Does paint make difference in tone?
 

Nitro vs poly or whatever?
And One is better than another for the body to resonance or it's just a look question?

Black is the best tone paint.

+1
its also the best paint for black metal!

White for brighter tone, black for darker tone.

In fact, a white bass with flats is even brighter than a black bass with roundwounds.

An aside, red provides better sustain in the middle register.

Does paint make a difference in tone?


If its 6 inches thick I'd say yes.

White is lighter!

Some will argue. I say nope. I like how nitro wears down over time better than the more glossy nitro finishes. So I do have a preference. But it has nothing to do with tone.

You may not get a serious answer to this question here, but I'll try :)

The answer is: Maybe

Vintage purists will tell you that nitro, being thinner and softer, will let the wood of the body resonate more and thus enhance the tone. It also lets the wood breathe and age. Nitro wears easily and over time the gloss and color will change. I like that, and I also prefer the feel of nitro.

Poly finishes are much tougher and are damn near impossible to wear out. They seal the wood so no real aging of the wood is going to happen.

As far as impact on tone, I personally believe the wood itself has a lot more to do with that than the type of paint used on it. Lightweight bodies tend to be more resonant and that's the sound I prefer.

All of this is very subjective, if you look around TB you'll find plenty of folks who say the wood makes no difference at all. You can either hear a perceived difference or you can't...not worth arguing about in my opinion.

It DOES make a difference to me. I can play a bass unplugged in a quiet room and generally tell if it works for me. A bass that doesn't sing acoustically never gets better when you make it louder IME.

Yes, as alembicguy sez' - unless it's excessively thick it matters little tone-wise unless the resonant quality of the wood is critical. Especially on a solid-wood instrument. All wood has a resonant quality, but if a standard thin paint-job is applied over many nuanced but same style of bodies and they are all built up exactly the same will you be able to hear a difference? Maybe, but even an allparts J neck will be different from another allparts J neck (wood which is organic), even if they look exactly the same. On a hollowbody, a bit more to consider. The varnish on a violin is only there to seal and protect the wood, which is where the tone comes from. The makers aim is to protect/seal it w/o damaging/deadening the woods resonance. This is where the 'secret' varnish formula's come in. Necks are possibly more of an issue in this regard as so much of the tone relates to this critical piece of the tone-puzzle.

Please

That's a serious answer!
Thanks man, that's what I'm talking about!

For al the others " white is bright " " black is darker " go play your bass

What color for Christian Metal?

I have two Precisions: a 1975 (nitro, sunburst) and a 2008 (poly, black), both with maple fingerboards.

I hear a noticeable difference with these two unplugged. The 1975 just sounds fuller, richer, and better in every way.

Which of the 2 do you prefer because I also believe if one is your favorite then you've already told your ears that that one sounds better in your mind.

white, of course

I don't doubt you hear a difference, but whether it has anything to do with the paint is unknown. Are they made of the same wood? Do they weigh the same?

Yellow and black Strypes.

you could make a blind test with sound clips. Just record a clip with the bass in its normal state than record the second after sanding out all the paint. It could be very informative to all talkbass.

I play a lot of blues.....but I hate blue basses. Am I screwed? Seriously, between amps, speakers, pickups, strings, wood, preamps, etc, I doubt paint will make a noticable diff.
It's a bass...just f'ing play!

IMO, absolutely no. The paint will not make any difference at all.