Best wood for bass?

[Jeff Scott]

let me think...! Well, I'm probably the worst person to ask... I've been trying to modify my fretless Carvin sound for some time now and just a couple days ago realized that I haven't tried different strings yet (and I've already changed the pickups)...

That's okay, it's good for the economy..................

 

[GBassNorth]

JG - What wood is your Carvin bass neck and fretboard made from? Is the neck bolt on?

In spite of what others on this thread "claim" to know as a fact, I have swapped necks on a fretted bass and it made a huge difference in tone. I would assume even more so for frettless.

And yes, changing the strings and the pickups and the preamp and your amp settings all impact the tone as well. But if you've done those things and still aren't where you want to be you might consider a neck swap. When I went from maple/maple to rosewood/rosewood on my neck swap it made fundamental changes in how the bass played and sounded. It changed the attack, sustain, definition and bloom of the note as well as shifting the overall tonal palate from high mid focused to a low mid or bass focus.

 

[jg42]

JG - What wood is your Carvin bass neck and fretboard made from? Is the neck bolt on?

In spite of what others on this thread "claim" to know as a fact, I have swapped necks on a fretted bass and it made a huge difference in tone. I would assume even more so for frettless.

And yes, changing the strings and the pickups and the preamp and your amp settings all impact the tone as well. But if you've done those things and still aren't where you want to be you might consider a neck swap. When I went from maple/maple to rosewood/rosewood on my neck swap it made fundamental changes in how the bass played and sounded. It changed the attack, sustain, definition and bloom of the note as well as shifting the overall tonal palate from high mid focused to a low mid or bass focus.

Thank you! Actually I got the point where I'm happy with my tone (even though I didn't follow the usual logical approach which would suggest changing the strings first ). My Carvin is mahogany with maple/mahogany neck. Ebony fingerboard, Neck through. Love it (finally)!

 

[GBassNorth]

Thank you! Actually I got the point where I'm happy with my tone (even though I didn't follow the usual logical approach which would suggest changing the strings first ). My Carvin is mahogany with maple/mahogany neck. Ebony fingerboard, Neck through. Love it (finally)!

Glad to hear all is good now! Sounds like a nice bass. Never owned or played a Carvin but a lot of folks swear by them.

 

[AaronVonRock]

Good article that researches the importance of strings in creating overtones, especially string tension and density.
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Regarding neck swaps affecting the sound of a bass, I have no doubt it would. But I doubt if that change in sound is primarily due to the type of wood. Neck mass and neck dimensions would play a larger role.

 

[GBassNorth]

?...
Regarding neck swaps affecting the sound of a bass, I have no doubt it would. But I doubt if that change in sound is primarily due to the type of wood. Neck mass and neck dimensions would play a larger role.

Maybe, maybe not. See my posts #186 and #208 in this thread. Nearly identical mass and dimensions. Wood type was the only significant difference between the two necks in my situation therefore I can only assume wood type was the primary cause in the change in sound. Read the two posts to see if you come to the same conclusion.

 

[AaronVonRock]

Maybe, maybe not. See my posts #186 and #208 in this thread. Nearly identical mass and dimensions. Wood type was the only significant difference between the two necks in my situation therefore I can only assume wood type was the primary cause in the change in sound. Read the two posts to see if you come to the same conclusion.

If you think the wood made a drastic difference in the sound, I'm not really in a position to dispute it. I wasn't there and the only evidence is your personal account. I'm still of the mindset that the type of wood used for electric instruments is a very small contributor to overall tone.

 

[AaronVonRock]

Watch this video and try to guess the type of wood used for the body on this electric guitar. The wood is revealed around the :40 mark. It gets a nice thick, creamy tone and some incredible sustain.

 

[GBassNorth]

Yep, put enough overdrive on anything then compress the file as it goes thru YouTube and play it back on an iPad speaker, theres a good test for tonewoods.
Sounds like a guitar to me, doesn't sound anything like any wooden pallet I've ever heard. Guess that puts the tone wood discussion to rest.

 

[AaronVonRock]

Yep, put enough overdrive on anything then compress the file as it goes thru YouTube and play it back on an iPad speaker, theres a good test for tonewoods.
Sounds like a guitar to me, doesn't sound anything like any wooden pallet I've ever heard. Guess that puts the tone wood discussion to rest.

I think you're correct even though you're probably being sarcastic. Tone wood doesn't make much difference when it comes to electric instruments and electronically produced music. Once an electric bass/guitar is plugged into an amp, effect pedals, and run through a mixing board, the type of wood the bass is made of is pretty much a moot point.

 

[BlueTalon]

If you repeat something often enough... it still doesn't make it true. Your position assumes we will all use effects and never be in a position to hear an uncolored amplified sound. You can argue that for someone who uses effects and shapes their amplified sound, the effect of different woods will probably be unnoticeable. But there's way too much anecdotal evidence to disregard the whole idea that different woods have different effects on the sound a bass produces, even amplified. To do that, you'd basically have to say that everyone who claims to hear a difference is just making it up.



Someone earlier in this thread made a comment about people claiming to hear a difference but not being able to identify the wood from listening to a bass. Such comments are silly. One doesn't have to be able to identify a wood by sound to be able to hear that there is a difference between basses using different woods in an A/B comparison, and to prefer one of the sounds.

 

[AaronVonRock]

Watch when people think they are drinking an expensive bottle of mineral water but in reality are drinking water from a hose. I'm fairly convinced you could do a similar test with tone woods.

 

[M.R. Ogle]

If you repeat something often enough... it still doesn't make it true. .

Amen.

 

[GBassNorth]

Amen.

+1000 to your Amen of his Amen.

 

[sissy kathy]

I have been looking into woods for bass a lot lately, and found some pretty cool stuff. I understand there is no "best" wood for bass, but there is most certainly personal preference. I would like to ask you all this question: if you had the power to customize your bass, what would the woods be, for the neck, fingerboard, and body. Also it would be nice if you said why you prefer these woods and what the tone is along with it.

I just got all my parts in from Warmoth for my "custom" build I got everything in maple but, I like natural finishes. IMO the wood has NOTHING to do with tone. It can conceivably effect sustain but, when talking about solid body instruments I don't think that is a factor.

 

[GBassNorth]

Watch when people think they are drinking an expensive bottle of mineral water but in reality are drinking water from a hose. I'm fairly convinced you could do a similar test with tone woods.

LOL - I can remember several instances when dining at a restaurant with a guest and being asked by the waiter if everything was ok. Out of politeness I said "yes, thank you" and left it at that. In reality the food was less than stellar but I wasn't going to get the waiter or my guest all worked up over it.

Back to the topic at hand - basses and wood. If your so positive wood has no impact on the tone of a bass feel free to replace the pine body and maple neck of your Fender Telecaster Modern Player with a walnut body and wenge neck. I have no doubt you'd hear a difference when played back to back. Of course you may not want to modify one of your instruments, but some of us have and in many cases we've found some interesting tonal changes. Try it, you might be surprised at what you hear.

 

[AaronVonRock]

If your so positive wood has no impact on the tone of a bass feel free to replace the pine body and maple neck of your Fender Telecaster Modern Player with a walnut body and wenge neck.

I didn't say wood has no impact on tone. I said wood "doesn't make much difference" when compared with other factors such as pick-ups, pick-up placement, strings, bridge and saddle alignment, etc. Even where the string is struck makes a more noticeable difference. Plus once the bass is plugged into an amp (especially in combination with effects, compression, PA, mixing boards), any tonal qualities of the wood are not going to be that noticeable (if at all). If someone can show me some real evidence wood type affecting the tone of an electric bass, I'd be happy to reevaluate my viewpoint on it.

For the record, the body on the Modern Player Tele is alder according to the specs. I think the factor that most affects the tone on the MP Tele is the two massive humbuckers, especially the one right up against the neck. Put those two pups on a ash/alder/maple/walnut/basswood body of the exact same weight and dimensions and use the exact same pups placement, there probably wouldn't be a great deal of difference in the tone. Same goes if it was a rosewood finger board instead of a maple one.

 

[GBassNorth]

?...If someone can show me some real evidence wood type affecting the tone of an electric bass, I'd be happy to reevaluate my viewpoint on it.

I listed first hand experience in a double blind test (post #186) where wood type was the only significant factor. If you took the time to read that dreadfully long post you'd probably come to one of two conclusions. Either - wood type can noticeably impact the tone of a bass; or - I'm a liar.

Secondly, I never have claimed that wood type impacts tone "more" than pickups, strings, right hand location or whatever. I have clearly just said it impacts tone. I don't go down the "more" or "not much" path because there's too many variables. I'm sure I could select two different brands of P bass pickups that when interchanged would have less impact on tone than swapping a rosewood/rosewood neck for a maple/maple neck.

BTW - my bad on the Modern Player wood, I was thinking alder and typing pine. I have the MP Tele and love it, its a dub beast! I also don't doubt for a second that if I swapped the body out for a drastically different wood (bubinga, walnut, or maple) it would noticeably change the tone.

You mentioned "the exact same weight" as a wood swap criteria that if followed would result in little to no impact on tone.

So, I assume you believe that two basses made from the same materials that are as identical as CNC production run basses typically are will have noticeably different tone if one is heavier than the other?

If so, then in your mind, density would be a factor in the tone of a bass. And you do realize one of the major differentiators between woods is their density (there are others as well - porosity, rigidity, grain structure, hardness...).

In essence what I hear you saying is wood types won't have "much" (how much is not much???) difference on the tone of a bass as long as we look far and wide to find a heavy 5 pound piece of ash (which for some people kinda defeats the entire purpose of going to an ash body to save weight) so we can swap it with the existing 5 pound alder body. Sounds like a silly statement to me, but its what I hear you saying.

 

[iualum]

Doesn't make much difference as long as it's any wood normally used in bass construction.

Buy whatever you like & whatever is aesthetically pleasing to you.

 

[BlueTalon]

Watch when people think they are drinking an expensive bottle of mineral water but in reality are drinking water from a hose. I'm fairly convinced you could do a similar test with tone woods.

The analogy falls short. It would be like telling someone they are listening to bass made of mahogany when you are playing a bass made of plywood.

I studied psychology in college. One of the interesting things I learned was that the people conducting those experiments were very good at lying. Is it possible for someone to question their own perceptions of something when they are being lied to? Of course. False information skews one's sense of reality. But just as it's possible for someone to convince themselves that there is a difference when there isn't one, it's also possible for people to convince themselves that there isn't a difference when one in fact exists. You don't get to play the brainwash card without at least acknowledging that it could be just as applicable to you.

I don't think anybody is trying to quantify the tonal differences in wood with mathematical precision. I'm pretty certain it's impossible. The grains of the wood in basses are as individual as the people playing them. I'd be stunned if there wasn't variation among necks and bodies made of the same type of wood. And I'm guessing there would be a lot of overlap between different wood types. But that's really not the issue anyway.

The real question is: Can you hear a difference at all? And if you can, do you then have a preference?

If you don't hear a difference, and you have actually had occasions to compare A/B, I'm not going to delegitimize your experience. I'll take your word for it. But when others here have compared A/B and have heard a difference, I'm going to take their word as well.