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Does a bass really improve with age??

In nature trees grow in a narrow set of conditions, on a farm they can grow under a huge range of conditions. Look at the species of wild dog that gave is domestic dogs. Which has more variation? Wolves or all breeds of domesticated dogs?

Same rules of nature applies to trees.

Narrow range? Not quite. The same species can grow in a variable range of conditions and these conditions in a given system can indeed vary from season to season. Fixed range of conditions? More appropriate. Even in the same ecosystem, the variable competition for recources can lead to variable density outcomes.

Man has the ability to influence the density outcomes, but I'm going to go with less variety due to the same goal/endpoint of maximal growth.
 
Narrow range? Not quite. The same species can grow in a variable range of conditions and these conditions in a given system can indeed vary from season to season. Fixed range of conditions? More appropriate. Even in the same ecosystem, the variable competition for recources can lead to variable density outcomes.

Man has the ability to influence the density outcomes, but I'm going to go with less variety due to the same goal/endpoint of maximal growth.

You just said "has the ability to influence the density outcomes" add that to the natural range and you get more. Your assumption that all farmers have the same singular end goal is wrong. Farmed trees that end up as lumber are planted for a number of reasons, a major one being for windbreaks where density is the goal. Maximal growth may be the end goal of pulp farmers of softwoods but simply google some tree farms to see what reality is and how it may differ from your strong assumptions.
 
A few years ago I went to a now obsolete building...I think it was called a library. I checked out some books on violin making and one seemed more in depth and had a bunch of stuff about people trying to figure out what made the Strad's so special. One part mentioned that they'd get the wood from trees that grew on a particular side of the mountain. I don't remember if it was the side that got more or less sunlight, but they were that picky about it, so it must have made a difference on what they were building.

You'll never hear a difference in an old pickup because the magnet/s weakened over time...you won't live long enough.
 
Who gives a rats @*S about rings on a tree, this thread is about weather a bass improves with age. I don't know,but IMO older basses were built in a time when workers took pride in their work. They actually cared about the quality, as well as quantity of items that they were able to produce. Not so much any more. The exception today would be boutique instruments. Now on the other side of the coin, old instruments come in 2 classes. either they were loved, and cared for, or they were NOT.If you took 2 exactly identical instruments, and lovingly played and cared for the instrument, when it became aged, it would if you were very faithful with the maintenance, cleaning, and storage , it might just sound as good as it did on day 1. if you throw it around, haul it around in the back of your pick up truck, leave it out in the rain, never keep up with the maintenance, then you will have what they now sell as a relic. This bass will NOT sound as good as it did on day1. Let us not forget about upkeep and parts if you are actually going to play this instrument as it ages, things like new frets when you wear the old ones out, and new pots when the old ones sound like popcorn popping at every adjustment, nuts that break and wear down, saddles that wear out... I don't know too many possibilities/variables to consider or try to predict. But one thing is for sure the color of a frigging ring in a tree stump is NOT one of the issues that will be included.
 
The dark rings are the most dense part, that's why they're dark. :eyebrow:

I guess that was some kind of comeback but I don't see how it relates to what you quoted, consider that a win for you :)


Here's a clip where they actually test these theories somewhat loosely. After watching it it can simply be dismissed if you don't like it.
 
but they were that picky about it, so it must have made a difference on what they were building.

Not necessarily. What if they were picky about only cutting trees on Tuesdays or with a full moon? They may have picked that side of the hill because that is where the gnomes & faeries lived, or it's where they kept their still. :D

By the way some trees are cut according to the moons phase. I'm sure there are some who think they can hear that too :)
 
Who gives a rats @*S about rings on a tree, this thread is about weather a bass improves with age. I don't know,but IMO older basses were built in a time when workers took pride in their work. They actually cared about the quality, as well as quantity of items that they were able to produce. Not so much any more. The exception today would be boutique instruments. Now on the other side of the coin, old instruments come in 2 classes. either they were loved, and cared for, or they were NOT.If you took 2 exactly identical instruments, and lovingly played and cared for the instrument, when it became aged, it would if you were very faithful with the maintenance, cleaning, and storage , it might just sound as good as it did on day 1. if you throw it around, haul it around in the back of your pick up truck, leave it out in the rain, never keep up with the maintenance, then you will have what they now sell as a relic. This bass will NOT sound as good as it did on day1. Let us not forget about upkeep and parts if you are actually going to play this instrument as it ages, things like new frets when you wear the old ones out, and new pots when the old ones sound like popcorn popping at every adjustment, nuts that break and wear down, saddles that wear out... I don't know too many possibilities/variables to consider or try to predict. But one thing is for sure the color of a frigging ring in a tree stump is NOT one of the issues that will be included.
Among acoustic guitar builders rings are of utmost importance. I guess any faith that one doesn't share looks silly from the outside.
 
Among acoustic guitar builders rings are of utmost importance. I guess any faith that one doesn't share looks silly from the outside.

We ain't talking about acoustic basses, we ain't talking about thin layers of veneer, we are talking about slabs of wood here, and weather basses improve with age or not. Tree ring color/thickness might be a consideration for the tree to use to get the desired wood to make an instrument, but can you convince me that the color of the rings, or where the tree grew, or the weather patterns, or wild grown vs: farmed were taken into consideration by Leo Fender, or any one else that MASS produces instruments?
Do you believe that they get into reducilous discussions about the color/ thickness of the frigging rings ? NO in reality they say O.K. we need to build XXX # of basses, we will need XXX board feet of ( insert type of wood here ) please deliver it to our shop by (insert date here) How much will that cost ? WHAT THAT IS TOO FRIGGING HIGH, thank you I think I can find the lumber somewhere else cheaper. Now remember these are NOT boutique basses.
 
On the History channel they were relating to how the stradivarius "fiddles" sounded better.. they came to the conclusion that the forests where these trees were felled were in an area where there volcanic activity limiting the woods regular growth patterns thus making the wood rings smaller and more dense because of the limited sunlight in those particular forests.
I can't see and electric bass would be related to resonant freqs. like a acoustic, perhaps the manufacturing process was different then... there is a certain smoother more mellow tone to the vintage basses I have played... maybe it just feels better because the neck has been smoothed through years of playing... i think that most of the great basses that are still around are around for the reason that they were/are great basses.
I could be wrong but my 51 P bass reissue feels great to me although I haven't played an actual 51 I can only assume they play very simular.
Maybe it's the copper and oxidization due to the age, maybe the quality of the copper.. or electronics.
 
We ain't talking about acoustic basses, we ain't talking about thin layers of veneer, we are talking about slabs of wood here, and weather basses improve with age or not. Tree ring color/thickness might be a consideration for the tree to use to get the desired wood to make an instrument, but can you convince me that the color of the rings, or where the tree grew, or the weather patterns, or wild grown vs: farmed were taken into consideration by Leo Fender, or any one else that MASS produces instruments?
I agree Leo was concerned with one and only one thing, price. He didn't care if a bass was made with ash or alder or anything else as long as it was cheap. He had to argue with musicians of his day why he wasn't using ebony and mahogany like the real instruments were. Nowadays he's been reinvented as a luthier who made choices for tone.

I mentioned acoustic builders because all groups of musicians seem to have their set of myths that are simple enough for the masses and makes sales easy.

I've never seen anyone who can support the ridiculous claims they make so I'm definitely not backing them up. Just pointing out how ridiculous the "other" people are in the hopes that may trigger a few synaptic twitches.
 
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Krügmeister;7306722 said:
On the History channel they were relating to how the stradivarius "fiddles" sounded better.. they came to the conclusion that the forests where these trees were felled were in an area where there volcanic activity limiting the woods regular growth patterns thus making the wood rings smaller and more dense because of the limited sunlight in those particular forests.
I can't see and electric bass would be related to resonant freqs. like a acoustic, perhaps the manufacturing process was different then... there is a certain smoother more mellow tone to the vintage basses I have played... maybe it just feels better because the neck has been smoothed through years of playing... i think that most of the great basses that are still around are around for the reason that they were/are great basses.
I could be wrong but my 51 P bass reissue feels great to me although I haven't played an actual 51 I can only assume they play very simular.
Maybe it's the copper and oxidization due to the age, maybe the quality of the copper.. or electronics.
Watch the video I posted a few posts back, Strads don't sound better to the experts if they don't know it's a Strad first. It works just like basses :) They even explain how the process works in the video.

Thanks for calling it a fiddle :)

edit: this video
 
I agree Leo was concerned with one and only one thing, price. He didn't care if a bass was made with ash or alder or anything else as long as it was cheap. He had to argue with musicians of his day why he wasn't using ebony and mahogany like the real instruments were. Nowadays he's been reinvented as a luthier who made choices for tone.

I mentioned acoustic builders because all groups of musicians seem to have their set of myths that are simple enough for the masses and makes sales easy.

I've never seen anyone who can support the ridiculous claims they make so I'm definitely not backing them up. Just pointing out how ridiculous the "other" people are in the hopes that may trigger a few synaptic twitches.




10/4 I am in agreement there, especially when it comes to triggering twitches.
 
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