Worst Wood for Basses

tdogg · #1 12-01-2007, 05:12 PM

which woods are absolutely out of the question when it comes to guitar/bass building? ive heard that oak has thin, tin-like tone. ive been told that pine is too soft. supposedly ironwood has a high iron content that effects the electronics. (is this even true?)
so what is the worst wood choice for bass building? any body have any pics of bass building disasters?

**Rodent** · #2 12-01-2007, 05:41 PM

oak is heavy, but it's suitable for bass building if you compensate for the weight

untreated balsa wood and a solid body made from completely spalted (i.e. rotted) woods are a bad idea

Iron Wood is bad for electronics? I guess they need to fix all of those basses made with Pau Ferro fretboards, eh?

Wilser is our resident authority on woods and their tonality ... I'm sure he'll jump in soon. in the mean time, you could always do a search and see what he's been able to determine in previous threads

all the best,

R

tdogg · #3 12-01-2007, 05:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rodent

Iron Wood is bad for electronics? I guess they need to fix all of those basses made with Pau Ferro fretboards, eh?

yeah somebody told me that the high iron content in ironwood could interfere with pickups. probly BS. so pau ferro is ironwood?

i_got_a_mohawk · #4 12-01-2007, 06:06 PM

Ferro as in Ferric, as in Iron

I think Pau is greek or latin for tree or wood?

So by definition Pau Ferro is basically Iron Wood.

Tho ive never seen anyone using a Pau Ferro body, tho they do make really nice fretboards!

iamlowsound · #5 12-01-2007, 06:28 PM

I wouldn't use pine.

lowsound

**Rodent** · #6 12-01-2007, 06:28 PM

from Luthier's Mercantile

Quote:

Pau Ferro/Morado Fingerboard
In the last few years this has become quite a popular fingerboard wood, mostly among electric guitar manufacturers. The devotees include Fender™, Music Man™, Peavey™, Sadowsky™, and several more. It’s likely to become even more popular in the next few years as it will probably be less expensive than Indian Rosewood, the current wood of choice for fingerboards among large manufacturers. Pau Ferro (Machaerium villosum or schleroxylon), also known as Morado, Santos Rosewood, or Bolivian Rosewood is not a true Rosewood, but it boasts many of the qualities that are highly regarded in a fingerboard wood. It’s stable, abrasion resistant, hard, attractive, exotic and has good compression strength parallel to the grain. It’s not so resinous that it can be difficult to glue like a few of the Rosewoods. From Brazil and Bolivia, supplies are adequate and no shortages are anticipated.

pau ferro in its native Portugese literally translates as wood iron, or as we would say it in English iron wood

all the best,

R

tdogg · #7 12-01-2007, 06:37 PM

how about teak? it attractive, rot resistant(doesnt need to be finished) and not too expensive. does anybody make guitars from it?

doctorjazz · #8 12-01-2007, 06:46 PM

I think pine should only be used in special cases, like when you're going for a 13 string ERB.

uethanian · #9 12-01-2007, 06:48 PM

hey look at zacharyguitars.com, the guy makes some instruments (mostly guitars) out of less conventional woods.

http://www.zacharyguitars.com/220400pics.htm

http://www.zacharyguitars.com/071199pics.htm (my favorite

)

**Rodent** · #10 12-01-2007, 06:48 PM

Warmoth has a Teak J-bass up for sale at the moment

http://www.warmoth.com/showcase/sc_g...mNumber=BN1450

IIRC there is a lot of sand/clay in the wood, so working it is really tough on your cutter blades

all the best,

R

tdogg · #11 12-01-2007, 06:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by doctorjazz

I think pine should only be used in special cases, like when you're going for a 13 string ERB.

hahahaha

bassic_element · #12 12-01-2007, 06:55 PM

For what I know, Pau Ferro is more like Rosewood. As for Ironwood the formal name of the species is Lignum Vitae.

ehque · #13 12-01-2007, 07:28 PM

The absolutely worst wood i can think of is spalted balsa.

Bamboo came to mind, but i'm sure the chinese will be exporting it compressed planks soon, and its really hard. It's like, a grass or something, not even a wood.

tdogg · #14 12-01-2007, 07:36 PM

[quote=ehque;4975512]The absolutely worst wood i can think of is spalted balsa.

QUOTE]

has anyone successfuly mad a guitar or bass out of balsa? maybe if you wrapped in fiberglass like a surfboard.....hmmmm

T2W · #15 12-01-2007, 07:46 PM

can Balsa even become spalted? im curious to know if its actually been found.

ehque · #16 12-01-2007, 07:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tdogg

has anyone successfuly mad a guitar or bass out of balsa? maybe if you wrapped in fiberglass like a surfboard.....hmmmm

Well, if a bass made of balsa wrapped in fiberglass counts as a bass made of balsa, then my Zon is a bass made of air. Possible, but i dont think balsa comes in chunks that big. Not sure.

Quote:

Originally Posted by T2W

can Balsa even become spalted? im curious to know if its actually been found.

Spalting is just fungal damage. I'm sure if you bury a balsa log out in some soil and leave it for a while, you'll get spalted balsa.

Or a whole bunch of fertillizer.

tdogg · #17 12-01-2007, 08:28 PM

how about cork?

EagleMoon · #18 12-01-2007, 08:34 PM

Rotten???

tdogg · #19 12-01-2007, 08:35 PM

spalted wood is basically rotten. the dark marks are caused by fungus

xlows · #20 12-01-2007, 08:38 PM

Soft woods on solid bodies don't necessarily work very well. So pine is not an optimal choice for a P bass.