I like the titebond wood glues.

You want fresh wood but as stated above.. the fresh wood you ahve along with gussets could work. For hard woods like bass.... I usually score some lines with my exacto (not deep.. just some lines) to help the glue get a bite. Usually with a longeron type fuse you can cross brace (X) inside the fuse. I find that helps tremendously with strenthinging things up rather than just the box of longerons with cross braces top, bottom and sides.
Can you post any pics?