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Double Bass What's difference between carved ,plywood and laminated

#2
"Laminated" is another word for "Plywood."

"Carved" means solid wood, not plywood.

In the world of mass-produced guitars, "arched" can mean "solid wood steamed and bent." In contrast, "carved" always means "solid wood removed by sharp tools."
 
#4
There's also a kind of bass made with carved front and back, but lamnated ribs. I think they're called hybrid, or something like that.

Athough this approach would probably not be used in making a really fine bass, the sound of a hybrid bass can be as good as a lot of fully carved basses. Of course, to be sure, as others have said here in other threads, laminated basses can also cound pretty good sometimes.
 
#5
Plywood is a misnomer, it is actually a composite of glue and wood laminated in sheets and patented as such. "Plywood" basses are actually laminated wood(of course these days who knows what what they are)! I recently converted a Chinese bass made of laminated poplar. It is well made nonetheless. Carved top/laminate "hybrids are called half woods. I hope this helps a little. p.s.- cheap laminates can be more stable and reliable than cheap carved basses
 
#6
Sam Sherry said:
"Laminated" is another word for "Plywood."

"Carved" means solid wood, not plywood.

In the world of mass-produced guitars, "arched" can mean "solid wood steamed and bent." In contrast, "carved" always means "solid wood removed by sharp tools."
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Yep Sam, and sometimes not so sharp huh?....we've all seen old basses that look like they were carved with butter knives. I love those too.
 
#8
I don't know if they still offer it, but one of my suppliers until recently had a German laminated bass for $12,000! And it is beyond me, unless you live in a rainforest, why anyone would spend that kind of money on that kind of bass when you can buy fully carved for from around three grand. Some of my basses aren't much more than that.
 
#9
A badly made carved top bass doesn't by it's nature sound better than a well made plywood bass. I've experienced that over and over again. The truth is that a master built carved bass can reach a sound that is impossible for a laminate. That doesn't mean that ANY carved top will outperform a laminate. The quality of the work makes a huge difference.
 
#10
Uncletoad said:
A badly made carved top bass doesn't by it's nature sound better than a well made plywood bass. I've experienced that over and over again. The truth is that a master built carved bass can reach a sound that is impossible for a laminate. That doesn't mean that ANY carved top will outperform a laminate. The quality of the work makes a huge difference.
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+1!!!!! To quote what I've said here a number of times:

Do not, however, be fooled. There are entry level carved basses that, from many standpoints, are far less desirable than a quality ply! Think of ply, hybrid, and carved as three overlapping distributions (bell-curves, if you will), with the mean value of "quality" being lowest for the plys, intermediate for the hybrids, and highest for the carved ones.
 

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