body wood does matter

[Killed_by_Death]

I'm not so sure about that, because a lot of basses have maple necks.
Rickenbackers have maples nacks AND maple bodies & they sound quite different.

 

[mongo2]

The neck have more influence in sound than the body actually.

I generally agree with this but I once made two bodies from opposite ends of the same plank of maple and used the same neck, pickups, hardware, strings and setup on both bodies to see which I wanted to use. One resulting bass was definitely darker sounding than the other. I tried again with a different neck and all else the same switched between both bodies with the same result.

The body made from one end of the plank resulted in a darker tone than the body made from the other end of the same plank.

 

[Stevorebob]

I'm not so sure about that, because a lot of basses have maple necks.
Rickenbackers have maples nacks AND maple bodies & they sound quite different.

Why not? The neck covers a greater structural area and is comprised of less mass, so it would seem that if any part of the bass structure affects tone it would be this less ridgid component.

Rics do sound unique. And I think with Rics, we have electronics at play as well.

 

[Killed_by_Death]

If you put different single-coil pickups in a Rickenbacker 4003, it will still sound like a Rickenbacker, but if you put a Rickenbacker pickup in a Fender, it won't sound like a Rickenbacker.

 

[Stevorebob]

If you put different single-coil pickups in a Rickenbacker 4003, it will still sound like a Rickenbacker, but if you put a Rickenbacker pickup in a Fender, it won't sound like a Rickenbacker.

It wasn’t my intent to say it’s all electronics with Rics. Just that there are some unique qualities to the pickups and their placement that makes them, well, Rics. I don’t think you’re saying all maple/maple basses sound alike, are you?

 

[Killed_by_Death]

My original point about Rickenbacker was that the body wood informs the timbre as much as the neck, considering other basses also have maple necks.

 

[GrapeBass]

My original point about Rickenbacker was that the body wood informs the timbre as much as the neck, considering other basses also have maple necks.

I believe the thickness of the neck and body play a good sized roll. Nuances may include the fretboard (i.e. rosewood vs maple). The 'system' that the strings are stung by.

 

[Killed_by_Death]

Just about all the dimensions play a role, but also the type of wood.

 

[James Collins]

In his study "The Physics of Vibrations and Waves", H.J Pain from the Department of Physics at The Imperial College of Science and Technology in London describes the effects of mass and inductance coupling and how the vibrations are affected by the coupling. In our terms that translates to how the vibration of the string is affected by coupling it to the rest of the bass.

Another good source for understanding string vibration characteristics in coupled and non-coupled systems can be found here:

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Neither of these is an easy read, they do describe in scientific terms the effect of the substrate on the vibrating string. But I know that there will be a number of people who will not accept these findings because the test equipment wasn't an electric bass. Perhaps some scientist will re-invent the wheel by repeating these tests with a Fender Jazz. I rather doubt it though.

I only perused the second article because you provided a link. It is not really evidence of anything. It is merely an attempt to describe the vibrating system of a stringed instrument in equation form. There is no experimental physics to back up the claims. There is no peer review. It is more of a basis to promote further study.

 

[David Jayne]

I'm not so sure about that, because a lot of basses have maple necks.
Rickenbackers have maples nacks AND maple bodies & they sound quite different.

So do Pedulla's. I've owned three. They sound like Pedulla's.

 

[Killed_by_Death]

Which item of Pedulla's do they sound like?

 

[David Jayne]

Would we all agree that a Jazz bass makes 3 radically different sounds when soloing neck, soloing bridge, or both?

 

[David Jayne]

Which item of Pedulla's do they sound like?

Two were MVP's, P/J. One sounded like a very bright active P/J and the other was dark. No clue why; both were neck-thru maple with ebony boards. The third was a ThunderBass. Same construction, but HB/HB. Also dark, disappointingly so.

 

[somebrains]

I keep this around for special occasions.
Finest aged whatever Fender used in the late 70's covered in sun fade, liquified nicotine, and sweat.

It's always going to have a black pickguard on it.

 

[bass71]

You should have swapped the necks on them to see if one came out even better.

Oddly enough the neck pockets were different so it wasnt possible

 

[Turnaround]

I only perused the second article because you provided a link. It is not really evidence of anything. It is merely an attempt to describe the vibrating system of a stringed instrument in equation form. There is no experimental physics to back up the claims. There is no peer review. It is more of a basis to promote further study.

I included the second article because gives a mathematical model for the effects of damping caused by coupling of a string and soundboard. There are a number of folks on TB that won't accept the observations and studies of engineers and builders. So a couple of scientific articles about string vibration behaviour might help convince some of the effects of the mass the string is mounted on has on the way the string vibrates. The article demonstrates that in mathematical terms. Just another bit of info to consider. So now we have observation and mathematical modelling. But I know it won't convince everyone.

 

[SteveCS]

I included the second article because gives a mathematical model for the effects of damping caused by coupling of a string and soundboard. There are a number of folks on TB that won't accept the observations and studies of engineers and builders. So a couple of scientific articles about string vibration behaviour might help convince some of the effects of the mass the string is mounted on has on the way the string vibrates. The article demonstrates that in mathematical terms. Just another bit of info to consider. So now we have observation and mathematical modelling. But I know it won't convince everyone.

Just another case of the truth will set you free but first it will piss you off, perhaps?

 

[Fredrik E. Nilsen]

I included the second article because gives a mathematical model for the effects of damping caused by coupling of a string and soundboard. There are a number of folks on TB that won't accept the observations and studies of engineers and builders. So a couple of scientific articles about string vibration behaviour might help convince some of the effects of the mass the string is mounted on has on the way the string vibrates. The article demonstrates that in mathematical terms. Just another bit of info to consider. So now we have observation and mathematical modelling. But I know it won't convince everyone.

Well, if you could document any significant differences in sound in a real world situation, perhaps it would be easier. (No, your experience and observations are not documentation).

 

[James Collins]

I included the second article because gives a mathematical model for the effects of damping caused by coupling of a string and soundboard. There are a number of folks on TB that won't accept the observations and studies of engineers and builders. So a couple of scientific articles about string vibration behaviour might help convince some of the effects of the mass the string is mounted on has on the way the string vibrates. The article demonstrates that in mathematical terms. Just another bit of info to consider. So now we have observation and mathematical modelling. But I know it won't convince everyone.

The problem is the internet giving equal voice to people. Truth is not democratically elected.

 

[James Collins]

Well, if you could document any significant differences in sound in a real world situation, perhaps it would be easier. (No, your experience and observations are not documentation).

There are two types of people in this world. Ones who have an idea and are willing to prove it through their own work; and ones who hold onto their prior beliefs regardless of evidence.

Empiric evidence is still evidence.