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Another "Does Wood Matter" thread (with different trajectory).
- Thread starter keyofnight
- Start date
Wood matters a lot in the minds of some players, but is meaningless to the ears of audiences. By the time the signal is transduced by the pups, amplified and then transduced again by the speakers, the type of body wood has as much influence on tone as a crushed bug on the sole of a runner's shoe has on running speed.
And the answer to the question of how much wood matters is still: it depends on whether you can hear the difference or not. Same as it has always been.
Even if one can hear the difference it may not matter as much to a particular individual as it does to another but that's just a personal preference.
pick ups 10%
strings 10%
bridge 10%
body 10%
neck 10%
fingerboard 10%
tuners 10%
electronics 10%
nut 10%
player 10%
Now we can argue percentages
strings 10%
bridge 10%
body 10%
neck 10%
fingerboard 10%
tuners 10%
electronics 10%
nut 10%
player 10%
Now we can argue percentages
Bob Lo said:pick ups 10%
strings 10%
bridge 10%
body 10%
neck 10%
fingerboard 10%
tuners 10%
electronics 10%
nut 10%
player 10%
Now we can argue percentages
Don't forget amp, cab, the PA, and the sound guy.
I'd say with all those factors, wood is way down the list. But I'm a heretic.
I have a couple guitars that have the exact same pickups, same strings, same electronics, etc.
They're made out of different woods (not sure which, but one is definitely made out of something a lot less dense and much lighter than the other one), and do not sand the same at all. The one made out of heavier, denser wood (whatever type it is, I don't know) is a lot brighter, almost twangy when played clean (despite humbucking pickups). The guitar made out of the softer, more porous, and lighter wood is a lot darker in sound.
Similarly, I've modded my Peavey by installing a Rickenbacker bridge pickup in pretty much the same position as it would be on a Ric. Does it sound like my Rickenbacker? Similar enough to use as a backup bass and alternate tuning bass and keep pretty much the same sound in the mix, yes, but certainly not identical when heard alone. Back to back recordings would definitely sound like two different basses, especially if they were DI'd rather than through my amp, which contributes a lot to the overall sound. (Just in case anyone brings it up, yes, I know the Rickenbacker has two pickups, but I almost always play just the bridge pickup on a Rick).
They're made out of different woods (not sure which, but one is definitely made out of something a lot less dense and much lighter than the other one), and do not sand the same at all. The one made out of heavier, denser wood (whatever type it is, I don't know) is a lot brighter, almost twangy when played clean (despite humbucking pickups). The guitar made out of the softer, more porous, and lighter wood is a lot darker in sound.
Similarly, I've modded my Peavey by installing a Rickenbacker bridge pickup in pretty much the same position as it would be on a Ric. Does it sound like my Rickenbacker? Similar enough to use as a backup bass and alternate tuning bass and keep pretty much the same sound in the mix, yes, but certainly not identical when heard alone. Back to back recordings would definitely sound like two different basses, especially if they were DI'd rather than through my amp, which contributes a lot to the overall sound. (Just in case anyone brings it up, yes, I know the Rickenbacker has two pickups, but I almost always play just the bridge pickup on a Rick).
It is true that pretty much every functional part of a bass can contribute in slight ways to its sound, possibly with the biggest factors being (besides the player) pickup position, pickups, and strings, but I think wood is definitely something that can result in a noticeable difference, all other things being equal.
Like if you built a bass otherwise identical to a Gibson Thunderbird, but completely out of maple instead of out of mahogany, I doubt it would sound the same.
These threads would be so much more interesting if people would discuss the mechanism by which the wood changes the sound.
We hear with our eyes, and we taste with our eyes. One reason that presentation of food matters is due to these facts about perception. While one might argue that "pure taste" doesn't involve the eyes and hence isn't important in a double-blind test yada yada, for all intents and purposes the visual does matter and you can't separate the two in a real world setting. I believe the same to be true for sound, especially for the musician. The player is influenced by many things, and if the visual aspects of the wood impact the player psychologically, then in the end it can make a real difference. While the lab might give one answer, musicians don't make music in a lab. That is the fatal flaw with much of the application of "science" to art - those pesky humans just don't distill down to numbers very well...
Maybe for you. Don't forget, I recognized where you used the same bass for two samples after you claimed you used different instruments in one of your so-called tests. I fully expected them to sound differrent yet I noticed they didn't...so much for the placebo effect there.
We stand in front of giant amps and giant speakers,next to a guitarist and his giant amp and his giant speakers,with a drummer that has a snare that sounds like a gunshot,and everybody claims to have the loudest rig in the world.I find it ironic that we are even talking about how we could hear the subtle variations of tone and color of one component of a system with so many variables.How many of you get your hearing checked on a regular basis?Do you have a hearing conservation program at work ,if you work around loud machinery?Do you wear ear plugs when you rehearse or gig?I know that my hearing is not perfect(jackhammers,backhoes and pumps,oh my),and depending on where in the audio spectrum your hearing loss occurs,and to what degree,everybody does not hear exactly the same as everybody else.
I had mine checked last year. I was told I have the hearing comparable to that of a 20 year-old who hasn't blown out their ears with an IPod. Considering I'm almost 3x that age, I'll take it.
When necessary. I've protected my hearing since the early 70s.
Exactly my point.
This is true, but it's also true that if they were both made out of Mahogany, they might not sound the same.
- Feb 16, 2008
- 21,240
- 23,633
- Disclosures
- John K Custom Basses
if that's the case, then why bother trying to get a good tone at all? i guess that we should all just play plywood basses thru crappy guitar amps.
IMO, it all starts at the source, and everything else is downstream from there.
- Feb 16, 2008
- 21,240
- 23,633
- Disclosures
- John K Custom Basses
Plywood Basses and Crappy amps???Then what would we talk about?if that's the case, then why bother trying to get a good tone at all? i guess that we should all just play plywood basses thru crappy guitar amps.
IMO, it all starts at the source, and everything else is downstream from there.
My Point John was that the nuance is in the player,your tone is your tone and mine is mine.We might not hear them the same,but it doesn't matter,its what sounds good to the player.That's where this conversation always goes.
