does anyone make an 8lb precision bass?

[jzucker]

how does cottonwood, basswood and other non-alder woods affect the classic tone? I noticed a huge difference when I replaced the basswood body of my willis with swamp ash...

 

[BioDriver]

how does cottonwood, basswood and other non-alder woods affect the classic tone? I noticed a huge difference when I replaced the basswood body of my willis with swamp ash...

Less sustain and dings easier, IME. I'd rather get a roasted or chambered body, but basswood is one of the lightest weight options.

 

[ad9000]

how does cottonwood, basswood and other non-alder woods affect the classic tone? I noticed a huge difference when I replaced the basswood body of my willis with swamp ash...

I have P-basses with cottonwood, alder and ash bodies respectively. They have different resonant frequencies which do affect the inherent tone. If I were to define each such succinctly:

Cottonwood: most low end emphasis, not as much punch or sustain but beautiful "woody" sound, loves flatwounds (this is the bass shown in post #180)
Alder: the most "classic" tone. Warm yet punchy and well balanced. This is a 1962 P, so the wood is very much aged. The bass responds dynamically almost as if it's an acoustic instrument.
Ash: punchy and responsive, somewhat "aggressive" sounding, more midrange emphasis, not as much inherent low end.

YMMV on all of this as the neck, electronics, body weight, hardware, strings and other things factor in.

 

[jzucker]

Less sustain and dings easier, IME. I'd rather get a roasted or chambered body, but basswood is one of the lightest weight options.

Basswood is not always light. My willis was 1.5lbs lighter with a swamp ash body

 

[jzucker]

thanks a lot for your thoughts on that.

I have P-basses with cottonwood, alder and ash bodies respectively. They have different resonant frequencies which do affect the inherent tone. If I were to define each such succinctly:

Cottonwood: most low end emphasis, not as much punch or sustain but beautiful "woody" sound, loves flatwounds (this is the bass shown in post #180)
Alder: the most "classic" tone. Warm yet punchy and well balanced. This is a 1962 P, so the wood is very much aged. The bass responds dynamically almost as if it's an acoustic instrument.
Ash: punchy and responsive, somewhat "aggressive" sounding, more midrange emphasis, not as much inherent low end.

YMMV on all of this as the neck, electronics, body weight, hardware, strings and other things factor in.