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Hey Vic ...

I've also had a hollow-body electric on my G.A.S. List for sometime. When the funding becomes available, it'll likely be an Ibanez AG95. There's one for under $700 at the local Long & McQuade's which I was playing for a bit last evening. The guys there asked, "When are going to buy that thing, and not just come in drooling all over it?" Maybe I'll get a discount for water damage! (LOL) I really like it because the body is slightly smaller than most hollow-bodies, it sounds like silk, fits like a Tilley hat, and looks amazing:

http://www.ibanez.co.jp/products/u_hb_p … color=CL01

Let us know what you decide on, and a pic would be great also.

From everything I've read (and what little I've experienced) the type of wood used affects a lot about the sound of a guitar. This is readily audible in acoustics more than electrics. The various woods selected will affect how rigid the neck is, how much sustain it will have, how well it holds tune, how the pickups react to the strings, and apparently a lot of other subtle things. For example, I'm really impressed with the way Ibanez uses a five-layered neck on many of it's bass guitars. This allows them to be thinner (faster) than many others, yet still very rigid.

I posted a link a while back to a wood database site, and have really enjoyed reading up on them. While some are dense / hard and seem suited for instruments, they're often oily and hard to work with, hard to glue, etc. I've been told I'm hard-headed and hard to work with! (hyuk)

http://www.wood-database.com/

For example, I've often wondered why "Verawood" (a.k.a. Argentine Lignum Vitae) isn't used for fretboards, as an alternative to ebony or rosewood. It's relatively inexpensive, plentiful, good to work with, and much harder than either of the other two. It's ranked at 3710 on the Janka hardness scale, while African Ebony is at 3080, and Brazilian Rosewood is at 2790. I understand that the harder the fretboard, there's more sustain and a cleaner tone.

The world of bass guitar is all new to me, and it's been a fun couple of days already fooling with it. I've discovered that Jethro Tull's former bassist (the late John Glascock) was really good ... can't even get close to keeping up with him. I was trying to play along with their CDs "Songs From the Wood" and "Heavy Horses" this afternoon, and was relegated to listening most of the time.

Just loving the challenge of learning something new!

Thanks for the photo help, Roger ... "one of these days" I'll figure out how to do it right the first time.

My old Norman ST40 was a real beauty of an all solid wood guitar (gave it to daughter-in-law), and alongside my LaPatrie classical they are both part of the Godin group of companies. The whole family of Godin products are consistently great quality, rivaled in Canada by perhaps only Larrivee out of Vancouver.

This particular electric model first got me interested in the whole coil-splitting technology, and having played it a few times at a local music store, it is definitely on my G.A.S. list:

http://www.godinguitars.com/godinxtsap.htm

Jerome ... I sent you an email about "Thunderstick".

That's a sweet looking weapon, Russell ... very nicely done. The "skinny" on the Wilkerson Trem's is that they hold tune well, and even outperform the stock trems on most Strat's. Do you get any "string ping" from the wounds strings moving on the bridge? Avoiding that ping was one of the things that drew me to the Stetsbar with the moving bridge, although they're a lot more $$$.

Atta boy, Russ ... nice job!

Upon further research, it appears that there are two substantial limitations with a short-scale bass:

1) Much less sustain than a 34" scale.
2) Tendency for E-string to sound floppy, due to low tension.

I did notice the reduced sustain on the Hagstrom when I played it, and thought that the strings might just be a tad dead. But it was a new instrument in a reputable shop, so that's likely not the case. The notion of the shorter fret scale is apparently an easy one to overcome, and they say that getting quality strings for a short-scale is also a challenge. Based on these few factors, it would seem that a 34" scale is the way to go.

Much appreciate all the input!

Awesome job, and awesome color choice ... love the look of a flamed-maple top ... pure class!

Welcome to the wonderful world of snow removal. Here in the "great white north", I haven't seen my front lawn since late November, and have already gone through 5 gals of gasoline for my snowblower. Mind you I'm NOT bragging ... we're doggone sick o' the stuff!

Thanks for a great story; really gives a person an alternate perspective.

Gidday, Bushy ...

I recall another bloke from "down unda" named Bushy, who used to appear on "Rex Hunt Fishing Adventures" regularly (Kaj Busch is his real name). Not you, is it?

Here's another "catalogue confession" ... love 'em.

Our more popular Canadian music store is Long & McQuade's, and they're on the shelf next to the toilet, with dog-eared pages. I'd like to know how many hours I've spent looking at the same Alex Lifeson "Les Paul Axcess", or the pages of effects pedals, Larrivee high-end acoustics, etc. And then we have the wonderful Internet, where we can browse and dream to our heart's content. I'll bet catalogues are the #1 cause of G.A.S.

Seriously ... who wouldn't want to own one of these beauties:

http://www2.gibson.com/Products/Electri … xcess.aspx