare the sound of the various numbers of laminations between them if the same woods are used with the exception of that extra lamination.
In the body, it's just another layer of veneer per side but in the neck, the center wide strip goes from maple in a 5 pc to Shedua (or Bubinga in the past) in a 7pc. So, the differences are not just numbers but woods and the ratio of mass of each in the formula.
A 7&7 combo sounds usually snappier than a 5&5 combo in the same basic woods used. I don't know what would have to be done to make the 5&5 be brighter than the 7&7 short of something drastic in the woods used. So, 7&7 is brighter/snappier sounding and feeling than 5&5.
On the finish, yes we can do the oil/varnish in place of the lacquer and would also be a slightly smoother sounding instrument.
If you want smooth and deep for your fretless, 5&5 with oil/varnish finish should do the trick.
We have also mixed this making 5&7 or 7&5. I actually have basses in stock right now like this. I have an Elite with a 7pc nk and the White Tiger Vintage with the 7pc wings/5pc nk combo.
It's all good but not all the same.