amboyna burl top...sound characteristics

[Bassandgolf]

I am having a 5 string single cut bass built with amboyna burl top and African mahogany body. Also has birds eye maple board with wenge bubinga neck. Wanted to gather some more experienced opinions than mine on the potential sound of this bass, based upon these woods.

Background.......bass was made for someone else who bolted halfway through and builder offered a good deal to me to assume the build.

I am having aero pick-ups with a pope pre put in as well. Bass will be 33in scale as well.

[Brad Johnson]

Thickness of the top?

[Bassandgolf]

Originally Posted by Brad Johnson

Thickness of the top?

Looks to be between a third and a half inch.

[iwearpumas]

What brand is the bass?

[Bassandgolf]

Originally Posted by iwearpumas

What brand is the bass?

Stambaugh.

Love this guy. Very cool to deal with. I own two other Stammies purchased through TB. Awesome basses. Unfamiliar with this wood combo though.

[metallutca]

Originally Posted by Bassandgolf

Stambaugh.

Love this guy. Very cool to deal with. I own two other Stammies purchased through TB. Awesome basses. Unfamiliar with this wood combo though.

That's a beautiful piece of top wood dude!

[mikezimmerman]

My guess is that the amboyna top won't make too much of an impact on the fundamental sound of the mahogany body. The tonal description on the Mayones site (http://www.mayones.com/en/katalog/top_wood/amboyna) seems to confirm that.

[Jared Lash]

Have you asked Chris?

My thought is that unless the topwood varies drastically from the body wood (much heavier/more dense or much lighter/less dense) I don't think the topwood will play much of a role at all in the tone. From talking to him about this I think Chris feels similarly.

And while every piece of wood is different, on average african mahogany and amboyna burl (or narra) are pretty similar in characteristics with the amboyna being just a bit heavier and harder.

You could always PM Jason from Fodera (Just Thumpin' on TB) for his thoughts as I believe Fodera just built their first bass with an amboyna burl top.

But I know Chris has done a number of basses with that top.

Oh and BTW it looks like it will be a fantastic bass! If you want, send me some pictures when you get it and I'll add it to the TB Stambaugh gallery.

[Bassandgolf]

Originally Posted by mikezimmerman

My guess is that the amboyna top won't make too much of an impact on the fundamental sound of the mahogany body. The tonal description on the Mayones site (http://www.mayones.com/en/katalog/top_wood/amboyna) seems to confirm that.

What are the characteristics of African Mahogony?

[Bassandgolf]

Originally Posted by Jared Lash

Have you asked Chris?

My thought is that unless the topwood varies drastically from the body wood (much heavier/more dense or much lighter/less dense) I don't think the topwood will play much of a role at all in the tone. From talking to him about this I think Chris feels similarly.

And while every piece of wood is different, on average african mahogany and amboyna burl (or narra) are pretty similar in characteristics with the amboyna being just a bit heavier and harder.

You could always PM Jason from Fodera (Just Thumpin' on TB) for his thoughts as I believe Fodera just built their first bass with an amboyna burl top.

But I know Chris has done a number of basses with that top.

Oh and BTW it looks like it will be a fantastic bass! If you want, send me some pictures when you get it and I'll add it to the TB Stambaugh gallery.

Awesome...Im so excited. I'll forward some pics once completed.

Thx for your input.

[Jared Lash]

Originally Posted by Bassandgolf

What are the characteristics of African Mahogony?

While I think wood plays a part in tone, every piece is different so I'm not one to say "alder sounds like this" or maple has this type of tone". But in my experience basses with denser bodies have had brighter tones and basses with lighter bodies have had warmer/mellower tones.

And for what it's worth, my mahogany bodied Stambaugh (which was on the light side for african mahogany) was warm with a distinct emphasis in the low mids.

But as always YMMV.

[Brad Johnson]

Originally Posted by Bassandgolf

Looks to be between a third and a half inch.

That's fairly thick so I'd think it will have an effect on the tone. I've actually played a bass with a thick Amboyna Burl top and it was fairly midrangey. I think it had a Black Limba body. More midrange.

Throw in a Wenge neck with Maple board to add brightness and I'd expect strong low mids with bright highs without a lot of depth. Just a guess based on what I've experienced. The Pope will give you tweakability so that's a plus. Never been crazy about Aeros.

Good luck with build, Chris does excellent work, I've owned four so far. BTW how did you arrive at these specs?

[darkstorm]

Should add a touch of extra mids to the sound of the mahogany.

[mikezimmerman]

Originally Posted by darkstorm

Should add a touch of extra mids to the sound of the mahogany.

...which already tends to be a bit midrangey, to my ears. That's why I said not much change.