Help identifying wood type ...

[lbardot]

I started a new project refinishing a 1981 Veillette Citron Standard, and under the paint I found the following. Can you help me identify the wood : I think it is ash, can you help me confirm this seeing the pictures below ?

Thanks in anticipation,

[lbardot]

And a few more pics ...

[l337r3nn]

well, i am pretty sure that is maple. a good way to tell is looking at the grain. if that dark lining is a subtle as i suspect, and seeing the way it is so tight and non-porous, i doubt it is ash. maple is a good bet if the instrument had a good bright tone.

[BassBilodeau]

I call for Maple too, those thick brown lines mixed with thin ones and a small grain... my favorite local wood

[lbardot]

Thanks ! At second thought, you are most certainly right with the maple indeed. I was wondering too because I had never really seen a maple with so many volutes in it.

Thanks !

[l337r3nn]

don't take our suggestions as law, seeing as maple and alder look very similar if the alder is sort of washed out, or the camera doesnt do colors well, so it may well be alder.

[hbarcat]

That looks like alder. In fact, I'm comparing the pictures you posted to my own alder bodied Carvin bass and they look like they were made from the same chunk of wood.


Check the weight. Alder is very much lighter than maple.

[scottyd]

Maple.

[barebones]

Looks like maple to me.

[mikeyswood]

Looks like Silver Maple and not Sugar Maple.

Silver Maple, or Soft Maple, will look very similar to Alder except for the impurities.

[bassteban]

I'd imagine you could contact the builder.

[Dirk Diggler]

Yeah another vote on maple, I had one of those with a bit more figure. I got mine new and eventually stripped the cherry burst finish off it. Great basses by the way, I got mine just before I went to college. I did eventually remove the frets too.
Good luck on the refinish.
Dirk