Best wood for body?

[Avalon]

Originally Posted by Mr_Music90

I would say : Swamp Ash!

Your opion?

Here's my opion.

If I'm attracted: my wood.

If I'm repulsed: your wood.

If she's got a case of swamp ash, it's a no-brainer.

She's a bass we're talking about, right?

[darkstorm]

My overall favorite is mahogany. Cedro, chesswood, and bubinga have also done well by me for my sound.

[Giorgetto]

I would never assume to pronounce which body wood is "Best" and there will be differences due to weight, age and density among each type, but I can tell you that in general 3 of my favorites are:

Mahogany (chambered with a maple top)
Alder
Maple

Just my 2 cents.

[bostonasphalt2]

For me, bubinga or mahogany

[bostonasphalt2]

Originally Posted by bootsox

A ric's tone has more to do with the pickups and bridge than the wood

The big exceptions to the wood doesn't matter school of thought is piezo pickups and acoustic instruments. Anything electric, amplified, and with magnetic pickups, the wood contributes almost nothing to the tone. That's not to say that they contribute absolutely nothing to the tone, but what they do contribute is more related to how much vibrations the wood soaks up (ie harder wood will sustain longer) and how well the woods grabs the frets (the big argument for ebony and to a lesser extent maple) rather than what kind of wood it is or how tight the grain is or the phase of the moon

Which is why I don't understand why companies have "tone blocks". One sunken piece of mahogany in a ash body isn't enough to make a big enough change in sound IMHO

[bongomania]

Originally Posted by bostonasphalt2

Which is why I don't understand why companies have "tone blocks". One sunken piece of mahogany in a ash body isn't enough to make a big enough change in sound IMHO

Classic example of a feature that exists because people will pay extra for it without it even knowing whether it works.

[PJSim]

I found this interesting , the part about the neck being most important choosing woods...

http://www.frudua.com/sound_of_electric_guitar_wood.htm





This has nothing to do with the subject but there is a cute girl and she plays bass

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8oJgqbgvInk

[Mr_Music90]

Originally Posted by PJSim

Attachment 274868

I found this interesting , the part about the neck being most important choosing woods...

http://www.frudua.com/sound_of_electric_guitar_wood.htm





This has nothing to do with the subject but there is a cute girl and she plays bass

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8oJgqbgvInk

I've found that website too a while ago, with the wood tone diagram Very interesting

[dincz]

Originally Posted by PJSim

Attachment 274868
I found this interesting , the part about the neck being most important choosing woods...

It makes perfect sense if you think about it. A long slender flexible piece of wood is obviously going to resonate more than a thick rigid plank. Any resonance in the body is likely to be so high in frequency that it's irrelevant.

[bootsox]

Originally Posted by Sartori

Wrong.

My Peavey should sound exactly like my Ric if what you say is true. It doesn't.

So your Peavey has the same pickups, fret material, nut, saddles, bridge mass, and construction as your ric? If so, any difference is just the placebo effect taking hold.

[cfsporn]

Originally Posted by FaithNoMan

If I put my ear against the wood and strike a note and it doesn't sound like a harsh ringing piano(almost "painful" to the ears), I'm going to skip over that instrument.

Are you me?

[NecroticImbecil]

None.

[moonshinegtrs]

Wow. 4 pages & nobody even mentioned it...

Masonite & pine.

Got to give props to Nate Daniels.

Moonshine

[Sartori]

Originally Posted by bootsox

So your Peavey has the same pickups, fret material, nut, saddles, bridge mass, and construction as your ric? If so, any difference is just the placebo effect taking hold.

It baffles me how you can think all those things matter a great deal, but the material the instrument itself is built out of doesn't. Did you even read my earlier post.

My Peavey has a rickenbacker pickup I put in there in basically the same position as the bridge pickup on my Ric. I usually use just the bridge pickup of my Ric. The Ric has the hipshot replacement bridge, brass version. The sound isn't really much different than a Ric with the stock bridge. The Peavey has a brass BadassII bridge. The Peavey doesn't sound exactly like a Ric. It sounds like some sort of cross between a Ric and a P-bass. But by your logic, they should sound so close as to be indistinguishable.

Then there are two guitars I own, as mentioned previously. Their pickups and electronics are identical, as is their hardware. The body wood is vastly different though (don't know what types, or really care, but on is much more dense and heavy, whereas the other one is porous and light). They sound very different.

I don't know why I'm bothering though, it's not as if you're actually going to consider this.

[NOVAX]

Koa

[Mr_Music90]

Originally Posted by dincz

It makes perfect sense if you think about it. A long slender flexible piece of wood is obviously going to resonate more than a thick rigid plank. Any resonance in the body is likely to be so high in frequency that it's irrelevant.

I believe that body, neck ánd fretboard do make sence and all have their own way of producing the tone. Body and neck do the most work for the sound (IMO) and the fretboard gives his own texture as well. A ebonol fretboard will let the notes ''bounce off'' the bass due to it's hardness, while Pau Ferro will give it more warmth since it's softer then ebonol and isn't as ''dry'' as ebonol.

[FaithNoMan]

This thread is missing something...can't think of what it is, though.

[FaithNoMan]

[kelleysdad]

Balsa

[kevmoga]

Originally Posted by mongo2

Make mine Paulownia

Curious about this response. My day job is in forest science and in those circles, Paulonia has a sketchy reputation. Known as a high-quality wood in it native range, where apparently it grows slower, in the US it is regarded as a real dog in terms of wood quality. Widely marketed for an ornamental because it grows quickly here, hence it's poor wood quality. However, Roger Sadowsky and I had a conversation about this and he actually made a 6 string electric guitar out of US wood. My recollection is that his general perspective was that it was incredibly resonant and a great wood from an acoustic perspective, but very fragile, to the point that he wouldn't do it again.
Not sure if the OP was serious about Paulonia or not. Anybody else?