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Can You Tell The Difference??? ASH vs. ALDER

WHICH IS ALDER? WHICH IS ASH?

  • 1-A and 2-A are Alder, 1-B and 2-B are Ash.

    Votes: 17 15.7%
  • 1-A and 2-A are Ash, 1-B and 2-B are Alder.

    Votes: 48 44.4%
  • I can hear a difference between the "1" recordings, but not the "2" recordings

    Votes: 16 14.8%
  • I can hear a difference between the "2" recordings, but not the "1" recordings

    Votes: 3 2.8%
  • I can't hear a difference between any of them!

    Votes: 24 22.2%

  • Total voters
    108
you really should get out more. ;)

Heh... I don't think there is mass produced bass out there I haven't played dozens of examples of, including expensive instruments like Modulus, Spector, etc. Played a some "customs" (an Alembic, Carl Thompson, and a Lull)... played probably 50 pre-1980 Fender Jazz and P-Basses.

None of them, all around, played and sounded better than my basswood bodied MIJ Fender MB-5.
 
Alright , I got only one answer from this post . But as I'm still reading people claiming that wood doesn't have any effect on tone I post it again , these clips are from a guy nicknamed Eberbach who ownes two basses , the same one twice , but one of them has an ash body.

Warwick(J/J) corvette ash :
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Slap : Invalid Link Removed

Warwick corvette(J/J) bubinga :

fingerstyle : Invalid Link Removed

Slap : Invalid Link Removed

Do you hear a difference ? I do definitely hear one.

...and those are completely different basses.

Different necks, different pickups, different strings, etc., etc.

Yes, they're the same "model", but they aren't necessarily physically identical.

I'd like to hear the same test where the actual only difference (as in Dan's test) is the body wood.
 
when you take your car to a very experienced and qualified mechanic, do you to trust that he knows more about what makes your particular car work, the common issues/problems that your model might have, and knows exactly how to correct the fault? or do you ask him to prove that he knows what he's talking about?

I ask him, through referrals to past customers and evidence of his work, to prove that he knows what he's talking about.

Just like I do if I hire a contractor to remodel my house.

I'm sure not going to take them on their word with no outside evidence.
 
Someday, I hope you have this awakening happen to you:

You'll find an otherwise ordinary bass, some mid-pack production model that has ordinary electronics, non-exceptional hardware, nothing to suggest it's anything special... but it will melt into your hands, resonate beautifully, and have a response under your fingers and a voice like no other bass you've ever played.

And the difference will be... the wood it's made from. And you will realize that's the difference, and you will look for that quality in all intruments from that time forward.

I wish this for you. It happens, it's real.

Is this post real? It reads more like a born-again Christian proselytizing about finding Christ, not a bass player talking about tonewood. Is that a coincidence? :hmm:
 
...and those are completely different basses.

Different necks, different pickups, different strings, etc., etc.

Yes, they're the same "model", but they aren't necessarily physically identical.

I'd like to hear the same test where the actual only difference (as in Dan's test) is the body wood.

It's the same model , with the same pickups, same woods on the neck , only the body and the strings change They have the same shape ,same electronics etc. So they are not completely different basses . I would consider them to be if one of them had humbuckers and a maple neck yeah.
 
Is this post real? It reads more like a born-again Christian proselytizing about finding Christ, not a bass player talking about tonewood. Is that a coincidence? :hmm:

People will see what they want to see. People will hear what they want to hear. If you tell a zealot he's wrong, he'll spend the better part of the rest of his life explaining to you why he's right, even though he's in fact wrong.

I've gone back and read this thread again, and I find it amusing that Dan even did another test that conforms to what the majority of people here thought it should, and M.R. Ogle opted out of that one, choosing not to participate at all.

My guess is that the new test was too well balanced, and he couldn't Christ-campaign (I REALLY liked that parallel, BTW) his way through it.

*shrug* Just my two cents.
 
when you take your car to a very experienced and qualified mechanic, do you to trust that he knows more about what makes your particular car work, the common issues/problems that your model might have, and knows exactly how to correct the fault? or do you ask him to prove that he knows what he's talking about?

The difference is that the mechanic CAN prove it or refer you to the proof. And if I ask him, and he responds with "trust me, I've been doing this for 30 years" I'm walking.
 
It's the same model , with the same pickups, same woods on the neck , only the body and the strings change They have the same shape ,same electronics etc. So they are not completely different basses . I would consider them to be if one of them had humbuckers and a maple neck yeah.

You're assuming a production consistency which doesn't exist.

As someone with a good bit of coil winding experience (for precision LVDTs) I can tell you taht two magnetic wound pickups, even of identical design, aren't the same.

Never mind the times that I've played two identical model basses (same body wood, pickups, neck, etc., etc.) and had them sound noticeably different.

You have to limit the variable to just what you want to test.
 
i will contend that just one instrument of each type is not enough to make an accurate assessment of what effect the two different wood types have, especially in detecting a pattern of it.

When I order a bass, I usually order just one bass. So if a luthier tells me that an alder body will sound a certain way, his statement can't be applied to my bass, because it's just one bass. It may not sound as he's described. Got it.
 
Heh... I don't think there is mass produced bass out there I haven't played dozens of examples of, including expensive instruments like Modulus, Spector, etc. Played a some "customs" (an Alembic, Carl Thompson, and a Lull)... played probably 50 pre-1980 Fender Jazz and P-Basses.

None of them, all around, played and sounded better than my basswood bodied MIJ Fender MB-5.


i'm sorry. i don't believe you, but i guess that we're all supposed to take your word for it.
 
^ Speaking of trends, your posts have an antagonistic and bully-like tone to them.

Your experience isn't proof. That's not a judgement about you. Can you accept that?


why would i contunue to play 20 questions with you guys since you already know all the answers?

and personally, i think that your 'bully-like' tone accusation better desciribes your posts. just because i have an opinion that doesn't align with your's, now i'm a bully? yeah, right. i haven't resorted to insulting anyone but you certainly have.:rollno:
 
i'm sorry. i don't believe you, but i guess that we're all supposed to take your word for it.

No one has to take his word for it because his experience isn't relevant to this discussion. You should know that because you've already been told that experience isn't proof.

Yet you still challenge others to post their bass resumes in an effort to discredit their comments.