Different woods and the effects it has on tone?

[Wesley R]

wood choice = might help sustain .... for me it's mostly about weight/looks .. !!

pickups / strings = tone

I am sure that the wood matters a little. My overall tendency is to believe that pickups, strings, amp/speaker/enclosure matter way more.


Back in about 1972;

1. Guitar guy is thrilled about his new strings and truly tripping about the sustain, etc.

2. Keyboard guy says “Hmmph, an SG through a Boss Tone and a Fuzz Face, into a Twin with shot tubes and toilet paper for speaker cones, and this guy hears a difference.”

Best of Luck,
Wesley R.

 

[Killed_by_Death]

I think your a bit off on your explanation

You are (You're) kidding, right?

Were any scenes from Almost Famous filmed in Stillwater?

 

[Murdoc_420]

wood choice = might help sustain .... for me it's mostly about weight/looks .. !!

pickups / strings = tone

At what frequency?

Funny thing about that Fender video he says if he built them both up one would be brighter (the heavier/denser one) but they both have different pickup configs and routing so of course they'll sound different.

Would have been more interesting if he had actually finished them both and then played them, but they's need to be same pup config.

 

[Bodeanly]

I sold my ash bass and just got an ash pedal.

Spoiler

This wooden pedal really gives me a bogner:

 

[123321]

I sold my ash bass and just got an ash pedal.

Spoiler

This wooden pedal really gives me a bogner:
View attachment 818018

Too Funny!!

 

[WheatPenny]

Once the bass is plugged into the amp, the wood used doesn't matter.

Uh-oh

 

[maturanesa]

wood doesnt affect tone/sound????
So the difference between a Sadowsky Jazz Bass and a Squier is the electronics...

Sorry, dont count on me...

 

[123321]

If you're really into this, I believe you "owe' it to yourself to check out this website:

Tempered Tonewoods

They supply the Roasted Maple to USACG. In addition, I suspect that they supply the roasted woods to MusicMan...

Interesting that Tempered offers treated Basswood and MM has a huge success with the Bongo... People love those things. Others have tried to use Basswood but this singularly seems to be the most universally accepted Great Bass out of any other models that come to mind...

Hans at Tempered is super sweet and responsive and will send the wood directly to USACG for you if you choose for they to fabricate a body, etc...

For the record, a great electric bass is the sum of its parts both wooden and metal... Everything factors in...

 

[WheatPenny]

I haven't noticed a difference in my experience. I just like wood that follows an overall visual scheme. I wouldn't really want a maple fretboard on a mahogany bass, but only because of the looks, not sound

 

[ESPweasel]

So metal M8!

 

[Turnaround]

I think your a bit off on your explanation

I guess some people hear differently. To me ash body sounded a 4th higher than the alder. The alder sounded in at roughly an F while the ash was Bflat above that. Anyone else hear it this way?

 

[bikeplate]

I wouldn't worry what's it's made of. I'd inspect and play it. See if it's a quality piece. Then plug it in to YOUR rig. See if it sounds right to YOUR ears

 

[mdogs]

I guess some people hear differently. To me ash body sounded a 4th higher than the alder. The alder sounded in at roughly an F while the ash was Bflat above that. Anyone else hear it this way?

Well, my pitch is far from perfect, but I can tell the relative difference between two tones and to me, the difference sounds like a minor 3rd, but what do I know...

 

[Mantis Tobaggan]

Hard woods, like maple, sound brighter than softer woods, which sound deeper. I heard.

 

[XLunacy]

(does the wood from which the cardboard was made affected the tone ? )

 

[wintremute]

I think your a bit off on your explanation

It's a good thing that this guy who works for a company that wants to sell a lot of instruments made a video and told us that there is a difference. Now we have even more reasons to buy all of the different kinds of instruments they sell.

 

[rufus.K]

Goto the Warmoth site. They have an extensive explanation of which woods sound like what, if you believe in such things.

 

[TMARK]

Which wood is the best for metal?

 

[Ewo]

Yeah, this question comes up a lot.

Here are my personal data points about it:

Twice I've had pairs of basses that were about the same age and identical except for the body and fingerboard woods. They were Fbass VF5s, and Sadowsky vintage 5s. Both pairs were the usual alder/rosewood and ash/maple. There's no doubt in my mind that the alder/rosewood basses had more in the mids and a "rounder" attack in the notes, while the ash/maple basses had more in the top and bottom and a "sharper" attack. Over time, I let the ash/maple basses go and kept the alder/rosewood.

So the dimensions, scale length, headstock shape, hardware, pups, and electronics were the same, within both pairs. And I had a definite preference for the sound of the alder/rosewood models.

My .02, based on experience as a player:

The woods used in a bass differ in their tonal _tendencies_. It's not the case that you can precisely and accurately predict the tone of a bass from the wood alone, but you can guess at where it's gonna tend.

 

[BigBobbyBass]

Which wood is the best for metal?

Come on man, Top 3 are Ironwood, Bloodwood, and ebony...