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basswood

#2
Basswood carves nicely, sanded reasonably well, but has unremarkable figuring. overall it worked and felt like ... wood.

Basswood is too soft for an oil finish IMO, but definitely an economical wood to consider if you're looking to apply an opaque spray finish.

all the best,

R
 
#3
my yamaha has a bass wood body..I love it
mainly just because of wieght it's about the 2nd lightest wood thats readly aviable almost anywere.


for reference, my 30 scale maple solid body wiegths 3 pounds heavier then my 34 yamaha bass body.
 
#5
bringin back an old thread here. Im gunna be buying some wood for another build soon and im really interested in Basswood. I want the bass to be light and simple...so basswood seemed to fit the deal. I know an oil finish wont work (oil is what i use normally and like so this kinda sucks) but what would you suggest and why? poly? laquer? somethin else?

the bass is gunna be a 32 inch scale 4 string bolt on fretted. mahagony neck bocote fingerboard (if i can get a good enough one) basswood body(hopefully), a single passive MM pup in bocote pickup covers , sperzel tuners and just volume and tone. not sure what kinda bridge.

anyway i hope i can get this thing started soon.
 
#6
Rodent said:
Basswood carves nicely, sanded reasonably well, but has unremarkable figuring. overall it worked and felt like ... wood.

Basswood is too soft for an oil finish IMO, but definitely an economical wood to consider if you're looking to apply an opaque spray finish.

all the best,

R
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I finished a Basswood body in Danish oil and wax, it actually hardened and still is hardning over time, ive dropped it a couple of times just gets very small dings but no major damage, I do agree its still a poor choice for an oil finish as a much harder wood would serve a lot better.
 
#8
basswood has some nice features: it is light, white and grows in North America. You can apply face and back veneers and the dent easily issue is better. You could laminate a body using basswood and maple for instance and dial in the weight to strength/sustain issue. A chambered basswood body w/nice veneers and ultralight hardware would weigh nothing and be killer. IMHO
 
#9
Howe said:
my yamaha has a bass wood body..I love it
mainly just because of wieght it's about the 2nd lightest wood thats readly aviable almost anywere.


for reference, my 30 scale maple solid body wiegths 3 pounds heavier then my 34 yamaha bass body.
Click to expand...

What Yamaha is it? My RBX-270 is super light and I was wondering what wood it was. Could it be basswood?

So basswood is good for bass guitars? WOW :)

I read about it, it is also known as Tilia.

Alder is very very common where I come from (northern France). There are loads of places named after the tree, actually, as it was so popular for utensils, bowls and toys.
 
#10
I'd like to use this thread a bit.

Originally I haven't think of using basswood before but i've got a beautiful large and old piece that just speaks to me and it's going to be a fretless singlecut 4. It's the wood that needs good finish protection and i've used only shellac and nitro in previous (non-basswood) builds and i'm not sure if they're suitable. I don't like thick layer of anything on the wood.. maybe i should go with thin poly.. Any finishing suggestions will be appreciated. Thanks
 
#11
vintager said:
I'd like to use this thread a bit.

Originally I haven't think of using basswood before but i've got a beautiful large and old piece that just speaks to me and it's going to be a fretless singlecut 4. It's the wood that needs good finish protection and i've used only shellac and nitro in previous (non-basswood) builds and i'm not sure if they're suitable. I don't like thick layer of anything on the wood.. maybe i should go with thin poly.. Any finishing suggestions will be appreciated. Thanks
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Your effective use of the search function will never be tolerated around here. :)
 
#12
wow, i thought tilia aka linden - (yes those trees) were only good for street trees in areas prone to dutch elm and for burning. All the basswood basses i played seemed to just suck the tone right out. some six strings sounded ok but i was never a huge fan.
 
#13
Music Man Bongos are made of basswood. It's a very neutral, light, and economic wood. The only minuses to using it is that its kind of soft, has no real grain pattern, and doesn't really have a distinctive tone. I would use alder in a build because I love those mids, but I wouldn't turn my nose up at basswood if I got a good deal on it.

And I would use a poly finish, or whatever is kind of thicker. I think nitro would weather quickly and not really protect well.
 
#14
Hollywars said:
The only minuses to using it is that its kind of soft, has no real grain pattern, and doesn't really have a distinctive tone. I would use alder in a build because I love those mids, but I wouldn't turn my nose up at basswood if I got a good deal on it.
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I dunno, I find it has a very distinctive fairy tone. I do love the unicorny flavour of alder...
 

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