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Basswood in instruments yay or nay

ImNotJoel

ImNotJoel

Jan 12, 2014
668
1,019
Connecticut
#1
I know there's been much debate on tone woods. We will not go there. This is just about basswood. I will admit it when I see basswood I think boring, cheap, lower quality, plain. I know it doesn't have an attractive grain but I hear it's very balanced. I have a basswood guitar it's a cheap LTD and I am not crazy about it but that's more due to the garbage electronics.

I am wondering does anyone have a guitar, bass, drum, anything that is basswood. Does it stack up against others and do you love the instrument regardless of the woods rep. I hate to admit it but I let the rep cloud my judgment. I am looking at those SX basses and ones basswood and ones ash. Ash is obviously known and loved and has distinct characteristics, nice bite but is it really so much better than basswood. I am really curious to see if anyone's primary weapon happens to be basswood. Or if you think it deserves its rep please share.
 
#3
I'm not going to fall onto the hook of the 'Tonewoods' argument, though I hold my own, firm beliefs on that. Suffice to say that I had one bass with a Basswood body, a Vintage Jazz Bass. It's tone was 'lighter' than some Jazzes that I have but what I didn't like about it was a) the finish picked up dings & dongs like filings to a magnet and b) the neck dive was ridic!
 
#6
I have a Godin Shifter Classic, basswood body. The Black Burst is very nice, works with basswood grain. Looks and sounds great, would put it up against any bass. John McVie used 2 of them (one drop tuned) on latest Fleetwood Mac tour, and as far as I can tell, he knows a thing or two about quality bass guitars.
 
#8
Musicman Bongos are basswood. Not boring, cheap, lower quality or plain.

I keep reading about basswood is how light it's supposed to be. Every bass I have or had that was basswood was the same weight as it's alder counterpart. I also have not had any issue with denting. I think people seem to compare it to balsa wood or something like that. If you look at the links below you can see that while it is a little lighter and softer than alder it's not night and day.

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#11
Yes, I do have a couple; an Eastwood Magnum Bass, and Eastwood Sidejack Baritone guitar. Are they my favorites? Uhh... no. The Magnum, considering it's cost, is nicely made and plays well; but, I gotta tell ya - it's just about the most "generic bass" sounding instrument I've ever owned. Absolutely nothing special (good or bad) about the tone at all; it just sounds like a bass guitar. I don't know if it's the basswood body; or the pickups; or both; but it has no really identifiable tone (like, say my 4001 Rick) at all.. But, like I said, it plays well, and looks good. A lot of the music I like to play was originally recorded with an upright bass, and only needed "thumpty-thump" in the background anyway; it's certainly adequate for that. As for the Sidejack Baritone - same thing, pretty much; but it's my only baritone, so I have nothing to compare it to. It's nicely made, and plays well, and sounds like a baritone guitar. But it's not the "go-to" guitar in my herd; although, thinking about it - it might work for more stuff...
As far as basswood being soft, and not real pretty? No, it's not as soft as balsa, but it's soft enough that people here - mainly people that like to tinker with their bass all the time - have complained about screws coming out of the body; especially bridge screws. Which tells me that basswood is pretty darn soft, for one; and not to mess with the thing too much, for another. And, I try very hard not to bang into things with them, either. As for looks? The Sidejack is black; who knows what the wood looks like? The Magnum is a really nice 3 tone burst finish; and to be honest, the wood doesn't look half bad. Kinda plain, and very straight grained, but not bad... So, bottom line? I have no real complaints about basswood; but "Basswood body!" isn't my idea of a big selling point, either. And when I get the urge to tinker with something, it definitely isn't with these two...:)
 
#15
I think this is basswood: Fender Precision Lyte. 7 pounds and sounds great.
P%20Lyte.jpg
 
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#20
Kickass said:
I think this is basswood: Fender Precision Lyte. 7 pounds and sounds great.
P%20Lyte.jpg
Click to expand...
I have a defretted MIJ P Lyte that looks similar to that. The best P bass I've ever had (I generally don't like P basses, but this one is special). Very light, but very easily dinged. The soft, low density wood seems to dampen vibrations relatively quckly, which makes it perfect for fretless bass (IMO of course).
 
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