body wood does matter

[Killed_by_Death]

At the beginning of Summer I checked out this bass at a GC upstate:

Expecting a lot, but I was utterly disappointed. Switching around all the switches & twisting the knobs made no difference, it just sounded lifeless to me.
<edit> the knobs & switch made a difference, but not enough make it sound better than a average bass </edit>

Cut to a week & a half ago & I find this one in the same GC:

L-2000

• Killed_by_Death
• Aug 23, 2018
• 1
• g&l l-2000

2016 Honeyburst Swamp Ash G&L L-2000

Totally different experience!
Every switch made a difference & it just sounded Alive.

Everything about the two is the same except for the body wood.
The honeyburst is Swamp Ash.
Originally I assumed the one in the first photo was Alder, but the specs on G&L's site say Okoume.

CLF Research L-2000

I thought Okoume was supposed to be a great wood for a good timbre

add: oops, it might have been Alder on the first one:

L-2000

I didn't realize they have two versions of the L-2000 now.

 

[scuzzy]

I believe that a bass is a product of the sum of it's parts. Each part plays a part in the end product. Body wood being one of those parts.

I just said "part" a lot...

 

[jd56hawk]

And yet the G&L CLF Research L2000 is Okoume...with a replica color period-perfect thin urethane finish from 1981.
I wonder if the classic finish is better than the newer, thicker finish.

 

[el_Bajo_Verde]

Considering that this is an active bass, it's likely that the battery was close to dead for the other bass. Body wood does not affect how the electronics function.

If none of the switches and knobs are making a difference, the battery is dead or there is a wiring problem.

I once tried a used active bass where the knobs barely did anything. The tech opened it up and a bad solder job was creating a bridge on a pot.

 

[Killed_by_Death]

not the battery, I rarely use the active position on a bass that has the option
The L-2000 has a passive/active/ active + treble boost switch.

The first bass was working fine, it just wasn't sounding great.
It sounded "normal", not fantastic.

 

[lowphatbass]

With bolt-on basses I believe the weight/density relationship between the neck and body are pretty important. So I guess by default body wood makes a difference, imo.

 

[Killed_by_Death]

The local Ibanez dealer used to be a G&L dealer & had a similar experience with L-2000 basses.
The owner said he was impressed with a L-2000 they had & thought to himself that he'd grab the next one that came in, but when it did come in it didn't sound as good as the previous one.
At the time there was no Tribute series, & their G&L inventory moved so slowly that they had to step out of being a G&L dealer.

 

[40Hz]

Well there you go folks! From a non-experiment with a sample size of just two basses, we finally have all the scientific proof we need.

 

[Killed_by_Death]

How many samples do you need to qualify for an experiment?
There are probably two out there that are the exact opposite, one Ash that just sounds OK, & one Okoume that sounds fantastic.

 

[Rumbledore]

maybe strings not being identical or of the same "freshness"

also, bass A has a knob missing which is probably the difference you heard

 

[Rumbledore]

and, I'll add using practical knowledge I've learned here form Talkbass (which even goes for that guy's older inventory), other reason may be pup-height

 

[Killed_by_Death]

You can see from the amount of pickup above the body that they're the same height. G&L puts them close, at about 1/16".

 

[Slater]

As a pickup swapper for decades (mostly in guitars), I agree that body wood does make a difference.

 

[Fun Size Nick]

How about the type & condition of the strings between the two basses? Makes more of a difference to tone than anything else IMO and can be highly variable in off-the-rack music store basses.

 

[Killed_by_Death]

The strings would have been the same D'Addario sets & I can't imagine a showroom bass being played enough to actually deaden the strings.

 

[ajkula66]

I believe that a bass is a product of the sum of it's parts. Each part plays a part in the end product. Body wood being one of those parts.

This. Times a zillion.

At one point in the game I owned half a dozen Jazz Basses in sunburst/rosewood combo, and every single one of them had a different personality to some extent. The one that stood out as being the best out of them all to my ear was the most beaten-up-looking example, and this is back in the days when these were considered just old basses, not vintage ones...when the vast majority of players - myself included - preferred their instruments looking new, or at least well-kept...

My $0.02 only...

 

[Gianni "Orlandez" Orlati]

At the beginning of Summer I checked out this bass at a GC upstate:

View attachment 3136314

Expecting a lot, but I was utterly disappointed. Switching around all the switches & twisting the knobs made no difference, it just sounded lifeless to me.

Cut to a week & a half ago & I find this one in the same GC:

L-2000

• Killed_by_Death
• Aug 23, 2018
• 1
• g&l l-2000

2016 Honeyburst Swamp Ash G&L L-2000

Totally different experience!
Every switch made a difference & it just sounded Alive.

Everything about the two is the same except for the body wood.
The honeyburst is Swamp Ash.
Originally I assumed the one in the first photo was Alder, but the specs on G&L's site say Okoume.

CLF Research L-2000

I thought Okoume was supposed to be a great wood for a good timbre

add: oops, it might have been Alder on the first one:

L-2000

I didn't realized they have two versions of the L-2000 now.

Properly seasoned alder is good, very good ... the first bass you tested was okoume surely ..

 

[Muddslide]

How many samples do you need to qualify for an experiment?
There are probably two out there that are the exact opposite, one Ash that just sounds OK, & one Okoume that sounds fantastic.

To me, this does not strengthen the assertion put forth in the thread title, at least as far as "proving" that one type of wood is superior to another for tone, etc. Quite the converse, in fact.

Two identical Fenders with sequential serial numbers made of the same wood, hardware, etc.?

Quite likely one will sing for you more than the other.

In conclusion, everything...every variable imaginable (wood being among them) has an impact on overall sound and mojo of an instrument.

 

[Killed_by_Death]

Neither is a Fender
Although, the Alder one sounded like a Fender

My first G&L instrument was a ASAT bass from Okoume & it sounded fantastic, just like the Swamp Ash L-2000 I own now.

 

[Gianni "Orlandez" Orlati]

Neither is a Fender
Although, the Alder one sounded like a Fender

My first G&L instrument was a ASAT bass from Okoume & it sounded fantastic, just like the Swamp Ash L-2000 I own now.

Okoume one... ehm...