Basswoods?

Alder, swamp ash, and mahogany bodies are pretty much the standard body woods used for bass bodies. Maple and rosewoods are standard neck wood.

Wenge, bubinga, ebony, and every every other exotic wood may cost the same or more than the standard, depending on the market.

Alder has been used by Fender for decades. So yes, alder is a great body wood.

 

Plus that american basswood can really be very sought after, especially because not so spread a wood it is...

Think about all declinations of Steve Vai's Ibanez Jem but Jem7, "Evo" and "Flo", which's the authentic SuperStrat alder body and 25,5"

Cheers,
Wallace

 

Alder is my first choice tone wood. Ash is also popular, due to the attractive grain that it has. Both are very lightweight.

Mahogany is a medium weight wood. While not as common as alder or ash, it's still very popular.

Warmoth has a great page in their site that goes into detail about the different time woods used in bass/guitar making.

Do a google search for "warmoth tone woods" and you'll find it easily.

 

The wood species doesn't tell you everything about it. There's a lot of tonal variation within each species, so whatever you hear about a particular kind of wood, take it as a general statement. There can even be a big tonal difference between two bodies (or two necks) taken from the same tree.