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Body timbers.

popinfresh

popinfresh

Dec 23, 2004
3,812
39
38
Melbourne, Aus
www.mp3.com.au
#1
Well, the last one got no reply's, so I thought i'd try again.

I've gotten a Blackwood stick that is perfect quater sawn, straight as and sounds great tap toned.. I reckon it will be nice and deep, with a good edge.

Now, i'm still hunting for the body materials.. I was thinking either Mahogany or Bubinga, with a maple top.. What do you think?

I'm after deep, agressive, warm and cutting. Maybe something along the lines of a Warwick or Ric (I know they're waaay different), but anything with balls and agressive attack that will cut and fill the band out is what i'm after. I was thinking of maybe chambering the body a bit, especially if I use something like Bubinga, what do you guys think about that? Or is that going to take too much sound out of it?

Any suggestions on a body timber would be great.. I'd like a contrasting top (either lighter or darker) and though the maple might add some top snap to it (might not either, havn't made a bass with a top yet).

Cheers.
 
#2
Bubinga willl bring out the mid range and bass in your tone but its very heavy so if your making a 5 or 6er you might want to count bubinga out(Warwick:ninja: ). Mahogany will be more warm and not as aggresive. I think a spalted maple top would look superb as for body wood your chosing between black and white.
 
#3
first off you need to let us know if you are doing a bolt on, set neck or through body. The neck wood has much more effect on tone when doing through body, not as much with a set neck(depending on how long the set part is), and with bolt on's the neck is much less involved in the overall tone.

So in answer to your question....partially that is, you may want to consider Wenge, Purpleheart, Bubinga, Shedua, Chechen, Macacauba, Zebrawood, Padauk, peruvian Walnut, Cocobolo or any true rosewood, Morado.
All of these woods will lend themselves to the sound you are looking for, BUT you need to do some homework as to the look, weight, and ease of workability you want also.
Chambering is usually going to boost the mids a touch, so you have that to consider. I have combined wenge and zebrawood before to get a similar sound to what you are looking for on a bolt on, also Padauk and bubinga may be a good combo, but a little warmer.

good luck with it
 
#4
bubinga will push your mids.
padauk will push the mud. its not as clear as i like it to be (i love using it though.

for that description, you would probably want to use a mix of wenge, ebony, rosewood and i dont see why no one has mentioned ash. ash will give you a nice punch and coupled with other woods such as wenge, you might have something similar to what you are looking for
 
#5
Musiclogic said:
first off you need to let us know if you are doing a bolt on, set neck or through body. The neck wood has much more effect on tone when doing through body, not as much with a set neck(depending on how long the set part is), and with bolt on's the neck is much less involved in the overall tone.

So in answer to your question....partially that is, you may want to consider Wenge, Purpleheart, Bubinga, Shedua, Chechen, Macacauba, Zebrawood, Padauk, peruvian Walnut, Cocobolo or any true rosewood, Morado.
All of these woods will lend themselves to the sound you are looking for, BUT you need to do some homework as to the look, weight, and ease of workability you want also.
Chambering is usually going to boost the mids a touch, so you have that to consider. I have combined wenge and zebrawood before to get a similar sound to what you are looking for on a bolt on, also Padauk and bubinga may be a good combo, but a little warmer.

good luck with it
Click to expand...

Hmm, thanks for the info :)

I'm still having an inner debate over which neck join to use, leaning towards neckthrough as I find it the easiest, but i'd hate to screw up the neck and have wasted all my effort..

Never realised chambering adds mids, that's good for me though! A lot of the exotic timbers you mentioned are too hard to get over here (Wenge and Bubinga are hard enough!) but i'll try find a few of them to look into.

Mahrous - Someone not on these boards suggested me ash the other day as apparently it's great for aggressive/growly basses.. Which species of ash would be best to look for?

Cheers guys.
 
#6
If you are worried about messing the neck up do what I did. Make a neck out of really really cheap wood for practice. On my thread that is what I am doing. If you read up on it and practice you should be fine
 
#7
blackwood core and a lacewood top and back could be a really nice combination, if you want to stay indigineous to Australia. Might come close to what you are looking for sound wise also. Blackwood can make a very midrangey /trebley sound, and the lacewood would quell the over snappiness of the blackwood....just an idea to save you some strife.
 
#8
Musiclogic said:
blackwood core and a lacewood top and back could be a really nice combination, if you want to stay indigineous to Australia. Might come close to what you are looking for sound wise also. Blackwood can make a very midrangey /trebley sound, and the lacewood would quell the over snappiness of the blackwood....just an idea to save you some strife.
Click to expand...

Hmm, I was actually looking at lacewood this afternoon admiring it! Heheh, I may indeed go down that path..
I figure you mean blackwood 'core' for the whole body, not just the neck?

Bassguy - I'm not so much worried about screwing up the neck (i'm made two now), but more the neck screwing up after i've completed the bass =/
 
#11
Vic and Tas Blackwood are actually some of the best tonewoods in Oz, to top it off it looks absolutely gorgeous. I'd consider using that for a top if you've got access to it. Queensland Maple is pretty popular for bodies and is also a great tonewood, should be a good combination.

I also love the look of Camphor Laurel for a top, check out Maton's and Belman's sites for ideas of local woods. Don't worry too much about the overal sound of the bass, you'll be fine with most Aussie tonewoods.
 
#13
Blackwood is very often highly figured, QLD maple looks pretty much like a lighter mahogany, not that attractive. Definitely blackwood top if you can find a nice one ;)

I've never heard of a blackwood neck but you can always try. It should look pretty good though. You can tell us after if you like it, if you do then I'll just have to try it myself :D
 
#14
Phil Mailloux said:
Blackwood is very often highly figured, QLD maple looks pretty much like a lighter mahogany, not that attractive. Definitely blackwood top if you can find a nice one ;)

I've never heard of a blackwood neck but you can always try. It should look pretty good though. You can tell us after if you like it, if you do then I'll just have to try it myself :D
Click to expand...

Cheers man.

My mate used a blackwood neck in a guitar and it sounds pretty wicked, so i'm keen to try it out.

I think i'll be going maple body, blackwood top and neck =)

Thanks for the help guys!
 
#15
in reply to your question earlier. i use swamp ash from the US. i do not have much experience with other ash wood.
maple is another wood that kicks major ass but not always the easiest to work with (although i find it pleasant to do necks out of ... it could be annoying for machining) and it is heavy!

so may be, you might want to chamber your body or make it as thin as possible (considering your electronics and hardware) to avoid excessive weight problems. i dont know blackwood, but i know that most dark woods are dense and heavy. so i would imagine it to be another heavy type of wood + coupled with maple ... = back problems :)
 

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