you must have played a pedulla?

Joe, it was not a Pedulla, but another PREMIUM Canadian builder, most famous because of an exceptional endorser. I actually hapened to try the signature one, 5 strings, in violin satin finish. I said it all, I think... AH, the neck was 3-pieces laminated. Very beautiful bass, fantastic piezo sound, but... No magic happened. At 6K, in my opinion, some magic HAVE to happen.

[quote="AlbiMax":2ezwvcaf] How and why You did settle on 5 pieces? Is it true that the more laminations the more stability? Is it true that if a neck is consisting of 11, 13 laminates (Alembic style) than the GLUE plays a big role in sound shaping?[/quote:2ezwvcaf] We use mostly maple for our necks. Maple comes in standard dimensions of roughly 1", 1.5", 2", 3". 1" is the most common followed by 2". 1-1/2" is usually a special order for us and 3" is available only when they find trees large enough. We've built necks with all three of those dimensions. They all work well. The difference is in how consistent is the supply, how consistent is the quality and what dimensions result in the least waste. Back in the early days we used 11 pieces because often one face of a board was perfect while the other face had a black mark or some wiggly grain. By cutting the board in half we upped our consistency and lowered waste. Also the thinking was it was good to have at least two laminations per string. I agree that more laminations equal more stability to a point. For us 5 is ideal. More doesn't gain you any more stability if you are using good wood. I've tested the tone effects of different glues. IMHO if you're using quality woods and quality glue with proper laminating techniques with proper laminating pressure, the glue will either enhance the tone or at least not make it worse - that is unless you're a vintage-head that is willing to ignore obvious deadspots in order to get that "vintage" tone. [quote="AlbiMax":2ezwvcaf] PS: yesterday I played a bass often referred to as "the king of the fretless basses". Apart from the piezo sound, which I like, I admit my ignorance but it did not impress me that much. I am looking forward trying an AB2 fretless, best if 6 strings. How do Your fretless sound? Very modern, Jaco sound, or...?[/quote:2ezwvcaf] Jaco/Manring is typically what we shoot for. We're eliminating the epoxy coated fingerboards in favor of Macassar Ebony. Our fretless tone will be a little warmer because of it.

He's referring to the Alain Caron Fbass, I think.

Thanks Sheldon, You really answered the question! Yes, it was the Famous AC-5 F-Bass, acclaimed to be "the king of Fretless". Well, after seeing that Ebony will be the new kid of the block, I thing it is realy time to plan a "coup d'etat" to the fretless kingdom!!!. Last question: Sheldon, do You have plans NOW (I know some tome ago You told NO) to have piezo as an option? Your last position was that to make piezo sound good You would have to mould the entire bass project around it. Did You change Your mind or You confirm that having the piezo is not a big advantage in the basses currently available? Thanks! Alberto