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body wood does matter

#241
Of course body wood matters. All the materials used in the construction of an instrument matter. The wood does affect the tone. Where people go astray is in thinking that each wood species has a consistent and predictable effect on tone, ie: "maple is bright sounding". It's not as literal or direct as that. The wood's properties do matter though - its density, hardness, etc have an inarguable effect on the sound of the bass. To prove this you could try taking the wood out of the equation - literally - and play a hollowbody bass. They sound different. So if the absence of wood in the body changes the tone of the bass, it stands to reason that woods of varying density are going to have varying effects on the tone too, however subtle. You could even argue quite reasonably that different species of wood have different average densities and hardness, which suggests that there may in fact be some consistency to the tonal contributions of different species. Maple may in fact sound brighter on average. You might very well think that. I couldn't possibly comment.
 
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#242
IronLung1986 said:
Of course body wood matters. All the materials used in the construction of an instrument matter. The wood does affect the tone. Where people go astray is in thinking that each wood species has a consistent and predictable effect on tone, ie: "maple is bright sounding". It's not as literal or direct as that. The wood's properties do matter though - its density, hardness, etc have an inarguable effect on the sound of the bass. To prove this you could try taking the wood out of the equation - literally - and play a hollowbody bass. They sound different. So if the absence of wood in the body changes the tone of the bass, it stands to reason that woods of varying density are going to have varying effects on the tone too, however subtle. You could even argue quite reasonably that different species of wood have different average densities and hardness, which suggests that there may in fact be some consistency to the tonal contributions of different species. Maple may in fact sound brighter on average. You might very well think that. I couldn't possibly comment.
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Clap clap clap this is a sound clapping sound and of course every hand sound different
 
#248
Like I said earlier, I had 2 basses - same brand (Warwick), same model (Katana 5 BO). Built same factory same quarter. Same swamp ash, strings, electronics, everything except for color. One had a much more "open" "light" "airy" sound and the other a much more "fundamental" "punchy" and "darker" sound. Both had "The Sound of Wood" of course.
So I would certainly say that if two basses with the same body, neck, and FB woods have differing sonic qualities, the same bass with different woods would as well.
Perhaps it is even possible fro ones with different woods to sound quite similar.
 
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#249
Killed_by_Death said:
RE: the strings being worn out
I don't think so. Those D'Addario strings they put on the G&L basses sound good even when they're worn out. I played mine for a week with the old strings on it, but did notice how much fuller the timbre was when I put on some Dean Markley Blue Steel.
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I didn't read the whole thread, but if you didn't change both sets of strings to the same exact sets before you conducted the test - I would consider it an invalid test. Even two identical basses with the same exact strings with the only difference being one set is two weeks used can have quite a noticeable difference.


It also wouldn't hurt if you put on a blindfold, and had a friend hand them to you one at a time for a series of sound tests in different order just to see.
 
#253
MasterMonkeyMan said:
Like I said earlier, I had 2 basses - same brand (Warwick), same model (Katana 5 BO). Built same factory same quarter. Same swamp ash, strings, electronics, everything except for color. One had a much more "open" "light" "airy" sound and the other a much more "fundamental" "punchy" and "darker" sound. Both had "The Sound of Wood" of course.
So I would certainly say that if two basses with the same body, neck, and FB woods have differing sonic qualities, the same bass with different woods would as well.
Perhaps it is even possible fro ones with different woods to sound quite similar.
Click to expand...
Why, must definitely have been the colour then! Different photon frequency absorption bringing different audio frequency recipes. Makes sense, no? Take a sip until it does, y'all. ;) :)

J/K, and +1, good point. What if tonewood matters so much that it even sounds different from itself?
 
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#254
Back onto this subject now after a recent purchase.

Came across another SR300E this past weekend & it was nearly night & day in comparison to the SR300EB that I owned over the Summer.

Got it home & did the flimsy neck test, tune to E Standard, set the relief to about 0.005", now de-tune to C Standard.

If it's still playable, you've got a good neck. My Summer SR300EB failed that test!

So, my conclusion is that the neck on this bass helps the sound a LOT!
Those PowerSpan pickups in THIS nearly new SR300E sound almost as good as the Nordstrand pickups in my Premium Ibanez.

I've no doubt that the wood, be it the neck or body or both, is what makes it sound so good.
Everything else about the Summer SR300EB & this latest acquisition is the same.
 
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#255
There were customers 25 years ago that would search out necks that had a "feel".

I remember a couple guys that paid my day to screw a neck onto all his basses.

One customer brought in his Boogie Bodies, Chandler's, Warmoths, Fenders, MIJ copies. He had this one early Schecter that was awesome, notes just flew off that neck. He literally made multiple trips into the shop hauling cases, but that Schecter neck stayed in his left hand the whole time.

It was a little like the gunsmith scene in The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly.

Other customers weren't so extreme, but the common thing was they all wanted to put together "the one".

Another dude I remember bc he had the first Leo Quad brass headstock plate I'd ever seen on a P. Had an original Badass bridge back when you had to track him down in the City. He had these parts swapped 70's Fenders all hippie painted.

Quest for tone ain't a recent thing.
 
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#256
Another thing I noticed on Sunday evening was that the BTBs with the same pickups as my SR didn't sound as good. They were 5 & 6 string basses, though, while my SR is a 4.

Yes, I tried them through the same amp as I play at home, a Fender Rumble, but even on the G-B Shuttle 6.0 they didn't sound as good as my SR1800E.

I guess I got a real winner with that bass!
 

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