Best wood for bass?

[greenduke]

I disagree with this. I have a bubinga neck with wenge fretboard on my avatar bass (I love that tonewood combination, btw), and one of the great features of it is it requires virtually no maintenance at all. Nothing more than the wipedown you would give any other wood on any other bass.

If you checkout some of Michael Tobias (a renown Luthier builder) Utube videos on bass set-ups, you'll hear some recommendations: Depending on the wood species of course and environment conditions; Oiling the fret board with every string change (ever hear of fret sprout?) Wenge is a wood that should be monitored due to its open grain, if not sealed in some way.
Hand rubbed, oil finishes have a tendency to literally gouge and chip away from aggressive slap/pop techniques and stain/darken where thumb and fingers rest from perspiration/oil exposure. Theses issues are greatly accelerated if the finish is not properly cared for and protected.
Warwick kits come with wax and recommendations for example.
Like I said "exotic woods and certain finishes require routine maintenance..."
Poly/Ureth and Nitro (special conditions apply to Nitro) finishes can be simply wiped down and scuffing, minor scratches buffed out.
I enjoy the time caring for and personally setting-up my instruments, some are more low maintenance than others. But IMO, there are definitely different proper maintenance requirements for different wood species and finishes.

 

[Canadian APII]

The bridge cover is on the bass in both of these video clips which adds a little weight but I have since taken it off. 9.5 lbs without it.

Here is a short clip of a co-worker playing Invalid Link Removed. He's much better than me and has only played fretless a handful of times.

This is me playing Summertime with some co-workers. The clarinet solos are great in this tune.

Nice tone. Definitely a beauty of a bass.

 

[BlueTalon]

Depending on the wood species of course and environment conditions; Oiling the fret board with every string change (ever hear of fret sprout?) Wenge is a wood that should be monitored due to its open grain, if not sealed in some way...

Like I said "exotic woods and certain finishes require routine maintenance..."

I enjoy the time caring for and personally setting-up my instruments, some are more low maintenance than others. But IMO, there are definitely different proper maintenance requirements for different wood species and finishes.

That last bit I don't disagree with. Your earlier statement which I took issue with, as quoted in your post, was much more broad and undefined.

In my own case, I had Mike Lull PLEK my bass, which included gluing the frets in place. And my bass isn't subjected severe environmental fluctuations, so I'm not worried at all about fret sprout. (If a fret(s) ever does sprout, I'll let Mike Lull deal with it.) A big part of the appeal of wenge is as a raw wood with an open grain, so I'm not going to seal it or worry about it not being sealed. You can if you want to, but it's not necessary.

 

[Canadian APII]

That's fine, so we can agree that wood does not make a huge difference, at least compared to other components and their locations.

No. I just understand your perspective. I believe wood shapes the tone dramatically. So do the strings and the nut material and the type of bridge and the.......
I believe there are many components that shape the tone. I am an electronics tech in the Canadian military and I work with sonar and radar and know that energy waves propagating through any medium are effected significantly. Certain layers in a medium will dampen or even amplify the wave. In this instance the medium is the wood. Often when working with the sonar it needs to be placed in specific place to read the energy waves. The receiver or in this case the pickup is a slave to the tone. Yes you can shape it alter it and amplify it immensely but it is still slave.

 

[greenduke]

That last bit I don't disagree with. Your earlier statement which I took issue with, as quoted in your post, was much more broad and undefined.

In my own case, I had Mike Lull PLEK my bass, which included gluing the frets in place. And my bass isn't subjected severe environmental fluctuations, so I'm not worried at all about fret sprout. (If a fret(s) ever does sprout, I'll let Mike Lull deal with it.) A big part of the appeal of wenge is as a raw wood with an open grain, so I'm not going to seal it or worry about it not being sealed. You can if you want to, but it's not necessary.

All I know is, I've seen Wenge fretboards that have dried out because they are "raw open grain" and were full of gunk (dead skin cellsl) which doesn't do the frets any good either, speeds up oxidation, due to lack of proper maintenance.
I wouldn't think it helps with stabilization of the neck in the long run either if left unattended.
I clean my frets and condition my boards where applicable, it also adds to the appearance of the instrument.

 

[BlueTalon]

All I know is, I've seen Wenge fretboards that have dried out because they are "raw open grain" and were full of gunk (dead skin cellsl) which doesn't do the frets any good either, speeds up oxidation, due to lack of proper maintenance.
I wouldn't think it helps with stabilization of the neck in the long run either if left unattended.
I clean my frets and condition my boards where applicable, it also adds to the appearance of the instrument.

Fair points. I didn't say I was opposed to doing any maintenance at all, just that IMO and IME exotic woods don't necessarily require more maintenance than non-exotic woods.

By the way, Merry Christmas everyone!

 

[dincz]

The nut or zero fret is generally anchored to the fretboard as well.

I see what you mean though it's not the case with a lot of (non-Fender) basses. But I still don't understand why fingerboard wood is analyzed to death and neck wood is not.

 

[chadds]

It hasn't been proven on this site it has been said on this site. If you don't believe it matters why are you here commenting? Let the unenlightened, ignorant, placebo effect sufferers have their fun.

 

[chadds]

The "subtle difference in wood tone" is wiped out once the bass is plugged in. When electricity becomes a factor, it's pickup placement, pickup type, the bridge, the saddles, and overall string set-up that affect tone.

While not the major effect all the parts make a difference.

The old Bass Player article by Michael Tobias has comments by almost every major bass builder at the time. Fender & boutiques included. They describe the lengths that they go to to use the qualities of different woods and materials to get their sound.

Some folks who don't hear a difference use heavily colored gear, heavy eq. or their band plays so insensitively to each other's tone that indeed it is all masked.

What is known is that some people can't hear overtones. Those folks can't hear the subtleties of tone. They make poor improvisers in those improvising contexts because they don't hear all the other notes to solo or comp with.

My point? Just because you can't hear it for whatever reason, doesn't mean others can't.

 

[35hundy]

And you are 100% wrong. A P bass sounds like a p bass no matter what it is made of because it is a 34" scale bass with a split pickup in the correct location. It doesn't sound like alder, ash or mahogany.

With your logic, you should sell fender the schematics for a p bass crafted from paper mâché. I am sure it is a great business venture. Good luck to you!

 

[Jeff Scott]

 

[Hopkins]

With your logic, you should sell fender the schematics for a p bass crafted from paper mâché. I am sure it is a great business venture. Good luck to you!

With your logic, which is wrong, a P bass made of ash would sound totally different than a P bass made of alder. The truth is a P sounds like a P, because the major items that contribute to the tone are in place. Which makes your whole point illogical and totally wrong.

 

[Hopkins]

No. I just understand your perspective. I believe wood shapes the tone dramatically. So do the strings and the nut material and the type of bridge and the.......
I believe there are many components that shape the tone. I am an electronics tech in the Canadian military and I work with sonar and radar and know that energy waves propagating through any medium are effected significantly. Certain layers in a medium will dampen or even amplify the wave. In this instance the medium is the wood. Often when working with the sonar it needs to be placed in specific place to read the energy waves. The receiver or in this case the pickup is a slave to the tone. Yes you can shape it alter it and amplify it immensely but it is still slave.

I still don't understand how you can think that wood is a major tonal contributor, when in most cases the human ear cannot tell the difference. If you have to use amazing sonar equipment to see it, it doesn't tell me much.

 

[Imaginary Pony]

With your logic, you should sell fender the schematics for a p bass crafted from paper mâché. I am sure it is a great business venture. Good luck to you!

Like this one?


Or this one?


What about this one?


Or This One?

 

[GBassNorth]

My point? Just because you can't hear it for whatever reason, doesn't mean others can't.

And a great point it is!
Here's a fun YouTube clip that points out just how much people's hearing differs, in this case by age.

Although it won't put the tone wood discussion to rest it does underscore your point that just because you can't hear something don't assume others can't. So try out the YouTube clip. I'm in my 50's and could hear the initial tone and the next one but nothing after that. My wife could hear the first 3 and my kid could hear almost all of them.

If I was asked to take this test as a blind experiment where I couldnt see the actual clip but could only hear it, I would say with complete certaintity that there were only 2 tones played. Under the same test my wife would claim there were 3 tones played and my kid would claim there were many more.

If I were Hopkins I guess I'd just call my wife and kid liars or claim they are mistaken or that only the first tones really mattered and anything after that is insignificant or non existant.

 

[35hundy]

With your logic, which is wrong, a P bass made of ash would sound totally different than a P bass made of alder. The truth is a P sounds like a P, because the major items that contribute to the tone are in place. Which makes your whole point illogical and totally wrong.

The question remains, would it be mostly magazine paper or news paper? I suppose it's still technically wood. We should start a thread to get to the bottom of that one. Then again, we'd probably have some uninvited guests making claims that the glue would be a greater contributor to the tone, telling people they are wrong and thus ruining a fun discussion among peers.

 

[GBassNorth]

And you are 100% wrong. A P bass sounds like a p bass no matter what it is made of because it is a 34" scale bass with a split pickup in the correct location. It doesn't sound like alder, ash or mahogany.

Hopkins - interesting (and IMHO incorrect) statement. To eliminate any potential for subsequent moving of the goal posts (which you've already done) lets lock in your statement to a single position and then see if we still have different opinions.
Based on your previous posts in this thread I think the following sentence accurately captures your assumption on the tone wood debate...
"A solid body electric bass and all of its components can be made out of any standard luthier materials or construction techniques you want, but as long as it is a 34" scale and has a split pickup in the standard Fender 1968 location it will sound exactly like a 1968 Fender without exception".

Is that a correct summation of your position? If not, please feel free to rewrite the sentence to accurately capture your opinion.

Please keep it to a single sentence and as clear and concise as possible. Note - There are scores of different types of Fender P basses (heck, some don't even have split coils, go figure) so I listed a 1968 Fender P bass because I have one that I can use as a reference point if necessary.

 

[Hopkins]

The question remains, would it be mostly magazine paper or news paper? I suppose it's still technically wood. We should start a thread to get to the bottom of that one. Then again, we'd probably have some uninvited guests making claims that the glue would be a greater contributor to the tone, telling people they are wrong and thus ruining a fun discussion among peers.

If you used some sort of resin and compressed paper to the point that it is strong enough to hold a screw and not collapse under string tension, then yes it would sound like a P bass.

 

[Hopkins]

Hopkins - interesting (and IMHO incorrect) statement. To eliminate any potential for subsequent moving of the goal posts (which you've already done) lets lock in your statement to a single position and then see if we still have different opinions.
Based on your previous posts in this thread I think the following sentence accurately captures your assumption on the tone wood debate...
"A solid body electric bass and all of its components can be made out of any standard luthier materials or construction techniques you want, but as long as it is a 34" scale and has a split pickup in the standard Fender 1968 location it will sound exactly like a 1968 Fender without exception".

Is that a correct summation of your position? If not, please feel free to rewrite the sentence to accurately capture your opinion.

Please keep it to a single sentence and as clear and concise as possible. Note - There are scores of different types of Fender P basses (heck, some don't even have split coils, go figure) so I listed a 1968 Fender P bass because I have one that I can use as a reference point if necessary.

Of course different components are going make two different P basses sound slightly different, but still very recognizable as a P bass. The 34 scale split P has its own character, some can be brighter, some warmer, some hotter, some mellower, but the main tonal character of a P bass is still going to be present, and still the biggest part of the sound of that instrument. Nothing about my statement was incorrect.

So tell me, is a P bass made of alder with a rosewood fretboard any less recognizable as a P bass, as an ash body with a maple neck? Same thing with a Jazz or or StingRay. If wood was the biggest contributing factor, like some people believe, different woods would completely change the character of the instrument to the point that it would sound totally different than an identical bass with different woods.

 

[nostatic]

Getting into a semantic hole. It "sounds like a P-bass" but "sound slightly different." So they all sound the same except they sound (slightly?) different.

A female vocalist, if they are soprano or alto, will still sound like a female vocalist - but sound (slightly?) different."

The key here is your definition of "slightly" and whether or not it is significant to the individual player.