ash vs mahogany

[wishforbass]

Hi between two bass guitar I choosed only difference is the body wood .
I play finger and with pick,like metal and rock music .
Some stuff like tools ,Metallica and ...
One is ibanez sr 500 with mahogany
Other is ibanez sr600 with ash.

What is dirffence between this two?
How does wood effect the sound.
Which one has a good low ,good high and good mid .
I don't want lose low ,but I like have good mid and high .not like p bass that just have low .

 

[AaronVonRock]

You will get a variety of opinions on this one. Personally, I don't think the body wood makes any difference to the sound of an electric bass. I have yet to see any real, concrete evidence to suggest that it does. Ash is a very common and popular body wood for many basses. You can't go wrong with it.

I would just pick the one that feels and looks better to you. There are other factors like pickups and strings that will noticeably effect the sound of your bass more so than body wood or fingerboard wood.

 

[Gorn]

Get what looks good to you. Wood doesn't affect tone and no has scientifically proved otherwise.

 

[Apolicious]

It really depends on if you can get your hands on one or not. Ash tends to be a punchier, brighter wood, but it's extremely inconsistent, due to the wide varieties of ash sources available. Mahogany tends to be a softer wood, with a slower attack, and a warmer tone.
My recommendation? Maple. Kids these days are playing seven, eight, even nine string guitars, or just drop-tuning the feces out of their six-strings - not to mention baritone guitars. In addition to fighting for sonic frequencies against the bass drum, you'll be fighting against those damn sixers.
Maple is a heavy, mid-rangey/bright wood. If you want to stand out and make yourself heard, focus on the mid-range, where you stand a chance to be heard. (Mastodon is a great example of this.) The low end will be swamped by your bandmates, but a nice slab of maple will help you stand out in the mix.

 

[Gilmourisgod]

I'm on the fence on the Tonewood debate, but if it has any effect, I think it's really minimal. My own experience has led me to believe that mahogany imparts a bit of "warmth" to the tone, but I have zero science beyond my own ears to back that up. I like the mahogany look on the SR500, but that Ibanez finish is notorious for being really fragile on the SR500 and 505, it's basically stain mixed with poly that never really penetrates into the wood, so any chips go right back to bare wood. They have versions of the SR500 with a painted or thicker poly burst finish, probably a better bet if you care about looks long term.

 

[wishforbass]

I like look of sr600 the ash looks good.
I don't like sr500 color at all but I think I will get use to the color of it .

 

[jlepre]

Body wood has little to no effect on the tone or sound of a bass. The fretboard however is a different story.

 

[P. Aaron]

Play both if possible and choose the instrument that you like playing. Looks also matters but choose the one that works best for you.

 

[Bob_Ross]

How does wood effect the sound.

 

[Turnaround]

If you have a fine instrument with fine components, high quality strings and a high fidelity amplifier, you will find that wood makes a difference. If you have an assembly-line bass and common workaday amp, ordinary strings and play loud in a metal band, there's not much that a choice of wood will do to your sound.

 

[Nephilymbass]

Hi between two bass guitar I choosed only difference is the body wood .
I play finger and with pick,like metal and rock music .
Some stuff like tools ,Metallica and ...
One is ibanez sr 500 with mahogany
Other is ibanez sr600 with ash.

What is dirffence between this two?
How does wood effect the sound.
Which one has a good low ,good high and good mid .
I don't want lose low ,but I like have good mid and high .not like p bass that just have low .

It may or may not make much difference in sound. So many factors into how a bass sounds. I think pickups often are more important to the sound than the wood (unless you're comparing bubinga to cardboard or something) I personally don't buy the this species sounds like this, that species sounds like that. I've had enough basses to see that all ash is not the same and all mohogany is not the same as well. The wood is sourced from different areas, picked out, dried out. People don't just walk out back and cut a tree down and make a bass with it that day. Some companies like Warwick and PRS will buy wood and put it on a shelf for more than a decade. Musicman lets their wood dry naturally and then puts it through an addition drying process.

I will say this though. My current main player is a neck through bass with mohogany wings. I don't know how much the mohagany effects the sound but I will say this
I really like how that bass balances. Mohagany tends to have a more weight to it. It's not as heavy as bubinga. But one of my complaints with ash body basses is they either are so light weight they flop around when slapping and stuff or have neck dive problems (for example the Warwick fna I owned). Or they have a bigger body to have better balance for example 3 of the musicmans I owned so the bigger body adds back the weight. And weight is an interesting thing when you start considering the size and shape of a bass body. My thumb nt5 had the smallest body of any bass I've owned but didn't flop up if I popped the d or g string like the fna did. My stringrays even though they had ash bodies like the FNA were no where near as light. My ESP which has the mohagany wings is actually about the same weight as my last stingray 5. I had them the ESP before I sold the stingray. But the ESPs body is much smaller than the stingrays. So I'd have to say body shape and size has just as much influence on the weight of a bass as the species of wood.

 

[Turnaround]

Wood doesn't affect tone and no has scientifically proved otherwise.

What kind of scientific proof do you need? It is scientifically proven how vibrations are altered by coupling them to a mass, a mass with a specific resonant frequency, frequency dampers, etc. Specific weight of various wood species is well known. The effect of mass on resonant frequency is well known. The effect of two systems with different resonances interacting has been studied ad nauseum. Don't you believe that the strings resonate? Don't you know that the body resonates too? Don't you know that because one is coupled to the other, they interact.

It's no use saying that the sound only comes from the pickup sensing the string vibration. That's true but the string's vibration is being altered by the system it is coupled to. Alter the string's vibration by robbing it of overtones that are being absorbed by coupling to the body, and the pickup will not put those frequencies back. It only sees what is being delivered to it - by the strings' vibrations - that are being altered by the mass they are coupled to.

 

[FrankLowend]

What finish you'll apply?

 

[Gorn]

What kind of scientific proof do you need? It is scientifically proven how vibrations are altered by coupling them to a mass, a mass with a specific resonant frequency, frequency dampers, etc. Specific weight of various wood species is well known. The effect of mass on resonant frequency is well known. The effect of two systems with different resonances interacting has been studied ad nauseum. Don't you believe that the strings resonate? Don't you know that the body resonates too? Don't you know that because one is coupled to the other, they interact.

It's no use saying that the sound only comes from the pickup sensing the string vibration. That's true but the string's vibration is being altered by the system it is coupled to. Alter the string's vibration by robbing it of overtones that are being absorbed by coupling to the body, and the pickup will not put those frequencies back. It only sees what is being delivered to it - by the strings' vibrations - that are being altered by the mass they are coupled to.

I want double blind trials with sample sizes of at least dozens. More would be better. A sizable control group is also required. Anything less is anecdotal. Ash vs mahogany. Rosewood vs maple. I withhold belief in any difference without scientific evidence. I am an a-tonewoodist.

 

[Turnaround]

I want double blind trials with sample sizes of at least dozens. More would be better. A sizable control group is also required. Anything less is anecdotal. Ash vs mahogany. Rosewood vs maple. I withhold belief in any difference without scientific evidence. I am an a-tonewoodist.

What you are asking is pointless. You don't need double blind tests to understand the science I was talking about. It has been proven. Correct me if I am wrong in my interpretation, but what you seem to be saying is that you don't believe it. OK but the evidence is overwhelmingly against you.

 

[M.R. Ogle]

It's no use saying that the sound only comes from the pickup sensing the string vibration. That's true but the string's vibration is being altered by the system it is coupled to. Alter the string's vibration by robbing it of overtones that are being absorbed by coupling to the body, and the pickup will not put those frequencies back. It only sees what is being delivered to it - by the strings' vibrations - that are being altered by the mass they are coupled to.

This is correct.

(Otherwise, there is a lot of BAD information in this thread, FYI)

 

[M.R. Ogle]

Two words:
Dead Spots.

 

[Turnaround]

Two words:
Dead Spots.

Three words: You Got It.

 

[Afc70]

What kind of scientific proof do you need? It is scientifically proven how vibrations are altered by coupling them to a mass, a mass with a specific resonant frequency, frequency dampers, etc. Specific weight of various wood species is well known. The effect of mass on resonant frequency is well known. The effect of two systems with different resonances interacting has been studied ad nauseum. Don't you believe that the strings resonate? Don't you know that the body resonates too? Don't you know that because one is coupled to the other, they interact.

It's no use saying that the sound only comes from the pickup sensing the string vibration. That's true but the string's vibration is being altered by the system it is coupled to. Alter the string's vibration by robbing it of overtones that are being absorbed by coupling to the body, and the pickup will not put those frequencies back. It only sees what is being delivered to it - by the strings' vibrations - that are being altered by the mass they are coupled to.

I totally agree with you- (wood body types definitely have an audible effect on tone) & so would Ken smith, Sadowsky, Tobias & many top luthiers.

 

[MobileHolmes]

A bass is a system, the sum of all its parts. Presumably the two basses in question have other differences besides the wood. If you hold everything constant, a mahogany bass should be a smidge softer in the attack and warmer. Ash is going to be snappier in the attack and a little scooped in the mids. Of course, all of that can be offset by differences in pickups, electronics, bridges, or just turning the tone knob