Carbon fiber body

#21
"Journey OB-660 Carbon Fiber Folding Travel Bass"

I really like these travel basses, and I have been looking to pick up a used one, but I never see them. You can take off the neck and put it back on, and it stays in tune like a magic trick. The build quality is great. The feel is very good, though the short scale is not for everyone.
However, they are not made to showcase the carbon fiber pattern, which I believe the OP was looking for. When you hold one of these, you wouldn't know it was CF and not fiberglass unless you looked closely.
 
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#22
T-boneParish said:
"Journey OB-660 Carbon Fiber Folding Travel Bass"

I really like these travel basses, and I have been looking to pick up a used one, but I never see them. You can take off the neck and put it back on, and it stays in tune like a magic trick. The build quality is great. The feel is very good, though the short scale is not for everyone.
However, they are not made to showcase the carbon fiber pattern, which I believe the OP was looking for. When you hold one of these, you wouldn't know it was CF and not fiberglass unless you looked closely.
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Yeah that's kinda what I meant. I like the feel of carbon fiber but the look is more important. Well of course the sound and feel come first because I'd rather play a good bass but now that I've learned about vinyl wrapping I can just buy a good bass and wrap it to look like I want it. Thank you all very much!
 
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#23
Thumpin6string said:
Take your favorite bass body to a hydro dipper. It looks as close as you can get. I've had several items done and you would think it is real.
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I was hot on this idea a few years back but after seeing the results on a painted wood guitar body and learning it would still require a clear top coat to last, i decided to look at other options.
 
#24
Yobbit said:
Yeah that's kinda what I meant. I like the feel of carbon fiber but the look is more important. Well of course the sound and feel come first because I'd rather play a good bass but now that I've learned about vinyl wrapping I can just buy a good bass and wrap it to look like I want it. Thank you all very much!
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For my taste, the form and function of the carbon fibre comes above the look of it. The woven graphite cloth looks great, particularly with a high gloss finish over it, but I find it a little bit hokey if it doesn't serve any purpose to the instrument. Graphite has so many benefits in terms of sound and weight reduction, and that is my first concern.

I know that SIMS/Enfield do graphite-wrapped necks. I was a little disappointed to discover that it's not a traditional carbon fibre neck as you might on a Status Graphite or a Bogart.

I have always been interested in innovative design in bass guitars, ever since I got my first Kubicki. That innovation could be ergonomic, material, technical etc etc. It is all of interest to me. At the moment I have an SKC Bogart Blackstone, with a carbon fibre neck and a composite body. The neck is traditionally made, with carbon fibre cloth layered and bolted to the body. The body is a composite shell, injected with a proprietary foam designed to have the sonic characteristics of alder but with absolute consistency by way of it's injection process. It certainly delights when I play it.
 
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#25
all i know is that modulus's necks have the coolest look.

i love the weave look as well..

i suspect it would be super expensive to do an actual solid body from it. necks make sense, the strength is worth the effort. bodies not so much.
 
#26
OVERDRIVEN66 said:
That has to be SUPER light! Carbon fiber is used on race cars and is strong as well as light. How is the tone on one of those? Similar to wood? Just curious. Interesting.
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Carbon fiber (it depends somewhat on the particular resin used and other factors) has a density of about 1.7 grams per milliliter (water is 1). So, it's a lot less dense than steel, which has a density of around 8, or titanium, which is about half that (4ish), or aluminum, which is lighter still (about 2.7)

However, most of the wood used in bass bodies has a density of about .4 to .6. So, a solid carbon fiber body would weigh something like 3 times what a wood one would. For a carbon fiber body to be practical it would have to be hollow, or have foam inside, or...something besides solid. How light it would be is very dependent on how hollow you make it.
 
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#27
micguy said:
Carbon fiber (it depends somewhat on the particular resin used and other factors) has a density of about 1.7 grams per milliliter (water is 1). So, it's a lot less dense than steel, which has a density of around 8, or titanium, which is about half that (4ish), or aluminum, which is lighter still (about 2.7)

However, most of the wood used in bass bodies has a density of about .4 to .6. So, a solid carbon fiber body would weigh something like 3 times what a wood one would. For a carbon fiber body to be practical it would have to be hollow, or have foam inside, or...something besides solid. How light it would be is very dependent on how hollow you make it.
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Word. I had a Steinberger L2, basically a block of graphite, and it was deceptively heavy. My Streamline, by contrast, is light as a feather. An observation, not a shill! :)
 
#28
Green Knight said:
Word. I had a Steinberger L2, basically a block of graphite, and it was deceptively heavy. My Streamline, by contrast, is light as a feather. An observation, not a shill! :)
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Were those really solid graphite? I gotta think they were either hollow, or had a core of something else. I made a solid fibreglas body/neck guitar once - the routes between pickup cavities and the control cavity were made with cardboard coat hanger tubes, which I dissolved out by placing the body in the bathtub after it was formed - it was a bit strange puting a guitar into water. Anyway, yes, that thing was small (a downsized V body), but ridiculously heavy. I can't imagine that Steinbergers were soild carbon, for cost and weight reasons. Maybe I'm wrong?
 
#29
micguy said:
Were those really solid graphite? I gotta think they were either hollow, or had a core of something else. I made a solid fibreglas body/neck guitar once - the routes between pickup cavities and the control cavity were made with cardboard coat hanger tubes, which I dissolved out by placing the body in the bathtub after it was formed - it was a bit strange puting a guitar into water. Anyway, yes, that thing was small (a downsized V body), but ridiculously heavy. I can't imagine that Steinbergers were soild carbon, for cost and weight reasons. Maybe I'm wrong?
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I think you're right, now that I am remembering past threads on this subject!!
 
#31
Yobbit said:
Yeah that's kinda what I meant. I like the feel of carbon fiber but the look is more important. Well of course the sound and feel come first because I'd rather play a good bass but now that I've learned about vinyl wrapping I can just buy a good bass and wrap it to look like I want it. Thank you all very much!
Click to expand...
Welcome to TB @Yobbit

If you decide to go with the wrap, here's a thread on a bass I did few years ago......FWIW, the bass is a Ray35

Carbon Fiber Wrap / Hydro Dip

And a pic

CF.jpg
 
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#39
bholder said:
Can't decide whether that looks more Klingon or Romulan in style. :D
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Romulan - Klingon would have leather and bad teeth, or at least sharp edges that could cut you. Plus I don't think that Klingons would thing music is a worthwhile art form. Then again, if there were a mosh pit.....
 
#40
Thumpin6string said:
Usually the hydro dipper does the clear coat.
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It’s been a few years since i inquired and back then none of the dippers i talked to did that. I was trying to get some speakers cabs dipped with a tiger stripe camouflage pattern and it was not a production item at the time so the price for a one off run for the pattern i wanted was more than it cost me to get someone to paint them.
Also, i’ve tried a few CF wraps and have yet to find one that is convincing, but i’ve worked with a lot of CF over the years so maybe i’m just setting the bar too high. I have been thinking about getting a tabletop CNC router big enough to do pick guards and other small flat CF parts but so far i can still farm out what i need for less than i can get set up to do it on my own.
 
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