Body TONEWOOD - Myth or Fact?

[lomo]

Not only that, but y'all see the pickups and electronics sub-forum? Swapping pickups can make drastic changes to the timbre of the instrument. However, we don't see any sub-forums where guys are using the same pickups and changing out the wood they are installed into, in an experimental manner. My guess is that the wood is a subtle, inconsequential parameter in the big picture, despite what the boutique bass marketeers would have you believe.

In the scientific world, some changes are so obvious as to make testing unnecessary simply because there's no disagreement. No one needed randomized controlled trials to figure out that penicillin was a game changer for pneumococcal pneumonia. I have not seen anyone on TB post a disbelief that different pickups and pickup positions change the sound in a meaningful way. We hold this truth to be self-evident

 

[CryingBass]

YEAH - TONEWOOD MYTH!!! Give it a try and tell me ANYBODY who could find out, which kind of wood this is (without looking - for sure):

If the body and the material had such a great influence on the tone you should also be able to tell the kind of lacquer (sparkly? acrylic? nitro?). Haha!

Don't take me wrong: I think these really look funny, but the "feel" of wood is strongly preferred. Have a look here as well - Are plexiglass(clear) basses any good?

My bad above - Dan Armstrong, not Ralphe! ( Ralphe is killer though... )

 

[bitwo]

Thanks for the hospitality of the owners of the site, the supporting members, the gold supporting members etc. It's time to say good by, I am sure that I make a lot of people happy with this.
I am not satisfied with the style and the niveau of that blog. But I had a lot of fun riding a "dead horse" and I thank everybody, that feeded the troll with nonsense messages, great entertainment! I am a serious scientist and there are sites with a higher reputation to spend time rewardingly with "dead horses" just on a higher level. I will set email notifications to spam now.

Thanks again, was a great time, and may the bass always be with the wise participants, cheers

 

[A9X]

If you actually were a serious scientist, you'd do the research yourself rather than effectively taking a poll, especially amongst a bunch of musos who may not have a clue how to do such tests correctly and effectively.

 

[IamGroot]

Ever heard a Warwick Bass? The sound of wood? They're doing something right, imo.

Of course they are. They are Germans.

 

[IamGroot]

In southwest Kazakhstan, where I lived, herds of wild horses roamed the barren areas.

They were beautiful and delicious..

 

[Gaolee]

Page 9. What did I miss?

 

[Neko]

Thanks for the hospitality of the owners of the site, the supporting members, the gold supporting members etc. It's time to say good by, I am sure that I make a lot of people happy with this.
I am not satisfied with the style and the niveau of that blog. But I had a lot of fun riding a "dead horse" and I thank everybody, that feeded the troll with nonsense messages, great entertainment! I am a serious scientist and there are sites with a higher reputation to spend time rewardingly with "dead horses" just on a higher level. I will set email notifications to spam now.

Thanks again, was a great time, and may the bass always be with the wise participants, cheers

Maybe you do not know that this specific topic is one of the most controvertial one and that a lot of time, when someone crack that one up, it is either a joke or a troll...or you know that and are just joking.

 

[Davethebassguy]

Every component of a stringed instrument affects the tone and sustain. Woods (body, neck, fretboard), neck construction (solid or composite), hardware, strings, electronics, pickup placement, etc. Just like the woods affect the weight, they affect the tone. Just because one doesn't hear it, doesn't mean it's not there. I'm more than willing to listen to and accept an argument against tone differences in woods when they come from someone with the credentials and experience of previously mentioned luthiers like Michael Tobias and Roger Sadowsky. I even had quite the discussion on this topic with Rob Elrick. Tell those luthiers that they're wrong because you don't hear it. Tell a doctor that they're wrong because you went on WebMD. Tell a police detective that they're wrong because you watch CSI. Tell me, a professional in the filtration industry, that different carbons don't adsorb different elements, compounds and/or pollutants - okay, stupid analogy. I just know I'm not about to go tell a NASA scientist that they're wrong because I saw Armageddon.

Let's all just get along. Oh, and let's all accept the fact that wood affects tone.

 

[byacey]

Thanks for the hospitality of the owners of the site, the supporting members, the gold supporting members etc. It's time to say good by, I am sure that I make a lot of people happy with this.
I am not satisfied with the style and the niveau of that blog. But I had a lot of fun riding a "dead horse" and I thank everybody, that feeded the troll with nonsense messages, great entertainment! I am a serious scientist and there are sites with a higher reputation to spend time rewardingly with "dead horses" just on a higher level. I will set email notifications to spam now.

Thanks again, was a great time, and may the bass always be with the wise participants, cheers

As a serious scientist, you should be doing your own research rather than relying on opinions and heresay information from others.

Build up a steel frame as I did, string it up, install a pickup and connect it up to an audio spectrum analyzer, compare the results with a conventional wood bass using the same pickup and strings, then please report back your findings.

 

[EmuBass]

Is the neck on those wood? Or also synthetic?

Have you seen the video? The neck is maple.

 

[Turnaround]

Your 2 inches hardwood of you bass hopefully does not vibrate as your Banjo membrane! The impact is a question of the quantity (the amplitude) of the vibration. As I have explained in another post, the vibration frequencies of the hardwood body are statistically distributed and I add here that the amplitudes decrease very fast with increasing frequencies. Indeed that has an impact, but that is very, very small! A resonant frequency of the body may cause a large impact, that can result in a ead spot, where the resonant body will suck off a gret amount of energy off the string.
In my experimental experience you cannot fix the differences trustworthy quantitaively. I do not know a single reliable report on this. Some people "hear" that differnces. Let me add with their "psychological ears and eyes"?

Comparison of the banjo to a solid-body instrument is an extreme case. I use it to make the differences obvious. When we compare the effect of different pieces of wood on the resultant string vibration the results will be far less exaggerated. So - more subtle, but still there.

Edit: I see that you have abandoned not only this discussion but TalkBass as a whole. Sorry if we offended you.

 

[byacey]

Comparison of the banjo to a solid-body instrument is an extreme case. I use it to make the differences obvious. When we compare the effect of different pieces of wood on the resultant string vibration the results will be far less exaggerated. So - more subtle, but still there.

Edit: I see that you have abandoned not only this discussion but TalkBass as a whole. Sorry if we offended you.

Some of these newcomers just don't last like they used to.

 

[Sauron_]

Thanks for the hospitality of the owners of the site, the supporting members, the gold supporting members etc. It's time to say good by, I am sure that I make a lot of people happy with this.
I am not satisfied with the style and the niveau of that blog. But I had a lot of fun riding a "dead horse" and I thank everybody, that feeded the troll with nonsense messages, great entertainment! I am a serious scientist and there are sites with a higher reputation to spend time rewardingly with "dead horses" just on a higher level. I will set email notifications to spam now.

Thanks again, was a great time, and may the bass always be with the wise participants, cheers

Troll...

 

[Koshchei]

I saw a Fodera posted for sale today that was so gorgeous I had a Woodgasm. Does that count?

This is how dowels are made.

 

[Gorn]

niveau

Word of the day.

 

[Brad Johnson]

Not only that, but y'all see the pickups and electronics sub-forum? Swapping pickups can make drastic changes to the timbre of the instrument. However, we don't see any sub-forums where guys are using the same pickups and changing out the wood they are installed into, in an experimental manner. My guess is that the wood is a subtle, inconsequential parameter in the big picture, despite what the boutique bass marketeers would have you believe.

You don't see that because it would akin to keeping the wheels and tires and swapping out the car.

 

[Yellow Bang66]

The tonewood fixation for e-basses does not make sense. It's a historic tradition from acoustic instruments, where tonewood really matters. Compare an EUB with a traditional upright bass.

For e-instruments the material of the body does not matter at all. It is said tone depends on the choice of tonewood for the body, neck, and fingerboard. The question arises: Body TONEWOOD - Myth or Fact? If this is your fervour, read on. I found an interesting video on youtube Tone Wood Tester: One guitar to test them all .The experiments are done with guitars, I assume that basses do not have separate truth?

I am not a tonewood fanatic and do not discuss that topic with full commitment. I prefer light bodies (of Paulownia 310 kg/m³) to protect my back.

Wikipedia: "In music, sustain is a parameter of musical sound over time. It denotes the period of time during which the sound remains before it becomes inaudible, or silent." This makes clear that this has to be distinguished from "tone".

AAaaaaChhhhhhh! it's an electronic instrument! the body wood doesn't matter! the pick ups & Amp, have more influence on the tone than the body wood!

 

[Bassdirty]

Page 9. What did I miss?

I think it was somethin like "Jaco didn't need tonewood" or something. That's about it really.

 

[Auspuff]

The tonewood fixation for e-basses does not make sense. It's a historic tradition from acoustic instruments, where tonewood really matters. Compare an EUB with a traditional upright bass.

For e-instruments the material of the body does not matter at all. It is said tone depends on the choice of tonewood for the body, neck, and fingerboard. The question arises: Body TONEWOOD - Myth or Fact? If this is your fervour, read on. I found an interesting video on youtube Tone Wood Tester: One guitar to test them all .The experiments are done with guitars, I assume that basses do not have separate truth?

I am not a tonewood fanatic and do not discuss that topic with full commitment. I prefer light bodies (of Paulownia 310 kg/m³) to protect my back.

Wikipedia: "In music, sustain is a parameter of musical sound over time. It denotes the period of time during which the sound remains before it becomes inaudible, or silent." This makes clear that this has to be distinguished from "tone".

Koa body, and neck. It will make you a believer.