An all wenge bass?

BassicJohn · #1 03-09-2007, 09:52 AM

Wenge body and wenge laminated neck. I know it would be very HEAVY but what do you think the tone would be like?

wilser · #2 03-09-2007, 10:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BassicJohn

Wenge body and wenge laminated neck. I know it would be very HEAVY but what do you think the tone would be like?

Warwick basses (among others) have been built with very heavy woods since their beginings (wenge, ovangkol, bubinga, etc), so it shouldn't be too bad.

A couple of things you can do to keep the weight down:

1. small headstock and ultralite tuners (to avoid neck dive)
2. small body
3. chambered body
4. thin neck profile.

BassicJohn · #3 03-09-2007, 12:55 PM

Thanks Wilser. I am guessing at a finished weight of 12 to 13 pounds which isn't a big issue with me (It would just be a reason to exercise more.

) The real question is would the tone be worth the weight?

wilser · #4 03-09-2007, 01:58 PM

I'm not the right person to answer that one

Musiclogic · #5 03-09-2007, 02:02 PM

BassicJohn..... I think only your ear can tell you that. It will be snappy, and sutain great, with some deep overtones. I would personally love the sound, especially chambered, but that's my own opinion. Best I can tell you. Your ear will be the final judge.

scottyd · #6 03-09-2007, 05:11 PM

I dont know why everyone is so quick to jump on the weight issue. Not every bass has to have a 2" thick body or boat oar headstock. I bet with a slimmer profile and a well thought out design you can beat your estimated 12-13 pound guess easily. I say go for it, have fun and enjoy it!

Keith Guitars · #7 03-09-2007, 05:15 PM

Hi Y'all,

I know that Conklin made at least one 7-string with
a wenge neck and body - the neck might have had
purpleheart stringers, but the bulk was wenge.

It had a small inlay on the back - anyone else ever see this?
It was in the printed promo that they were sending out
about 10 years ago...

Cheers,
Martin

Dusty G · #8 03-09-2007, 06:40 PM

Weight and tone aside, it would be cool as hell. That's all I can say!

jmarcus2 · #9 03-09-2007, 08:40 PM

Hmmmm. Ive got a wenge/wenge fingerboard/neck on my MTD. But I'd like to at least try it.

Rakie · #10 03-09-2007, 09:19 PM

Think Warwick... now those basses are heavy i picked up one the other day, and it seemed to tip nearly 18 lbs i swear !! Im sure it didnt but it was freaking heavy

BUT... it was balanced Perfectly... it may have been heavy as hell but zero neck dive, great comfy body and neck (Im starting to like the baseball bat necks.. on fours only tho) and of course... freaking beauty.

so your problem will be balance...

Take care of that, and you just infringed on Warwick's copyright !!!

Basshole · #11 03-09-2007, 09:20 PM

Wenge IS the magic neck tonewood.

tribal3140 · #12 03-09-2007, 09:59 PM

chris benavente made a chambered wenge/wenge/wenge bass I palyed at the SE.GTG
it was very deep sounding and not too heavy about 10lbs thats it!
very very sexy!
the core on my defunked KB is wenge and sounds great with cocobolo and ziricote lams, very light, its contoured and only 1 3/8" thick
although chris stambaugh has his work cut out fixing that piece o crap!
T

tribal3140 · #13 03-09-2007, 10:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rakie

Think Warwick... now those basses are heavy i picked up one the other day, and it seemed to tip nearly 18 lbs i swear !! Im sure it didnt but it was freaking heavy

BUT... it was balanced Perfectly... it may have been heavy as hell but zero neck dive, great comfy body and neck (Im starting to like the baseball bat necks.. on fours only tho) and of course... freaking beauty.

so your problem will be balance...

Take care of that, and you just infringed on Warwick's copyright !!!

those are the new ones!
my 95's are light and thin necks!
Love them!!!!

RLK · #14 03-09-2007, 10:29 PM

I'm having Russ Laggan build this one.

As shown, we're going with a slim "wedged" body to reduce the weight.

Rakie · #15 03-10-2007, 01:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tribal3140

those are the new ones!
my 95's are light and thin necks!
Love them!!!!

Thin neck four bangers hurt my hands... "moderate" 5's are good for me, and THIN 6's

i guess i have odd hands.

Giel · #16 03-10-2007, 04:36 AM

wenge is absolutely awesome as a neck wood..
but personally, I wouldn't use it as a body wood

Of course if you really want it, I wouldn't place the pickups to close to the bridge cause else it will sound really thin..
maybe a P + MM pickup configuration will give it enought lows end..

Also wilser has a good point on making a chambered body..

May I ask you what kind of tone you are after?

RJI · #17 05-02-2010, 12:39 PM

I just got a new bass that was custom made for me. It has a solid wenge center strip with quilt maple wings. Maple neck with a thick wenge board. Nordstrand pickups. 5 string and it is BAD ASS sounding. Wenge is the greates. Mine is super light since the wings are quilt maple with redwood center. AWSOME.

Kromwarp · #18 05-02-2010, 12:42 PM

I built a bass body out of a solid piece of purpleheart, which is also quite heavy, so I'm guessing pretty similar to other heavy woods, they seem to all be similar in their resonance

bassy7 · #19 05-02-2010, 04:17 PM

I would chamber the body or use a thin body if you go that route, and make sure the upper horn is long enough to help correct the balance.

Keith Martin,
Not to Hijack this thread... but congrats on the great review in the latest Bass Player Mag. "CONS- none". On your beautiful Elfin basses! For those that haven't check it out yet, you should lool into it.

mikeyswood · #20 05-02-2010, 04:23 PM

You do realize that this was a three-year-dead thread right?