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Wood vs. Carbon Fiberlass with sound samples

Which bass is which?

  • Audio Sample #1 is Carbon Fiberglass and #2 is the Wooden Bass

    Votes: 31 51.7%
  • Audio Sample #1 is the Wooden Bass and #2 is the Carbon Fiberglass Bass

    Votes: 22 36.7%
  • I can't tell, or I prefer frets, or fretted carrots, or I don't care they are both Butt Ugly!

    Votes: 7 11.7%

  • Total voters
    60

Dirk Diggler

Supporting Member
Mar 3, 2004
4,307
2,840
Anytown USA
Hello everyone,
I just finished a rehab of a Carbon Fiberglass bass and thought this might be a great time to test my ears as well as others here.

I recorded these direct into Sound Forge through an M-Audio 1814. I did not monitor them while playing, just the acoustic sound was all I used to try and not have the sound affect my playing. MP3 audio samples are at the bottom.

Both basses have Bartolini M56CBC with -T and -B pickups. Both set flat running 18v. One has HR-4.5 preamp and the other is an HR 4.7, again both set flat so the pre difference should be none.
Both basses DR Extra Life strings. Both fingerboards coated with several coats of Spar Poly.

The difference are:
Carbon Fiberglass bass and neck 1 piece, Brown Mesquite fingerboard, Wenge/Ziricote bridge (metal plate underneath, metal saddles), Ziricote nut, Wenge 3rd pickup hole inlay, Wenge back cover. Matte Poly Finish all over. 35.5 scale.

Wooden bass Zebra wood, Maple/Wenge neck thru, Rosewood fingerboard defretted and lined. Danish Oil and Howard Feed-N-Wax. 34" scale.

I tried my best to play them the same, and yeah I know I'll hear that they are not the same at all, which is another reason this should be interesting.

I'll give my opinions once this runs for a while. Any other questions feel free to ask, well other than which one is which for now.;)

Here is a couple pictures of the basses:
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MP3 Audio Sample 1 [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
MP3 Audio Sample 2 [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
The audio samples are recorded first with both pickups, then neck pickup only, then bridge pickup only.
Enjoy!
Dirk
 
Thank you all for responding and voting! I really do appreciate it.

And I'm not going to give any hints yet as to which clip is which.

To answer your question allenhumble I built that bridge, the bottom metal plate came with it and I created the Wenge base of the bridge with a router and the tailpiece is made of Ziricote. In case you all were wondering the metal saddles are Hipshot.

I really wish I could have done an exact copy of each, one wood one fiber, this was as close as I could get, hopefully it will still be a valid comparison.

Thanks again,
Dirk
 
noam I have no idea, I got it from a TB member and he didn't know either. I would hope maybe someone here might be able to chime in or might have a clue. The previous owner got it on the Bay.
The person that created it definately had some things right, but it did require quite a bit of work to get it playable. If you want to check out the pictures of the rebuild go to the gallery in my sig and go to the Fiberglass Rehab gallery.
Thanks,
Dirk
 
I will agree that #1 is cabron and #2 is wood. The notes seem to "jump off of the neck" and have more presence with #1, which seems to be prevalent with the carbon fiber-neck basses that I have heard. Michael Manering's Zon bass is a great example. # 2 has warmer and "rounder" sound, which I associate with a wooden neck. Both basses sound great, but I prefer #1.


A Groove is a Terrible Thing to Waste! :cool:
 
I'm voting against the trend. I think the materials are a red herring.:cool:

To me the first one sounds like it has more spread between the pickups when both pickups are up. And #1 on the neck pickup sounds more like what I'd expect from the pickup placement on the Bullwinkle bass.


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