Best wood for bass?

[35hundy]

35hundy....

The argument can be made that past the 100% of frequencies provided by the strings, EVERYTHING downstream in the signal chain is subtractive.

(I know, I know, active pickups and preamps... but they can only boost/cut what signal is provided to them. )

True that. Every little detail counts, no question about that.

 

[GBassNorth]

Most people have no idea what constitutes "scientific proof," or if that phrase even has any meaning (hint: it doesn't).

More importantly, any "scientific" studies around this have a fundamental flaw. All the double-blind listening tests are immaterial to me as the finished product (a sound) is only the last piece of a process that involves a series of transactions between human and instrument. And those transactions are not blind, and hence bias cannot be eliminated. So it really doesn't matter what the "studies" say - making music is a human endeavor with quirky human issues that cannot be removed. If one's goal is to argue theoretical constructs on the interwebs then by all means quote some likely flawed set of experiments done by at undergrad at a small college as "proof." Or, you can do your own experiments and see what works in your hands and in your situations.

Having owned and gigged two basses that were identical other than wood (same construction, same electronics, same hardware - only difference were body woods and fretboard), I can say that they played and sounded different. Some might not be able to tell the difference of the sound in a mix, but I could tell when I was playing it in the moment, and that's more important to me, because how the instrument responds to me (and vice versa) has a lot of influence on the performance, and hence the final product. And that is something you can't calculate...

Couldn't have said it better myself!

Had a similar experience when I built a Warmoth bass and couldn't decide which neck would look best on the bass (was going after a nice look, I didn't believe in tone woods at the time). So I had two identical necks made with the only exception being one was a rosewood/rosewood neck and one is a maple/maple neck.

The maple one arrived first and I loved the look and feel of it so I installed it on the bass and completed the build. Sounded fantastic when done (gotta love that Warmoth stuff). Then the Rosewood neck came in the mail. It looked and felt equally nice. Thought what the heck, lets see what it looks like on the bass. So I removed the maple neck and installed the rosewood neck and did another complete setup to the same specs.

WOW, there was a night and day difference between the two necks! The maple had a much sharper attack, brighter crisper notes and a kind of Stingray type vibe to the tone. The rosewood neck had a deeper darker richer more full bodied sound and little more sustain with a p bass type vibe to the tone. I took the bass to a local luthier and had him put a brass nut in place of the graph tech nut and that brightened the tone up a bit and made it perfect for what I wanted.

To this day, that bass is still one of my favorite players! Yes different woods do make a difference to me as a player. No pic no bass, so...

 

[xaxxat]

How can rosewood/rosewood and maple/maple be "identical"


iden·ti·cal

: exactly the same

: exactly alike or equal

: having such close resemblance as to be essentially the same

: having the same cause or origin

 

[AaronVonRock]

You do realize the article you referenced included no scientific evidence, no technical description of how the test was done, no mention of double blind testing, admission by the author that the test hasn't been completed although a conclusion has been reached and admission by the author that he eliminates and blocks all dissenting viewpoints about his research from his YouTube comments. Furthermore, you do also realize that on that same link there is a YouTube video posted by a music company in the UK that claims to clearly demonstrate (and does so fairly convincingly) the tonal difference between mahogany and Swampash solid body electric guitars

In light of all that, you may want to think about citing a different source in the future, I'm calling the "scientific proof" in your link debunked, incomplete and junk science. So until I have something more concrete to tell me what I think my ears are hearing I'll continue to believe that wood types along with a myriad of other things can make a difference in the sound of a solid body electric bass.

Until someone can come up with something a bit more substantial than " but my ears can hear the difference" (which is the only anecdote being provided), I still don't believe the type of wood makes much of a difference in tone for an electric bass. There are other factors besides the wood that effect tone much more.

Ads and PR videos from guitar companies aren't the best source for impartial information. They are just trying to sell their guitars and to justify their prices. But if you think the wood of your electric bass is giving your bass a great tone, more power to you. Peace.

 

[GBassNorth]

How can rosewood/rosewood and maple/maple be "identical"

My original post has been corrected for those with low reading comprehension skills.

 

[GBassNorth]

...if you think the wood of your electric bass is giving your bass a great tone, more power to you. Peace.

Absolutely positive of it! Peace.

 

[bassbenj]

Until someone can come up with something a bit more substantial than " but my ears can hear the difference" (which is the only anecdote being provided), I still don't believe the type of wood makes much of a difference in tone for an electric bass. There are other factors besides the wood that effect tone much more.

Ads and PR videos from guitar companies aren't the best source for impartial information. They are just trying to sell their guitars and to justify their prices. But if you think the wood of your electric bass is giving your bass a great tone, more power to you. Peace.

Is anyone saying the wood makes "much" of a difference in tone? I don't think so. But players are saying that THEY can feel the difference between woods (I certainly can) even though it's minor and nobody in the audience is going to say "I love the tone from that alder bass!". And there certainly are "other factors" that wood can provide that are easily "scientifically" measured. Start with the weight. The scientific numbers come right off your scale. And the color and the look and the grain. Anyone can see the difference and it's not just an "anecdote". Sure most boutique basses have nice tone. But if you look at how many different woods they are made from, you can be pretty sure that the wood is there for OTHER reasons than tone. Sure they don't use cheap plywood or poison sumac "junk" trees that really do sound bad, but beyond that, the wood is all about look and grain and weight and things like that. I've got some identical basses with one in alder and one in ash. they clearly sound/feel different when I play them, but nobody listening is going to notice. Too many OTHER things make FAR more differences. But as a player it makes a difference to me, so it's not like it doesn't matter.

But you know how some musicians are. They get all excited over some new thing (like tonewood) and then go around telling everyone how some effect everyone else considers extremely minor is "like night and day". Ok. Glad to see the enthusiasm, but...

 

[Bassic Playing]

There's a TBer here with an SG with the most beautiful top. Don't know what it was, but that's my favourite wood.

I think maple and ebony look good on fingerboards.

 

[xaxxat]

My original post has been corrected for those with low reading comprehension skills.

sim·i·lar
ˈsim(ə)lər/
adjective

1. resembling without being identical.

 

[gpx1200]

my favorite bass wood combo so far is my warmoth gecko5 with swamp ash body and bubinga neck/ebony fretboard. its super deep and thumpy with tons of low end growl but also very clear and articulate, it's also the heavyest bass I own.
the neck is the one pictured at the top of this page Invalid Link Removed I tried to get them to make me a solid zebrawood body but they didn't have the wood for it
my second favorite is my spector zebop with 50/50 zebrawood/alder body and maple rosewood neck

 

[Jeff Scott]

Sure they don't use cheap plywood...

Some Carl Thompson basses look like they are.

 

[Canadian APII]

there are many valid opinions here. I ask you to listen to Cliff Burton playing the same music on his maple Rickenbacker and compare it to his alder body maple neck Aria Pro II. a huge sonic difference. In the end it is what sounds best to you.

 

[GBassNorth]

sim·i·lar
ˈsim(ə)lər/
adjective

1. resembling without being identical.

Thank you Mr. Wiki, for the fine contributions to this discussion. Get a life.

 

[Jeff Scott]

there are many valid opinions here. I ask you to listen to Cliff Burton playing the same music on his maple Rickenbacker and compare it to his alder body maple neck Aria Pro II. a huge sonic difference. In the end it is what sounds best to you.

There are a lot of other factors here besides what woods the basses were made of.

 

[xaxxat]

Best wood for bass?

Thank you Mr. Wiki, for the fine contributions to this discussion. Get a life.

You're welcome. Glad to have helped you be a bit more precise with your decriptions.

 

[xaxxat]

There are a lot of other factors here besides what woods the basses were made of.

Exactly. Such as pickups, strings, signal chain, the amp, the room, other bandmates, and, most importantly, the talent of the bassist.

 

[Jeff Scott]

Exactly. Such as pickups, strings, signal chain, the amp, the room, other bandmates, and, most importantly, the talent of the bassist.

Don't misinterpret what I implied. I am in the camp that different wood types do make a difference in tone, along with lots of other variables.

 

[Canadian APII]

There are a lot of other factors here besides what woods the basses were made of.

True, but I find these ones are the primary components that establish the basic tone of the instrument.

 

[Humbled]

If forced to pick in an instant I guess Swamp Ash and Alder would be top of my short list, and I like Rosewood boards. I think I hear a tone to them, and don't really stress over whether it's all in my head.

But that's just me.

 

[neckdive]

My favorite wood combination is a 40 year old alder body, jet black gaboon ebony fingerboard, and a Brazilian walnut neck otherwise known as Ironwood (jokingly referred earlier as the best for metal).

I built several necks and bolted them to a few different bodies using all of the same electronics until I finally came up with this particular magical combo. Put me in the "wood matters" camp.